I am currently using a little under 1 giant bag of aspen a week. The rodents are in my den- which is a few steps off the kitchen and 5 feet from the dining room table- so they are kept immaculately clean.
The down-side to this is that at 5-6 bucks a bag- it's really adding up quick.

I've asked around at the pet stores and farm supply stores and they will order me a pallet of the stuff- but I won't get any discount doing it that way.

I have looked online at buying an entire pallet- and while I get a discount- I pay shipping so the price goes right back up to 5-6 bucks a bag....

Am I missing something?!


Same goes for buying the purina or mazuri rat/hog/whatever-animal lab block feed for rats/mice.
The shipping is just astronomical for the stuff.

Am I stuck with the prices or is there a secret I haven't stumbled upon?



As far as storing full pallets of the stuff- I have heard that the lab block food will start to mold and by the time I get to the bottom of the pallet- it will all be waste-- Does storing it in a large deep freeze solve that problem?

Is there anything I should worry about in regards to keeping a pallet of bedding?- I don't see it molding but-- bugs?.... ???


Thanks
~Beth

There is no cheap way around it so it is what it is....just be thankful you can use pine and don't have to go with aspen like we do due to my allergies. :cheers:

Sometimes 3 or 4 people will go in on a truck load - it's a lot of food, but it works out cheaper when 4 people split it.... you just gotta find a few people to split it with in your area.

Do you have a Tractor supply near you?, thay have dog food called doggy bags for 12.00 a 40 pound bag. Your getting a good deal on bedding, I pay around 5.00 for my big bags and they are pine not aspen.

Do you have a Tractor supply near you?, thay have dog food called doggy bags for 12.00 a 40 pound bag. Your getting a good deal on bedding, I pay around 5.00 for my big bags and they are pine not aspen.


Thats what I am paying for my pine too.

And I pay $15 for a 50lb bag of hog food for my ASFs which lasts me a long long time, probably 2 months, I haven't really kept track. I get that stuff from my rat breeder. I also sometimes get bedding from him. It is about the same price as retail.

Do you have a Tractor supply near you?, thay have dog food called doggy bags for 12.00 a 40 pound bag. Your getting a good deal on bedding, I pay around 5.00 for my big bags and they are pine not aspen.
How long does that Doggy Bag brand last for you? I swear when I ran out of Mazuri and bought some my rats went through the whole bag in a matter of days.

How long does that Doggy Bag brand last for you? I swear when I ran out of Mazuri and bought some my rats went through the whole bag in a matter of days.

Yes you are right they do eat through it pretty fast. Honeslty I think they eat through it quicker because they like it more. So I just give a certain amount on top of the mesh every day.

i thought pine wasnt good for your reptiles as bedding? everything i have read says do not use pine as a substrate.

Kiln dried pine works fine for rodents.

I prefer the pellet type bedding that breaks down into a fine powdery sawdust when it gets wet. It is a bit on the pricey side, but the rodents stay cleaner on it than they do the pine. I use Pine when I can't get the good stuff.

I get kiln dried pine by the bail at 6.84 a bail which lasts me almost 2 months and I have 7 concrete tubs and 6 birthing tubs in use. I get it at a local feed mill. I also get 50lb bags of mazuri for 25 dollars and I get this from a tractor/feed store. They only carried 25lb bags but have special ordered me the 50lb bags at only 10 dollars more a bag than I was paying for the 25lb bag at 15 bucks. You just have to do some searching on the web and do some calling around. Thats how I found my stuff. Not that any of this was any help but just some info. Try looking in the yellow pages for feed mills and smaller family owned farming stores like tsc.