It seems to me, around this time of year we get a lot of people who are begging for money or can't afford X,Y or Z. So let's get a thread on what you can cut corners on so we can get some /an/ons to start putting money away for vet bills.
>>2129558
>cockatoos live 50-70 years
holy fucking shit, i had no clue; are there longer-lived birds?
>>2129562
Captive birds live a long time in general, bigger ones more so than smaller ones.
>>2129562
You know, I kind of thought that was bullshit about the 50g until you mentioned that. Yeah, 1g for 50 years does add up after a while.
As far as pets go, I believe Macaws may outlive Cockatoos, of course all based on quality care.
Also a lot of those I could easily argue cost more. I remember spending much more on my guinea pig in toys and misc a month, they should also really have a carrier, and their cage does need to be replaces at least once in their lifetime (3 of my 4 lived over 5 years)
I keep a pair of guineas, and I would say that's conservative if anything. They should have something fresh every day, and fifty bucks does not go far at the vet.
>That lettuce was $2.00 all by itself!
>>2129600
Whats their names
>cockatoos cost WAY more than even big dogs
Dang
>>2129600
>$2 for lettuce
Fuck, iceberg is $1 a head. What the fuck are you buying?
Biggest tip I can probably give, is BUY IN BULK. If you use something a lot, like food or timothy hay or bedding or litter, buying the shit in bulk is much cheaper than buying a ton of tiny bags. Do the math yourself; divide the price by the weight.
I was paying a ludicrous amount for hay until I found out I could buy a huge bale for a fraction of the cost and not have to buy that shit for a year.
Pic included because people will seriously not believe buying in bulk is cheapest
>>2129603
Poncho is the plump one, Sophie is fluffy.
>but the fresh treat is $0.00 today
>>2129617
Iceberg is bad for guinea pigs. It's just hard water.
>>2129607
>50 year lifespan
>>2129617
>>2129620
Not to worry, that's red-leaf lettuce, and the fresh treat is usually pepper or carrots or something. I definitely spend more than a buck a day on this alone, even with grazing in the summer.
>>2129618
Especially true with hay! Pet store hay is top quality, but it's like $20 for a little retail bag. Same money will buy a 60# bale of good horse hay, we go through 2 a year. They eat it one strand at a time anyway so they can just pick out the good stuff.
Nepenthes:
>Upfront cost: $250 for a 12in N. Robcantleyi
>Distilled water machine: $950
>Sunlight: Free
>Tap water: almost free
>Life span: 8+ years
>total cost: $1.2k
Or if you're a cheap fucker, get a N. x Ventrata for like 6 USD
>>2129650
Don't they need food and treats too?
>>2129656
nah, mine do a good job at feeding themselves. But I suppose treats and food can add about 10-20 bucks extra per year
>>2129558
But that doesn't account for devaluation. The costs are deflated for longer-lived animals in this chart. For example, a young Cockatoo will have cost closer to $80,000 in current dollars by the time it dies around 2065, and that's an extremely conservative estimate.
How the fuck are guinea pig and rabbit people spending $500-$700 per year? I have two rats and shell out maybe $30 total per month unless one of them needs to go to the vet. Got a great secondhand cage on Craigslist for $15, made most of the toys and cage accessories myself, treats are daily nuts and bits of whatever fruits/vegetables I'm eating.
Rats don't need hay like the two aforementioned species - but still, that's a sizable price difference.
>>2129711
Are you a woman? Because your math is all retarded.
If deflation occurs you have a lot bigger issues than feeding your cockatoo.
>>2129732
I work in finance. Devaluation isn't bad, it happens all the time. It is only bad if it happens at high rates. Also, devaluation and deflation are not technically the same thing.
You're incredibly ignorant.
>>2129711
Makes more sense to keep it all at present value, because the pets themselves have almost none. Poncho and Sophie are worth less than a bag of litter if I were to sell them.
>>2129723
Good for you on the thrifty gear, but the real costs are the recurring ones. Those nuts and stuff are not really free, even if you don't count the cost directly.
