Survey Results!

First off, thanks to all of you that helped me put together some ideas for a new reptile division of my company. Here are the results in the top few products that you would like to see invented / modified. Please read all the way through and let me know if you think you would buy them. Keep in mind that my company is one of the best-known manufacturers of dog / cat products in the world today. We have offices in Belgium, London, Columbia, and the good ole' USA. Our products are sold in Petco, Petsmart, Lowe's, Depot, Wal-Mart etc..

Product 1: A modular enclosure with the following attributes...
Each level is equipped with florescent bulb socket, incandescent socket, and heat.
Plastic must be smooth inside for scat removal.
All controls mounted on 1 side of the enclosure.
Each modular unit has pop-up connectors that plug in to the next, thus occupying only 2 electrical outlets.
Divider can go in the middle, so unit can hold up to 2 animals (individually housed) per level.
Doors open down for easy cleaning.
Knockout templates on the side for arboreal species dowels.
Removable exact-fit tub for easy cleaning of the bottom of the enclosure.
Resistant to bacteria, mold.
Available in various sizes, but will be roughly 1/2 the price of high end enclosures such as "Vision". A fully equipped module will cost roughly $100.00 for a 48" X 30" X 12" module. Comparable cages are on the market now for apx $299 per module.



Product 2: Simply affordable lighting. When buying lighting, you are buying the name. With our potential volume, we will cut the price of bulbs a minimum of 50%. Think of a trip to Wal-Mart or the drug store. Do you ever buy generic?
Our lights will have the same attributes as the more expensive brands, but at a lower cost. For example, 40W to 100W heat bulbs, 2.99 to 3.99 per. I guarantee that the companies now in business have pennies in them.


Product 3 Reptile Specific Incubator with the following attributes:
Holds 4 clutches of eggs.
Thermo set to 10 different positions for specific temperatures (+/- 1%)
Guidebook has easy to follow instructions on incubation (I.e. for Macklot’s Python, setting #6 for 45 days).
Internal humidistat.
Digital temp / humidity display with failsafe remote temp display.
See through top.
Sells for less than $125


Product 4: Complete housing module and all needed accessories to get started. Comes with an enclosure with all the attributes described in # 1, has all lights installed, heat pad, vibration pad (for feeding crickets to beardies or leopards, etc.), substrate, water bowl, misting bottle, arboreal perches, decorative options (i.e. faux rock back wall), vines, hidebox, etc.
Current market price for these kits range from $100 to $1000 (depending on the size of the enclosure and the animal to be kept). Our company could make it for $50 to $400. How? Again, though our vast array of contacts & suppliers and volume pricing. Keep in mind; you will recognize our name as one of the most trusted brands in the pet industry...

Product 5: Supplies...
Small supplies and the prices I think we can source and sell the for:
Tongs: Currently, $60 to $100, we could sell them for $20 to $50.
Hooks: Currently, $17 to $70, we could sell them for $10 to $40.
Gloves: Currently, $99 to $150, we could sell them for under $50.
Walk in "net and PVC" enclosures: Currently, LLL has them priced from $99 to $200. We could sell them from $40 to $80.
Enclosure heating pads: Currently selling for $29 to $150 on-line. We ALREADY make a similar product that we could adapt for this purpose. I could market and sell them for $20 to $45 (for a larger size).
Digital Thermostat: $49 to $150 currently, we can sell them for $20 to $50 for a dual W/ remote display.
Finally, bedding.... They make a killing off of substrate. We could sell it at 50% it's current price and make a killing.

Now, would you guys buy this stuff or would you stick to the brands you use now. Any thoughts or insights will be greatly appreciated. If you liked the products, how likely are you to remain loyal to our brand?

A little about me: 32, 1 child, 1 wife, 24 snakes, 1 beardie, 2 Leopard g.'s. I have been working with non-venomous snakes for about 5 to 7 years now. I am passionate about the hobby and I want to make things easier for "Keepers". If things are better, cheaper, and easier for us, we can buy more snakes and help get young one's involved in our hobby. We can also help raise awareness of the plight of Herps in the wild that need our help and protection.
Thanks a million folks!

Sounds too good to be true. Someone in sales who isnt trying to rip people off. :D

I think its awesome that you can provide those prices for products that every reptile owner needs.

