Overview

In this section i will go over the safe ways to buy and use second hand equipment for exotics. From eletrical to decor. Going the second hand route can save you £100s each time, there are obviously some caviats to this which i will discuss below.

Where do i get second hand equipment from?

Suprisingly there are quite a few ways to aquire second hand equipment, these include Facebook marketplace, Ebay, Preloved, Petshops and various other places. I have personally found that Facebook marketplace is a brilliant place to get Vivariums and enclosures from for a deeply cut price from the retail equivilent. The other stores such as ebay and preloved are usually better for decor and electronics as the electronics have usually been tested previously and the decor is usually pre cleaned. Finally petshops are another great source of pre owned vivariums, they will not sell you the used electronics as they could be liable if a fire was caused by the equipment sold however vivariums that would usually cost a couple of hundred pounds could be a mere fraction of the price.

50% of the vivariums/terrariums i own are through second hand purchase and 25% of the decor and other bits are second hand or where reduced in pet shops. I always advise supporting your local pet shop if you can afford it all of the time but life isnt always like this and saving money in certain ways might be your only option.

Electrical equipment

Hides and decor

Substrates

Personally i avoid substrates that are opened as there is no way to tell what has been done, however if there is a factory sealed bag of substrate that i find from someone on a second hand site like facebook marketplace i would always grab it to save a bit of cash as there is next to no chance that there will be any problems with it.

Cleaning supplies

Similar to previous keep clear of products that are open, also check the expiry date of the product with the seller to make sure its 

Reduced Prices in pet shops