The routine expenses just add up. $30 per month litter, $35 every two months pellets, $1.50 per day fresh treat, that's $1200 just for the basics. Poncho blew through $650 at the vet this year! That's for the pair, but various other costs creep in.
>like when Nickel died and I had her skinned and tanned for $350
>>2129770
>NPV is better
I suppose, but it does cause longer-lived pets to appear less expensive.
>Poncho and Sophie are worth less than a bag of litter
We talking cat litter? Because that might be true, but if you're talking about garbage, then no. I'm pretty sure someone would be willing to pay at least a pittance for them. Also, just because you aren't selling them doesn't mean they have no value. You clearly value them, so it could be argued that the pet increases in value with age, at least for the owner.
>fucking skinning and tanning your dead guinea pig
That's fucked up my friend, I buried mine when they died. Post pics.
>>2129618
You shouldn't buy kibble in bulk, though, because once the seal is broken it starts to oxidize. After 30 days the nutritional value drops 40-50% on certain ingredients, namely the protein and fats. Also, molds start to flourish.
>>2129778
Was referring to a large bag of Carefresh paper litter, about $30. That's about what a guinea costs at a pet store, although I get mine at the SPCA.
It is kinda fucked up, but it made me feel a bit better, and the guy did a great job. Sorry but no pic available, I keep that in my box of important stuff I'll never use at Moms.
Fish
If you have marine fish theyre way more than 500
Aren't saltwater fish more expensive on upkeep than say freshwater fish?
Also is there one of these things for reptiles?
I have a turtle and want to know what's a general average on upkeep of them (lord knows I've spent a shit ton on her just trying to set her shit up, and upkeep doesn't seem as expensive as some of these other pets, but that's not factoring their longer life spans)
>>2129600
Not feeding your pets the weeds around you.
Dandelions and plantago, lambs quarters, purslane.
>>2129873
Freshwater trapical fish can be kept at lower temperatures in certain parts of the year.
Just don't let it dip below 72 and most fish will find renewed vigor and the algaes will slow growth. It's useful to change temperatures for breeding though, and fish with delicate immune systems shouldn't get too cold. (bettas for instance)
If you have any crustaceans in your freshwater.
Buy some ocean salt mix and add a pinch during each water change.
You can let tap water sit out for a couple days and use it for most fish.
Or rainwater for the kinds that can't handle excess minerals.
You can use oak leaves to feed your shrimps, (or beech) they like twigs. (for the fungi that eat them.)
You can raise copepods really easily with a big black trash can, in a sunny indoor spot, with half old tank water and half aged tap water.
Copepod cultures can be picked up from any semi-clean water source. I reccommend a spring. Do not pick up any floaty bits, because those have hydras (copepod hunters)
I've had several tanks with only copepods as a food source, and usually planaria come along with the copepods, and they help with poop. And they make your water plants great.
Anubias is worth the money, the first time.
But cut each section that has three leaves, once the rhizome (root thing) is thicker than a pencil.
Cryptocoryne is slow if you move it, but give it root zone bubbles, and a year, and then you can lift it, and all the gravel in one swoop.
A rusty nail in the bottom of your tank, at the root zone, is good luck, and you will see why if you do it.
