Review of Shopping Experience with Reptile Direct (Cheapest Turtle Supplies I've Found)

I realize this may seem a bit out of place for a review on reptile supplies since here at Ribbons and Pearls, there's never been a review category for such products. However, the goal of this site has always been to provide reviews, experiences and product information for virtually any and every product I've had a share-worthy experience with. So it's official -- we've probably covered virtually every product category possible. Lol. From herbal supplements to fitness products, clothing/fashion items, drink-ware, home related products, beauty & skincare and even survival product reviews have been featured here on the site. You've seen a few reviews for other pet products, but incorporating a review on reptile supplies just gives me a sense of completion here. Like I've finally managed to cover the whole spectrum of product categories.

Okay, enough talk about milestones. I wanted to share a recent experience I had while shopping with a company called Reptile Direct. 

I haven't told my readers this yet, but we've added a new pet to the household -- last winter, actually. It's a Red Ear Slider turtle, who I named Myrtle.  Myrtle the turtle. Myrtle was my niece's turtle since she was a baby (the turtle), and last winter, they were doing some moving and well, I ended up with a RES that I had no clue how to care for. 

Meet  Myrtle!

After a few weeks in her small tank in my bathroom floor, I came to love the turtle so much I needed a name for her. So, Myrtle it was. You'd be surprised at how attached you can get to a turtle!

I mean, you can't brush your teeth, use the toilet and shower in the same bathroom as someone else and not get attached. By the way, Myrtle was living in the bathroom because it was the warmest room in the house for her -- it was winter & all the other rooms were freezing.

But, as I heavily researched the needs of a Red Ear Slider so that I could provide for Myrtle to the best of my ability, I realized she didn't have much of what she really required, for a happy, healthy turtle anyways.

Darn image is distorted a bit thanks to Blogger, but I think this gives you an idea of Myrtle's set-up. You can spot her over in the left corner hanging out there. P.S. The odd red wands you see (lol, no that is not a whip & tickler! Haha) are for Myrtle's entertainment. Odd, but turtles -- well, Myrtle, anyways -- appear to crave some form of entertainment, even if it's just something to look at. Myrtle will stay well entertained for hours simply by looking at our fingers against the glass. Strange turtle! So I like to tape random objects to the aquarium for her to look at, that way she has newer things to see instead of the same old glass.

It's the end of summer now (August, 2014) and while Myrtle has moved into my bedroom (& into a huge tank that takes up the entire surface of a 6-drawer dresser), I realized she needed something to keep her warm, quick. Even now, as hot as it is (although I run an AC on about 65), Myrtle's water needed warmth. I found out that a Red Ear Slider actually needs around a 90 degree basking spot as well as the 75 degree water temperature, so a heating device was necessary.

I'd been using those purple bulbs to heat a basking spot in Myrtle's tank -- the $5 bulbs you get at Walmart, but they were blowing within weeks of purchasing them, and for such a large tank, they just don't suffice for warmth.

I spent hours searching for the perfect heating product for Myrtle. I originally planned to buy a simple submersible heater (like you find at Walmart). They were pretty cheap and seemed the perfect way to go until I read hundreds of Amazon reviews where people had said the heaters cooked their fish! Many people mentioned that for a super large tank, you could use one safely since it would only heat a corner of the tank. This meant if the heater did go crazy and get too hot, it wouldn't cook my turtle since it would only be sufficient to warm the one side of the tank...

But I was too worried about the risks. There were so many things negative I'd read about those heaters & I just didn't like the idea of having to worry about it hurting Myrtle, or at the very least, not providing enough warmth period.

So, I went with the only other option I could find -- a heat emitter, although they are a good deal more expensive than those unreliable heaters. I already had a Zoomed fixture and went on my hunt for the best deal I could find on a heat emitter.

There, I ran into some more issues. What wattage should I use? I don't know the exact size of Myrtle's tank. And the products say that they should only be used with certain fixtures. So I chose the safest route -- a low wattage emitter (100 watts), knowing that it couldn't ever totally warm the entire tank. But I couldn't figure out what model my fixture was and didn't want to risk getting a more appropriate wattage (about a 300 watt emitter), and ruin the fixture if it wasn't a match for the model I have -- like the emitter product's label claims can  happen.

So, the 100 watt heat emitter would suffice to at least keep the basking area of the aquarium warm. 

After searching every website that sold these supplies, and reading as many reviews on the companies as possible, I was determined that Reptile Direct would be the perfect source to obtain the supplies I needed. They had glowing reviews on their Facebook page, a fantastic supply of reptile products (which isn't that common), and even better -- their supplies were the cheapest I could find.

Even Petco and PetSmart didn't offer anywhere near the low price I found on Reptile Direct. I was ready, and happy to place my order for the emitter, feeling confident with my choice.

