newbie trying to save some $$$....

Ok, I want to set up a few dif habitats for a small variety of species.

I dont want to sound cheap, but moneys' tighter than a frogs ^$$....
and that's water tight ! So I go to the pet store and price the following:
10 gal tank- x3
75 watt light-x3
75 watt light bulb- x6 ( 3 daylight / 3 blacklight
under-tank heater- x3
"strip" thermometer- x3
hygrometer- x3

I stopped there .... it added up to $300.00 That's before substrate, and before any SCORPIONS , lol. not to mention things I probably forgot or didnt know I needed.

So, I need some advice. Do I really need to buy sand at the pet store for like 7 dollars a pound...is their something wrong with a 40 lb bag from home depot for the same price ?
Do i need under-tank heaters...or will the lights put off enough heat ?

The pet store seems to be pricing stuff WAY to high... do I even need a pet store ???

Ok well you dont need Hydrometets, strip thermometers are useless so dont bother with them, you dont really need the light bulbs so you could drop those aswell.

Simple scorpion set up RUB ( really usefull box ) with a heat mat behind it substrate and happy scorpion inside
Magic and much much cheaper

You can even use bedrollers the smaller kind if you want too works perfectly i use all kinds of boxes to house scorps in.. saves alot of space..

ok... but say its a desert species. is it important to buy sand from a pet shop that is " steril " or is it cool to get some "wild substrate" ? or .... maybe not "wild" but from home depot ....

I don't want them to get sick...but if i can save a dollar i will.....

A lot of people on here have purchased play sand from Home Depot without a problem. I got gardening sand from them because I didn't need a whole lot.

Is a heating pad on the side really needed? Ive had scorps for a couple of years now & Ive not seen a need. Kim

Depends on how warm you keep the area the tanks are in . . . I've never used heating pads, and my forest scorps develop just fine, but my Middle-Eastern species seem to be below their developmental threshold.