Any recs on good litter that isn't expensive? I'm getting a kitten Friday and I need to find a litter box and some cheap litter
>>2130160
How old is the kitten? If it is like 2-3 months old, try using the tops of shoe boxes for a litter pan for a little while because kittens that small sometimes have trouble getting into anything that's big. Otherwise, you can get cheap litter boxes by buying deep baking pans, Tupperware tubs, or you could make one out of old busted dresser drawers or trunks (the latter end up looking really fucking sharp for a litter box). If you can find something lying around that you just don't use anymore, that would obviously be the cheapest. Paying $10 for a tiny piece of plastic for your cat to shit in should be a crime when you can get a box 4X the size for less
As far as litter goes, buying in bulk is really key as shown in >>2129618. From there you would have to do math yourself to figure out what is cheapest by pound. However, there are alternatives that are even cheaper; Wood pellets used for cooking or heating you can buy in big quantities for pretty cheap, but DON'T buy Feline Pine; that's literally just expensive wood pellets. Saw dust can also make good litter and is very cheap, but don't bother if you can't buy it in bulk. If you can get Pine Chips used for horse bedding, that would also be very cheap and very much in bulk (it usually comes in horse quantities, so buying in bulk would probably last half of your cat's life) and you can generally find in farm stores like Tractor Supply. Then, there's the potentially free litter - making your own litter out of newspaper. Go to stores and ask for their old papers. Although its probably one of the few free methods of obtaining cat litter, it's a long process and takes a day or two for it to dry and become usable.
>http://thegreenists.com/pets/tip-of-the-day-make-your-own-kitty-litter/1044
>>2130160
I've seen stuff like ground up corn (maybe bird filler?) used as cat litter too, but I have no idea if it would be cheaper than wood pellets
With a kitten I would highly suggest making a budget for him now; you're going to have to pay for a lot of vet bills soon and very quickly too. Spay/neuter, rabies vaccine, 3 distemper shots, all of which will come with their own vet visit and therefore their own office charge. But there is a lot of corners to cut, you could probably cut enough to save at least $10 but probably closer to $30 a week that you could put towards vet costs. Pro-tip; never ever buy cat toys
>>2129767
>costs are deflated
Deflation is bad, though. It incentivizes people to hoard money instead of invest, makes those in debt further behind, and hurts economic growth and exports.
Deflation is bad.
>>2129562
Wild Albatross can live 50+
I assume Captive can live longer.
>>2129558
Cheapest pets are inverts. They usually live long lives and are cheap as shit.
>>2130316
I think the issue here isn't that people cant find pets that they can afford, but people get pets first and later realize they can't afford them
>>2129558
BUGS! Cockroaches and tarantulas are my personal favorites. Cockroaches are easy and fun to handle, tarantulas are fun to watch. Expenses are negligible.
>>2130220
>>2130232
Thank you guys! He's about 9 weeks now. We've planned for the vet bills and all so far- apparently they charge less for the shots than what I was expecting.
I might try the newspaper thing! I've been looking into it for my chinchilla too but didn't know it could be used as litter. I plan on just making cat toys since I already make toys for my chinchilla, I was going to make a scratching post with some cardboard and then possibly turn an old nightstand into an area for the litterbox so it'd be out of the way but still easy to get to.
>>2130057
>You can let tap water sit out for a couple days and use it for most fish.
you cant do that any more since most tap water is treated with chloramine and not chlorine which actually gets worse during the wait
Buy a primer/water conditioner instead to make sure you dont poison your fish
>>2130235
When I said "costs are deflated," I meant the costs that are shown on the chart are underrepresented. In reality, the cost is going to be higher. I guess I shouldn't have expected the average /an/ poster to understand basic economics. Although I'm half-convinced you're trolling and not actually retarded.
>>2130220
I agree about the old dresser drawers. Another possibility is to use boxes from Costco, if there's one near you. I like being able to dispose of the entire box on a routine basis, it helps make cleaning everything easier.
>dog
>carrier
What the...?
Never, EVER buy cat toys if you have a budget. Paper towel/toilet rolls, the plastic things you take off milk jugs and the caps, string and tin foil, emptied out bottle with treats, a stick with shredded paper at the end, rolled up socks, a big box, crumpled up newspaper, plastic containers with cut holes in them and treats inside, tied rubber bands, shoe laces, etc etc. There needs to be an infographic of just cheap/free DIY cat toys
>>2131359
I think they mean travel carriers. Like the kind you would put in a plane that are supposed to be used in cars but no one bothers.
