Zoo Med Reptihabitat 20 Long Snake Starter Kit

As it is, this product is great! The materials included in the kit are everything you need to get started with your reptile habitat. However, there is a severe packaging flaw – the accessories are placed inside the tank and are not secured down. So they are allowed to shift, tumble and rotate during shipping. My tank arrived completely wrapped in bubble wrap and the shipping box was perfect, yet when unwrapped it, it was still broken! Because the hard hide box and water bowl smashed it from the inside. There is no “this end up” or “fragile” sticker on the packing box so it just gets tossed or left on its side however the delivery people feel. Not their fault but the packing design makes it very difficult to arrive in 1 piece. Amazing customer service was great and refunded my money quickly though!

Everything came in perfect condition and works perfectly. No cracks, no broken bulbs. Everything is perfect! Thank you!

Came broken had to ship it back now waiting on the second one

This is the first review I’ve have written for Amazon in a long time, and it’s a shame that it’s so negative. Firstly, I have to say, props to Amazon. Their customer service really pulled through for me today. They offered me a full refund for the product and didn’t have me send anything back. Not to say that it would be worth sending back in the state that it arrived in, but still. Now onto the actual product review.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT IF THE SELLER IS “FAT HAPPY PETS”. Even though it is fulfilled by Amazon, it will most likely come broken, no fault of Amazon or the shipper. When I received the box, I was slightly weary. There was already a jingling inside the box which already lead me to the belief that the light bulbs were broken. If only that were just the case. Upon opening the box, you could see that the whole tank was busted. It looked like someone kicked in all the sides of the tank. Now many would say that it might be due to the mishandling by the shipper, but let me tell you, it’s not all their fault. This tank never stood a chance.There was literally the thinnest layer of bubble wrap I have ever seen wrapped around just the sides of the tank. There was literally less than a cm of bubble wrap that was “protecting” the tank. There was nothing on the top, and nothing on the bottom. Someone literally took bubble wrap that was barely thicker than a few pages of paper, wrapped it around the tank, and put it in the box. On top of that, the bag of sand was busted and was leaking EVERYWHERE. It got all over my carpet and stained the carpet real bad. Fortunately, I pulled out the handy dandy carpet cleaner, and took care of that. I think my next review will probably be for the Bissel carpet cleaner that I recently purchased last year. Really took care of the stain 🙂 Anyways, I digress.

The strangest thing about this poor wrapping (besides the busted tank, bag of sand, and light bulb) was the fact that there was a piece of dog food and a chip of wood underneath the cardboard label on the lid of the tank. This was worrisome as this is a reptile tank. Reptiles are known to be pretty hardy, but judging from the “extras” that came with the tank, I believe this tank was mixed in the back with other stock from animal products. This just reinforces that one should wash any tanks you purchase carefully before putting your reptiles in to make sure no contaminants are left that may harm your pets. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Now if the tank didn’t come in the abysmal state it arrived in, I’d say this kit is actually pretty good. I just purchased a new baby bearded dragon from a breeder who will hopefully be arriving in good condition to my home tomorrow (it’s been bloody freezing up here lately), so this 20 gallon tank would have been ok for it for the first few months. I would not recommend purchasing this tank with the intention to keep a bearded dragon in for longer than that. It is simply too small. You should be putting older beardies in a tank that is at least 50 gallons( and not a 50 gallon fish tank, but 50 gallon reptile terrarium that is breeder sized). This is a good tank though however, when you have a baby or young juvenile as they can sometimes be overwhelmed when they have too much space. Later on, you can use it a tank to feed your older beardie in, or for a temporary spot while you’re cleaning out their bigger tank when they are older (although they will most likely prefer to just hang onto your shoulder at that point).

Now I noticed there were a few comments in regards to the UV lighting. A few years ago, two major reptile supply companies had some really faulty UVB bulbs that did prove to cause damage to young beardies eyes. That has since been fixed. The lighting that comes with this tank in specific is not as dangerous as everyone is stating as the bulb is only a 5.0 bulb instead of a 10.0 bulb. The 5.0 bulb is the perfect bulb to use with the overhead light that comes with the kit, and it is not close to strong enough to hurt a beardies eyes. I personally prefer to use the longer ones for my bigger tanks, but for a small tank like this, it is perfectly fine. In regards to the other bulbs included and the lamps, the day bulbs are good, but have a short life span. Small price to pay, but they are the brand I find to provide the best light. Sucks that they don’t last as long as others. The lamp is good, but DO NOT USE THE RED “NIGHTTIME BULB”. Firstly, it’s a lie that reptiles can’t see the red light. I mean have you tried getting your beardie to chase a laser pointer. If you haven’t, it is ten times better than watching a cat. Leaving that light on at nighttime for your reptiles is the same as if you went to bed with your bedroom light on. It’s not comfortable, and it stresses them out. Also, unless your home falls under 65 degrees F at night, you DO NOT NEED HEAT. If your home does get chilly, please invest in a nice ceramic bulb and lamp to use at night. An under the tank heater is pointless for beardies and can pose a danger as they need to heat themselves from overhead heat, not underbelly heat. They run the risk of overheating as they won’t move away immediately from the UTH if they are getting too warm.

The other stuff in this kit that is ok for your beardie is the calcium sample. You should have a bigger supply, but it’s nice to have a little sample sized one if you lose track of keeping stock of beardie supplies and supplements. The food sample is also not bad. Some will eat it, some won’t. It’s not terrible for them, and can provide a nice supplement to their diet if they like it. The thermometer is pretty worthless. Go an buy a better in tank thermometer and a separate humidity gauge (not a two in one, they are not as accurate). You will also need to buy a digital infrared thermometer as well.

The most important thing to know about this kit however, is DO NOT USE THE SAND. I REPEAT, DO NOT USE THE SAND. All the reviews about sand causing impaction are correct, ESPECIALLY with young and baby beardies. They don’t mean to eat sand when they eat, but their little tongues are so derp, they can’t help but grab onto sand when snagging their food. Beardies in general also like to lick their stuff. Like no lie, they lick everything. It is best to keep them on non particle based substrate, so basically something a carpet, slate, linoleum, etc. Nothing that is in pieces. One thing to watch out with carpet however, is that you need to watch your older beardies claws when it comes to carpet and make sure you toss you carpet if it starts to look ratty. Older beardies can get their nails stuck in the loops of the carpet. Overall, please do not use the sand if you buy this kit. It’s cruel to take any kind of chance.

I hope this review was helpful to anyone thinking of purchasing this kit. You can purchase this kit in many major pet stores, which is what I winded up having to do as I am out of spare tanks and needed one for my latest baby beardie. It may be best to do that until Amazon can work out the issues with this particular seller and their shipping practices.

my only complaint is it had a small one sided crack in the back right corner but other than that it worked well

My snek is happy, so I’m happy.