ZooMed Reptihabitat Leopard Gecko Kit Survey

[PomPom]

I made a survey on ZooMed’s Reptihabitat Leopard Gecko Kit. I want to see if I can try to convince them to make the kit in a way where more reptile keepers are willing to buy and/or recommend their kit to beginner reptile keepers.

ZooMed Leopard Gecko Kit Survey

This is a survey meant to understand if reptile keepers find ZooMed’s ReptiHabitat Leopard Gecko Kit satisfactory, and if not, what changes can be implemented to increase customer satisfaction.

forms.gle

 

[Introvertebrate]

So what's wrong with it?

 

[PomPom]

So what's wrong with it?

I’ve left that up to whoever answers the survey, I won’t put in my own answers as I want everyone else’s opinion besides mine. The problems I personally have with it is that they market the kit as having everything you need to keep a leopard gecko when it really doesn’t IMO, there are no hides, there is no thermostat, analog thermometers are known to be inaccurate, a red heat lamp is in the kit for use at night time.

I feel their kit is either a waste of money for experienced leopard gecko owners as they know they’ll be spending more money replacing items in their kit with more reliable products than they would if they just set everything up by scratch, or a risky investment for people who are completely new to reptile keeping as they’re expected to understand what’s missing or what products don’t work very well from a kit that’s advertised as having everything the gecko needs.

 

[Introvertebrate]

.....................there are no hides, there is no thermostat, analog thermometers are known to be inaccurate, a red heat lamp is in the kit for use at night time.................

So with appropriate add-ons, it's complete?

 

[PomPom]

So with appropriate add-ons, it's complete?

If you ask me, both add ons and replacements are what I want if I’m going to personally recommend them to anybody, but just the add ons alone are a step in the right direction. I think just a step in the right direction is all I can achieve.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

If you ask me, both add ons and replacements are what I want if I’m going to personally recommend them to anybody, but just the add ons alone are a step in the right direction. I think just a step in the right direction is all I can achieve.

WHats total cost with proper add ons?
I knew someone who cooked there gecko because they were too cheap for a proper heat lamp.. got a hardware one. Rip gecko ..

I made a survey on ZooMed’s Reptihabitat Leopard Gecko Kit. I want to see if I can try to convince them to make the kit in a way where more reptile keepers are willing to buy and/or recommend their kit to beginner reptile keepers.

ZooMed Leopard Gecko Kit Survey

This is a survey meant to understand if reptile keepers find ZooMed’s ReptiHabitat Leopard Gecko Kit satisfactory, and if not, what changes can be implemented to increase customer satisfaction.

forms.gle

so the kit is $150 or so and doesn’t include everything needed?

Ouch

 

[Introvertebrate]

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...............so the kit is $150 or so and doesn’t include everything needed?

Ouch

You'd have to see what each item costs individually, and determine if the combo saves you anything. I know their enclosures are more expensive than plain old aquariums.

 

[The Snark]

@HooahArmy Care to take a guess what chemical(s) are in this product that can do all their claims?

ReptiSafe® removes chloramines and chlorine, detoxifies ammonia and nitrites, and provides essential ions and electrolytes which help to hydrate newly acquired animals. Also stimulates slime coat development in amphibians and fish.

I know the claim detoxifies ammonia and nitrites is bollocks as they mutually oppose each other. It is impossible to have a chemical which acts both as an oxidizer and as a reducing agent. That much I remember from my very limited chem class.

@PomPom I'll give that product a B++ for super duper flashy fancy sales pitch but way way too many overly broad or highly unlikely claims such as an accurate UV radiometer which retail starts at around $700 and goes up. Also the certifications for approved lighting fixtures is omitted. European Standard is not CE or UL or other certification.

 

[Introvertebrate]

@HooahArmy Care to take a guess what chemical(s) are in this product that can do all their claims?

ReptiSafe® removes chloramines and chlorine, detoxifies ammonia and nitrites, and provides essential ions and electrolytes which help to hydrate newly acquired animals. Also stimulates slime coat development in amphibians and fish.

I know the claim detoxifies ammonia and nitrites is bollocks as they mutually oppose each other. It is impossible to have a chemical which acts both as an oxidizer and as a reducing agent. That much I remember from my very limited chem class.

@PomPom I'll give that product a B++ for super duper flashy fancy sales pitch but way way too many overly broad or highly unlikely claims such as an accurate UV radiometer which retail starts at around $700 and goes up. Also the certifications for approved lighting fixtures is omitted. European Standard is not CE or UL or other certification.