As far as small animals go, I save a ton of money by not buying bedding. Instead, I line the bottom of the cage with some newspaper, and on top of that I have some old towels or sheets to soak up any urine. That way, I shake the towels off daily or every other day (takes only 2 minutes) and after a week (chinchillas don't drink and therefore do not pee a lot, this may be more often for other animals) I wash the towels. It's only a little more added laundry. Or, if you are too cheap for the laundromat, you could really just scrub it well in water. just make sure it is thoroughly dry before using it again. As far as I know, this should work for all small animals guinea pig sized and up. I don't know how well it will work for mice and hamsters.
For mice and hamsters, I have used shredded newspaper and paper. Just make sure there isn't any envelopes and shit in there, it's bad enough they will have to deal with ink. And for the love of god, shake out the dust. Dust in bedding is probably the lead fucking killer of small mammals.
It's not ideal obviously, but the main think to take away from this is saving money isn't easy. Dealing with newspaper, you have to clean it often. No skimping on a clean because you're too tired or some shit, it has to be done.
>>2131351
Wouldn't the cost of buying a whole new 'litter box' ever week or every other week really add up after a while?
>>2131317
Would distilled water work also, and would it be cheaper?
>>2131410
Its effectively free if you shop at Costco, which I do. The only difficulty is finding a good box, sometimes the ones they have are too small/thin/torn.
I want to try and make an excel sheet about cheap alternatives for some of the more common pets like cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs etc. but I would want to find a range of money to put away for vet expenses. Would something like $30 a month for a cat for example be too high of an expectation? The idea is that the cheap alternatives would save enough money to put towards the vet costs
u wot, I spend way more than $150 a year on my cat.
Four cans a day, a dollar a can, divided by 3 cats, $486/cat/yr.
Worth it, though. That's peanuts, really, because I have a job and stuff.
>have snake
>spend £300 on equipment, a one-time investment barring the occasional heat bulb replacement
>new bag of shavings once every few months (£12)
>a rat once every week and a half (£1.20)
>lives for about 20 years
>I have no idea what medical stuff would cost
Comes to about £2,124
>>2129558
>a fish living for 10 years
bullshit
>needing both a carrier and a crate for your dog
just give it a bed and stick it in the trunk of your car
>license
what
>>2129562
>The cockatiel's lifespan in captivity is generally given as 16 to 25 years,[6] though it is sometimes given as short as 10 to 15 years, and there are reports of cockatiels living as long as 32 years, the oldest confirmed specimen reported being 36 years old.[7] Diet and exercise are major determining factors.
>>2132121
If you don't license your dog, you can get a hefty fucking fine. It only cost a couple bucks for a license. The actual vaccines you need to get a license are expensive though, and you should always have anyway
>>2132121
nigger some fish can live even up to 20+ years if you care for that shit right.
Those little goldfish you can get for like 20 cents can live up to their 30s if you're lucky and grow to a foot long
>>2132121
Last time I bought food for snakes, I had 9, and spent ~$280 on enough food for 6-8 months. 6 snakes ate weekly, 2 ate biweekly, and one ate once a month. Divided out I'm paying way less per snake than you are. Assuming they were eating at the same rate and all their food costed the same, that's ~$46.50/yr per snake, and $3.80/month per snake, $0.89/week dividing by 52 since there's roughly 52 weeks in a year.
I buy maybe $50-80 worth of bedding 2-3 times a year, so $100-240/year in bedding.
Snakes don't have regular health issues like other pets, so they're taken on an as-needed basis, so you can't really include vet costs.
Enclosure costs are going to vary by a LOT, but let's say I got my snakes each T12 PVC enclosures costing $509 each. That's including AP's basking shelf and lock, an 80 watt RBI panel, and a $30 Hydrofarm just to be cheap and heave one thermostat per enclosure (Herpstat just came out with a Herpstat 6 for $439!!!! Controls 6 heat sources!). That's a $4,581 one-time full set up for 9 snakes without going cheap. These things will last their entire lives without having to replace one item in 20-30+ years aside from random failures.
