What it costs
The animal is the cheap part. Here is what the rest of it actually adds up to.
Almost everyone underestimates this, so rather than guess I have listed the actual equipment running on my own terrarium, with current prices from European reptile retailers. Treat it as a planning guide rather than a quote: what you pay swings with brand, enclosure size, and whether you buy new or second-hand.
One-off setup
| Item | What I actually use | Typical price |
|---|---|---|
| Terrarium, tall and front-opening | Terralantis 90 × 45 × 90 cm | €230 to €410 |
| UVB, tube plus fixture | Arcadia T5 HO 6% Forest kit | €85 to €110 |
| Basking bulb | Arcadia halogen basking spot 75 W | €18 |
| Thermostat | Habistat dimming thermostat | €80 |
| Night heat | Arcadia Deep Heat Projector | €30 |
| Winter night heat | Ceramic heater 150 W | €23 |
| Warm sleeping spot | Large heat mat on the back panel | €30 |
| Plant and daylight | Arcadia Jungle Dawn LED bar | €72 to €171 depending on length |
| Misting | Tuya Wi-Fi mister | €37 (I paid €34 plus €3 duties) |
| Thermometers and hygrometers | 3 × Inkbird ITH-11-B, one per zone | About €25 each |
| Substrate | Bioactive mix: orchid bark, coco fibre, coco coir, play sand and sphagnum moss | €40 to €70 |
| Live plants | Pothos, bird's-nest fern, bromeliad, philodendron, creeping fig and others | €50 to €120 |
| Climbing structure | Cork bark and branches | €60 to €150 |
Bought new, that lands somewhere around €830 to €1,330 before the animals themselves. Second-hand glass and self-collected wood pull the bottom end down a long way.
For a sense of scale at Dutch prices (Terramania, July 2026): a 60 × 50 × 80 cm glass terrarium is about €230, a 100 × 50 × 100 cm about €375, and a 100 × 50 × 120 cm about €410. Mine sits between those. Going taller costs more and is worth it for an arboreal species.
Running costs
| Item | How often | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | Daily | Roughly €15 to €35 a month, higher in winter |
| Feeder insects | Every 1 to 2 days | About €15 a month, or cheaper when breeding self |
| UVB tube replacement | Yearly | About €23 |
| Calcium with D3 and multivitamin | Every few months | €20 to €30 a year |
| Substrate and plant top-ups | Occasional | Depends how hard the setup is worked |
| Vet care | Set aside monthly | Faecal checks, plus a fund for when something goes wrong |
The electricity figure assumes lighting and heating drawing roughly 150 to 250 W for part of the day at Dutch domestic rates. Your own bill will differ with tariff, room temperature and how hard the heating has to work.
Where people try to save, and shouldn't
- The thermostat. Running a heat source without one risks cooking your animal or burning it.
- UVB. Skipping or stretching replacement is a direct route to metabolic bone disease, which is far more expensive to treat than a tube.
- Enclosure size. Buying small with the intention of upgrading usually means buying twice.
- Buying wild-caught to save money. Imported animals routinely arrive with parasites and stress, so the saving often goes straight back out in vet bills. See common health issues.
Where you genuinely can save
- Second-hand enclosures. Widely available and easy to clean up properly before use.
- Your own wood and leaf litter, collected from safe, unsprayed sources and prepared correctly.
- Culturing your own feeders, which pays off steadily over the years.
- Cuttings instead of bought plants, which grow in fast under good lighting.
Prices checked at European reptile retailers in July 2026 and rounded. They move around, and nothing here is a quote.
Sources & references
- Retail prices checked in euros during July 2026, mainly at terramania.nl, alongside what I actually paid for my own equipment. Prices move, so treat these as a snapshot rather than a quote.