Some things about #1 intrigue me. Now, I have absolutely no need for lighting sockets and whatnot. I don't like clutter in my cages. The reason I like boaphile over vision is that the cages are lightweight and have nothing unneccesary in them. If you were to use flexwatt for your heat, then I would be a happy camper. The problem is that in a reptile room you want to use the same type of heater for your stacking cages because the thermostat can't control both 3" and 11" flexwatt. I use 11" for all of my stacking cages.. if you have dividable cages, you're going to need the option of two pieces of flexwatt, one for each half (or alternately one in the middle that effectively heats both sides.

What I really like about your plan is the removable bottom for easy cleaning. It would have to be a perfect fit so that liquids could not leak through to the bottom and cause problems.

As I suggested in the first thread, the smooth plastic is a great thing for ease of cleaning.

It would be good to have the entire thing made of the plastic (plus bolts and whatnot) since it does not rot and is easy to clean.

Just make sure the enclosures house the reptiles correctly. I see garbage that is not even worth buying sometimes because it would not hold the reptiles it is designed for in the BEST fashion.....they were probably created by someone that 'read a book' on the animal and has never kept one for an extended period of time.

Make sure your tongs and hooks are strong and reliable. I have spend over $200 on three pieces of field equipment....tongs, a standard hook, and a field hook. IMO...cost does not matter when it comes to field equipment....quality does.

Remember with heated rack systems and incubators that come with a thermostat......the thermostat is what will make or break the product...if you sell a really nice rack with a crappy thermostat...word would get out...and you will not sell near as many....plus you will have people beating your doors down because their animals died or got sick.

Hope that helps!

I'll add that another thing I like about boaphile is that it comes in a size that is only 11" tall.. which is plenty high for most snakes, but allows for more space to stack vertically.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lasher

Product 1: A modular enclosure with the following attributes...
Each level is equipped with florescent bulb socket, incandescent socket, and heat.
Plastic must be smooth inside for scat removal.
All controls mounted on 1 side of the enclosure.
Each modular unit has pop-up connectors that plug in to the next, thus occupying only 2 electrical outlets.
Divider can go in the middle, so unit can hold up to 2 animals (individually housed) per level.
Doors open down for easy cleaning.
Knockout templates on the side for arboreal species dowels.
Removable exact-fit tub for easy cleaning of the bottom of the enclosure.
Resistant to bacteria, mold.
Available in various sizes, but will be roughly 1/2 the price of high end enclosures such as "Vision". A fully equipped module will cost roughly $100.00 for a 48" X 30" X 12" module. Comparable cages are on the market now for apx $299 per module.

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This would be great, but same as said above offer a version with no lights, sockets or removable bottom. With snakes the removable bottom would likely not work well because snakes like to defecate and urinate in the corners and would likely get in between. If you designed them just to be easily wiped out for snakes that would be great. Like said before flexwatt would be the best heat for these. ;)

Thanks for all the thoughts and imput. PLEASE keep it coming!

Something I'd like is a built in spot to hang your thermostat on the front of the cage (perhaps somewhere on the front door?) as it is I have my t-stats cluttering the floor which isn't very nice looking, lol.

I also like having one wide door the whole length of the cage. This makes cleaning easier (plus getting a cage liner out would be simpler) than having two separate doors. Dividable caging isn't very attractive to me for this reason.. if you're using a dividable cage for one animal, you've got two doors which makes for a dividing support in the middle of the front of the cage that you have to work around when cleaning. I'd prefer several sizes of cage that a growing snake can graduate to rather than a dividable cage. This is just my preference.

One more thing that would be wonderful in my opinion is if you also manufactured quality water dishes that are made for the cages (smooth shiny plastic is a big plus for ease of cleaning here too!) What would make it great is if there was a way to easily anchor the water dish to the side of the cage to prevent the snake from dumping over the dish and flooding the cage (an all too common problem I'm afraid)

do you have any spec/details on the exact type and thickness of plastic used for racks/cages?


what kind of thermostat? details please? any photos or prototypes? i'll be glad to test one out!


vaughn

Ok, I am a computer nerd and I have done alot of network administration and what not. The owner of the company of my last job had everything connected to the network for his own monitoring and what not. He had the buisness thermostats connected via IP as well as his home's thermostat and lights. Well, he also is an avid saltwater fish breeder and he had his whole aquarium setups on IP so that he can see what the numbers were from the office.

OK here is where I'm going with it ---> How about adding network support to a helix or something or at least a serial port.

It's way out there but I can dream can't I? :) LOL...Just think, you are at work and you're bored, so you just login to your temp control and see what the vitals in your breeder room....It's completely uneeded, but cool :)


WITH ALL THAT ASIDE, I WOULD BUY THE GOODS LISTED