So:
$560/yr for food
$240/year in bedding
$4,581 one-time cost
Total: $5,381 for the first year
Assuming each snake lived 20 years: $107,620 ($11,957 for one snake)
30 years: $161,430 ($17,936 for one snake)
40 years: $215,240 ($23,915 for one snake)
And that's just for average lifespans, they can live even longer, and assuming all resources are distributed equally with no difference in care. Sorry I did it for 9 initially but it's easier to do it that way since I'm used to having multiples and some of the resources I can't actually figure out what I'd spend on a single snake since I buy in bulk.
And then people wonder how so many people with regular jobs can support 30+ snakes?
>>2132239
Well actually it'd be less than that, got caught up on the total.
It'd be more like:
20 years: $16,000 ($1,777 for one)
30 years: $24,000 ($2,666 for one)
40 years: $32,000 ($3,555 for one)
>>2132121
>>fish living for 10 years
>bullshit
Some species can live for 30 goddamn years, those bastards keep going like energizer batteries. The bigger the fish, the longer it lives.
the best $100 i spent on my 2 pets was an electric water fountain that needs $20 filters every 2.5 weeks
>>2129656
>Feeding a mammal to a plant
Literally the only reason to do this is to get your jollies off on cruelty to animals. Nepenthes and other carnivorous plants don't need fed period. And they certainly don't need fed vertebrates.
>>2129650
Why do plantfags here grow nothing but fly catchers?
Is there a cheap alternative to cat/dog food? Would feeding raw or doing home cooked meals be cheaper? Would it be a good idea to switch?
>>2132264
>cruelty to animals
Does it matter if they're already dead?
![[barks].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/X6TxJIC.jpg "[barks].jpg")
>>2132247
>>2132212
Huh, didn't know that about fish. Cool!
>>2132181
Just looked it up, apparently the UK abolished dog licenses back in the 80's because nobody bothered with them
>>2132239
Rats or mice? I know the place I get my rats at isn't that cheap, but I don't have the freezer space to buy in bulk.
>>2129558
Keep inverts. Some last for a good few years and nearly no vet bills.
>Fish
>Average life expectancy 10 years
>>2132367
Yeah. A lot of animals live longer than most people think. Goldfish can live 30 years if properly cared for.
>>2131396
I have ferrets and this. You don't need to buy toys. Make a dig box using some cheap long grain rice or ping pong balls in a plastic tub. Mine like blankets and socks and plastic bottles more than real toys.
You can also sew ferret hammocks really easily, which is cheaper than buying one. Not to mention the one I bought fell apart after a week and was way too small. I'm sure you could sew plush toys as well, but it wouldn't be a good idea for dogs that destroy toys.
I save money on food buy buying in bulk, both kibble and buying lots of raw at a time (a lot for a ferret is about a pack of liver, a pack of heart, and at least twice the amount of bone-in meat. If you buy bulk kibble make sure its in an air-tight container. For the meat, obviously you have to freeze it and thaw portions at a time. I also keep eggshells and grind them for some extra calcium.
>>2132315
I doubt feeding raw will be cheaper unless you can buy meat in bulk from a butcher's or something.
>>2132355
Rats, rabbits, and mice. I've got snakes ranging from 1'-2' garters to a 6.5' boa and a retic who has the potential to get 15'+.
Rabbits aren't included in the price though because I get them for free from my father.
I buy my rodents online in bulk, but I live in the US. Not sure if other countries have the same sort of thing available to them or not. We've got loads of online bulk rodent feeder websites here to choose from.
>>2132399
fish are probably the most underrated pet in longevity since normies get them, slap them into a bowl or a small tank without cycling it it, and they live to like a few weeks, a year tops
Most die before becoming the massive monsters some can grow up to
>>2132938
When I was like 4 I got some fish at the carnival and my parents put em in a shitty fish bowl. Somehow they lived for three years.
>>2132399
Won a goldfish at a carnival for whatever reason we gave it to my bros gf fish tank it practically tripled in size and bullied her exotic fish
What's a chameleon gonna run me?