I think the chlorine evaporates if you just let the water sit around for a while.

 

[PomPom]

WHats total cost with proper add ons?
I knew someone who cooked there gecko because they were too cheap for a proper heat lamp.. got a hardware one. Rip gecko ..

so the kit is $150 or so and doesn’t include everything needed?

Ouch

I can only estimate cost since I don’t know how much the products costs straight from ZooMed instead of up charged in retail, and like Introvertebrate said, their top opening terrariums cost more than aquariums but I used Aqueon’s 20 gallon tank price in my estimate.

A 20 gallon long $54 (regular price)
ZooMed Repti Basking Lamp 50 Watt $17
Zoomed Reptisun 10.0 compact (not mini compact) $37
Zoomed Digital Thermostat $36
Zoomed 3 in 1 cave $30
Zoomed turtle hut $9
Zoomed Reptirock water dish small -medium $8
Zoomed Reptisoil $12
Total: $203

That’s the very least that I’d personally want to see, but a growing number of leopard gecko owners wouldn’t agree that even that’s good enough for an adult (including myself), as husbandry standards are slowly switching from a 20 gallon long minimum to 40 gallon breeder minimum. There could be a problem with some of the items that I have in my list as well, like the heat lamp and thermostat, the thermostat is on/off instead of dimming so the light will be flashing on and off when the thermostat controls it. This could annoy customers and reduce the life of the bulb. Zoomed has a system that’s capable of dimming heat lamps, but they’re expensive. I don’t think I can recommend the affordable dimming thermostats that have been recently made by ReptiZoo unless ZooMed makes their own version or they merge companies.

 

[The Snark]

I think the chlorine evaporates if you just let the water sit around for a while.

Chlorine, about 4 days, chloramines, about 1 month. Got nasty chemicalized water, use an activated carbon filter. Common as dirt, some attach directly to the spigot. I ordered a new cartridge for our drinking water yesterday. $8, good for 6 months. Every household in the US should have one anyway.

 

[PomPom]

@Introvertebrate This is the bare minimum I’m looking for, the size of this enclosure isn’t more than 10 gallons but at least they include all of this other stuff that’s important for the leopard gecko’s care.

@Introvertebrate This is the most ideal, the enclosure is almost the size of a 40 gallon breeder 86cm x 49cm x 56cm (34" x 19" x 22"). The only changes I would want is for the ceramic heat emitter to be a heat light (not colored blue or red), a thermostat being capable of dimming the lamp, and add multi vitamin powder.

 

[HooahArmy]

@The Snark

According to Professor Google, ReptiSafe water conditioner contains the following ingredients: "Water, Dechloraminating agent, Synthetic organic polymers (colloids, Chelating agent, Electrolytes." ReptiSafe also contains: Sodium thiosulphate, Disodium Edta, Acid Blue 9, Sodium hydroxymethane sulfonate.

A lot of this stuff sounds pretty vague, and it's the company's way of saying 'secret ingredient', but fortunately I was able to scout one of my lab databases for what Dechloraminating agent is: it's usually sodium thiosulfate or another similar sulfate. The process that it works through is rather difficult to explain, but here is a link down below. To make a long story short, the stuff works by breaking chloramines and chloramines into harmless byproducts like oxygen, hydrogen, and the such.
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/dechlorination.pdf

Ammonia however, is a whole different animal to deal with. This stuff is usually bound by polymers that shift it into an inert state (ammonium) for about 24 hours. During this time, the ammonium then gets broken down by natrual bacteria in the tank, or gets siphoned up by filters.

The electrolytes help stimulate the slime coat on critters by offering essential minerals to help folster growth, allowing the skin of the critter to better offset environmental damages to the coat.

 

[The Snark]

During this time, the ammonium then gets broken down by natrual bacteria in the tank, or gets siphoned up by filters.

To add a caveat, if the bacteria survive the Disodium Edta. In other words, their chemical works after a fashion in fish tanks. Why it is part of the collection of reptile habitat chemicals is, shall we say, questionable. Looks like a load of stuff that can mostly be substituted for a fraction of the price or ignored altogether. I don't think adding their chemical soup to the geckos water dish is a good idea. Note they use the word terrarium, not aquarium. https://zoomed.com/10-gallon-reptihabitat-leopard-gecko-kit/
" Great for reptile water bowls,"