Unfortunately, I had trouble getting my order to go through (thanks to the internet browser I was using). I had an email later saying I had items in my cart, and to proceed with checkout easily by clicking the link, if I still wanted to complete my purchase. 

I clicked the link, and was happy to see my order placed until I realized the shipping option I'd chose (the lowest one which was like $6), didn't select. Instead, my internet browser kindly chose the shipping option for me -- the highest and quickest shipping option available, ($13.67).  Even with the highest shipping charge Reptile Direct offered, my total was still a bit less than any other company I'd checked with. 

However, I wasn't willing to pay the highest charge, even though it was a great price for such quick shipping (uncommon for online shopping where you easily pay $40 for a 1-2 day shipping.) But, I'd had a bill to pay (past due at that point), which was going to come out of my Paypal account and paying the highest shipping charge at Reptile Direct would've left me short. In other words, paying for the quicker shipping would've left me a bit too short to pay the bill that was past due, in full. Otherwise, I'd have been okay with the shipping price since it's really not a bad deal at all.

Anyways though, I contacted Reptile Direct letting them know I couldn't pay the fee and asked would they refund the $6 and send the product for the lowest shipping charge. 

Surprisingly, their response -- which made my day --came before 24 hours had even passed. 

 Reptile Direct -- who actually made an effort to not only get back to me via Facebook, but also e-mail just to let me know they had already taken care of it -- was shipping the order still, and had already refunded me for the accidental shipping option!

I was even more happy when the order arrived in less than 2 days, all perfectly wrapped in a huge sheet of bubble wrap, and packaged with care.

Myrtle was all set that very evening, and for the cheapest price available on the web. Reptile Direct made Myrtle and me very happy and they really warmed my heart (and Myrtle's shell) with their kindness and fantastic customer service.

Here are several photos I took of the Zoo Med Ceramic Heat Emitter I ordered from Reptile Direct:

As you'll notice on the box it came in, this heat emitter is appropriate for 30-40 gallon aquariums. I'd hoped to get a photo of Myrtle's aquarium so ya'll could get an idea of how large the aquarium is. Like I said, this 100 watt emitter really doesn't provide much heat at all for such a large tank (don't know the gallons of my tank, but it takes up the entire surface of a 6-drawer dresser, if that helps.)

For now, this one provides just enough warmth usually that the corner of the tank stays warm, but I know I'll have to buy another one, that'll heat up more of the tank since summer is ending. I'll just have to find out what model of a fixture I have so I can be sure that a higher wattage will go in without ruining the fixture or something.

For 30-40 gallon tanks, like the package advises this heat emitter for (it's also listed on the product description on Reptile Direct), it's going to work splendidly for heat. Any aquarium smaller than a 30 gallon and you might even have to give it a break to be sure it doesn't warm the water too much.

Here's an image of the emitter in its fixture: 

Apologies for the blurry, low quality photos, but I was horrendously shaky as I took these. And the lighting there is horrible.

End notes:

If you're like me and shop online more than you do your local grocery store, then you know what a big deal it is to find a site offering your product for lower than anywhere else. Not only that, but you also know the importance of good customer service who gets back to you in a timely manner. And then there's the whole trust thing... Yea, online shopping can be amazing or it can be awful, so when you find a great company, you'll devote yourself to them.

And that is what I've done with Reptile Direct. From that day on, they were bookmarked on my computer and will be my go-to for all my reptile supplies. 

Their kindness, help with my order, and that I was able to obtain the heat emitter for as low of a price as possible made life 10x's easier.

I felt compelled to write a review for Reptile Direct, sharing my experience shopping with them. Just as I said in my review I left on Reptile Direct's Facebook page, I highly recommend them for all reptile supplies. And I was happy to see that another reviewer had mentioned on their Facebook page that they were able to get a discount of hundreds by using Reptile Direct. So, these folks are even more reputable than I could've imagined. 

As you can guess, Reptile Direct earns a 5 star rating from me.  Here's a re-cap for folks who didn't want to read the entire experience/review above:

- Lowest prices

- Low shipping

- Fast shipping

- Fabulous packaging, keeping items as protected as possible and well bubble-wrapped.

- Excellent customer service

- Large selection of products. (They carry absolutely everything my turtle could ever need (or want, for that matter) where as I wasn't able to find this kind of selection anywhere else, including PetCo.  

I imagine they carry a great selection for all reptiles, not just turtles from what I can see.

- User-friendly website setup and navigation.

Disclaimer:

I did not receive any monetary or other compensation in exchange for a review for the company Reptile Direct. The only thing I received from the company was what I explained in the review -- a refund, upon my request, of part of the shipping. I was not asked to write a review at all, but chose to do so myself since I felt that my experience and other information provided could be of use to other online shoppers. This review is in compliance with the FTC's guidelines for bloggers, and everything written, as always, is my opinion and 100% honest.