>>2129558
I had one like this years ago...just 2 years of life..because my brother bought me another black one..mine was older...
one day I found the gold one dead and the other with its fin damaged..after 2 days he died ..never again :c
Chinchilla dust is expensive, so don't throw it out after each use. Pick the poop and scoop the pee out. And fuck buying a chinchilla box, literally use any container that your chinchilla can comfortably roll in. Shoe boxes work very well.
And the small animal food with bits of Timothy hay? Yeah fuck that. They charge $5 extra for hay dust when you get that for free in every bag of hay that you need to buy anyways. Simply reach into the bottom of your bag of hay, and mix the dust into the food if you want to be fancy.
If you live near a tractor supply, they have an excellent house brand of pet food that's pretty cheap. It comes in grain free too. Called 4Health.
I have a large Blue Parrot, usually one of the most expensive animals to keep and I spend less than 40 dollars a month on care due to my expert saving techniques.
>Food
I only feed my parrot crackers from the dollar store. It needs at most five or six per day and you can get like 100 crackers for a dollar. Also stops it begging which is good. Occasionally I'll give it some cheese with the crackers as well
>Housing
I bought a large model of Blackbeard the Pirate from a fairground supply store for 30 dollars. The parrot lives in the garage and doesn't need a stand because it naturally sits on Blackbeards shoulder. I also have a bathtub full of water in the garage that I occasionally splash so the parrot thinks the pirate ship is moving which means he never wants to go outside because he knows he'll be at port soon.
>Dealing with waste
The crackers ensure nice dry poop. Which is very easy to clean with a standard vacuum cleaner.
>Toys and play
As parrots can talk they don't really need any toys. I usually leave a microphone in the garage and hit record so the parrot can record a podcast. It loves it.
>Medical Costs
My parrot has no medical issues at the moment. He used to have scurvy but that was part of his settling into his enclosure.
>>2133562
I know this is bait but i'm still upset
I have four dogs, a kitten and 3 ferrets
Dogs get cheap kibble which is £8 for 15kg and that lasts a month between 4, supplemented with meat that I hunt for free. They don't have toys or treats, and rarely need a vet. Add collar + leash and they come £150 a year for all 4.
Kitten is an expensive little motherfucker, £10 a week in food, £75 spay, £50 in toys since I bought her, £5 weekly litter, £20 litter tray and £50 scratching tree. So she adds up to £520 a year without one time purchases.
Ferrets cost me £10 biweekly in bedding, and are exclusively fed on rabbit/dog kibble. Cage cost me £20 initially and £40 to patch up, so they only come to about £260 a year.
Overall just get a dog
>>2133562
I kek'd
>>2134142
You could cut kitten expenses by a ton, you know.
Also
>Buying cat toys
>>2129558
>Neutering a Rabbing $75
Fuck, I live in Mexico and it costs $300 at least.
>>2134142
If you keep fedding your dogs and ferret this crap they re not gonna get old. Your ferret need a hight amount of protein and more taurine and your dogs gonna have kidney problems.
>>2134142
Whoa whoa whoa. "Rabbit/dog kibble"? For ferrets? Feed it good, high protein cat/kitten food and raw meat if it will take it. Rabbit food is for herbivores, dog food is for omnivores, and ferrets-like cats- are obligate carnivores. High protein, low-carb food for ferret and kitty. Please hear my advice
You can also litter train it easy so you don't need to buy bedding, just use blankets or towels for it to snuggle in
I'm curious what your ferret looks like.
>>2134445
Im thinking, because they hunt, they mean dead rabbit
>>2134401
I have kept ferrets for a long long time, all very healthy. I don't know how you get the idea that their protein intake is inadequate on a diet of fresh meat. Same for my dogs, they are working dogs - if they were not healthy on their diet I would know about it.
>>2134445
Sorry for the misunderstanding, I'd never feed my ferrets rabbit food. They get raw rabbit and dog kibble every day. They live outside in a large enclosure, so litter training isn't too high of a priority. I'll be sure to get some photos of them!
