HEY Canadians! Where do YOU buy supplies??

[fairysari]

Lately I have switched back to aspen bedding, so I have become more conscious of how much I am spending on piggie supplies. I thought I'd start a thread to see where other Canadians buy supplies for their pigs, and where they get the best prices. Maybe we can all help each other save some money, and locate some stuff we otherwise might not be able to find.

I live in Hamilton, and the best place I have found to buy hay is at Pet Valu, where I can buy a 96 oz (6 pound) bag of Kaytee hay for just under $20 with tax. This lasts me two weeks with four pigs. Pet Valu is also where I would buy stuff like water bottles, since I try avoid the stores that do sell animals as much as possible.

For shavings, it has been harder to find a good deal! I have been getting my boyfriend to pick up shavings at TSC in K-W when he is there. The really big bag is $12, it does about 2x13 worth of cage twice. They also have bags of softwood the same size for $5. The aspen I have also found at Ren's in Oakville, but I can't remember exactly how much it was.

If you are looking for Oxbow products, Canadian Pet Connection in Oakville has lots of stuff, and they ship. $14.99 for 5lb cavy cuisine, $25 for 10lb, $100 for 50lb. They only had 5lb bags when I was there, but sold me two for the price of a 10 lb. They hay is pretty expensive, at about $50 for 9lbs, the largest size they had.

Global Pet Foods in Kitchener has Oxbow stuff as well, but the 5lb bags of cavy cuisine are $18. They only had 40 oz bags of hay, which were about $20 as well I think. I wasn't there myself - I had my boyfriend call me from the store, but then told him not to buy anything because it was too expensive.

If anyone wants to add local stores where you have found good deals to this thread please do! I am especially looking for somewhere to get a bale of hay!

[sophistic_chick]

I live in Halifax NS. For my supplies:

*hay: wal-mart 48oz bag $7.88
*Cavy Cuisine: Vetopia $16.95 (they have oxbow treats and stuff too)
*Bedding: Valleyfield Farms feed store 3 cubic feet compressed $6 tax inc.
*toys: wal-mart, dollarama, global pet foods,etc.

[Terekins]

I'm in Halifax too, and I find the best place for shavings and hay is Zellers. Sphistic_Chick, where are Global Pet Foods and the feed place located? I'm having difficulty finding toys, and haven't found cozies anywhere.
Thanks!

[Naomi]

here in BC I buy my stuff at the local farm supply/feed store called Hickocks. Proform pellets in bulk bags that they make up so I don't know how much per pound but I seem to get a lot more for cheaper than a bag of Martins, and the Natures Cafe timothy hay is $5.98 for 2 lbs. I wanted to order from Canadian Pet Connection but my hubby took one look at the prices and said 'NO WAY!' and that didn't include shipping.

[piggly wiggly]

I find the big giant bags of aspen are the cheapest at petsmart. But since I have also stopped shopping there, I have been going to pet value and the prices aren't too bad for the big bag. I have gotten a huge gigantic bag of kiln dried pine from pet value for $8.99 for 2.2 cubic feet. But the lady said they don't get it in much, it is usally an accident as they don't order the kiln dried, just the regular stuff. I have not really looked anywhere else.

[Piggiepen]

I like Tisol Pet Foods for supplies here. They sell the big compressed cubes of shavings for 8.99 and have good prices on things like pigloos, bowls and toys. They sell Martin's guinea pig pellets and will special order Mazuri pellets for me. As for hay, the best deals are from local hay/feed retailers. A 125 pound bale of Timothy costs $11.25. Which sure beat out Kaytee's 96oz bag at $21.99!

[laura1]

Hey I am from Hamilton as well. I just wanted to mention that TSC does have shavings at a very good price. There is one in Grimsby so its not too far for anyone in the Hamilton area.
I know its bad but i wait for Petsmart to have a sale on Carefresh, i have 2 piggies, one of which is a skinny pig, so thats the main bedding i use. And that seems to be the best spot to get it cheap.
I am going to check out PetValu for hay, sounds like a good deal.
If anyone in the general Hamilton area can find hay in bulk, PLEASE let us know

[lynn's Cavies]

I live in BC and shop at a Feed store called Willow Wind. It is privately owned so I do not think it is anywhere else. But if you live on Vancouver Island I strongely suggest going there. They sell Pro-Form, a 20kg bag, for $11. Their hay is $2.50 and comes in large clear garbage bags. It's very green and dust free.

I like shopping here because they do not sell animals at all. Plus, it's very inexpensive.

Lynn

[merrycat]

Is there anyone from Edmonton Alberta who's found a source for the mesh cube grids? The closest place the locator could find for me was calgary, and I can't drive that far. Superstore and Walmart on the southside both carry only the regular sized grid. Thanks for your help!

[fairysari]

Have you tried Home Depot for mesh grids? I have seen them at Home Depot in Ontario.

[bunnylover]

for shavings i use to get the HUGE bags for 6$. i suggest checking out local coop stores if you have them. This is when i lived in Cornwall..I find it harder to find these sorts of stores living in oshawa

Originally Posted by fairysari

Lately I have switched back to aspen bedding, so I have become more conscious of how much I am spending on piggie supplies. I thought I'd start a thread to see where other Canadians buy supplies for their pigs, and where they get the best prices. Maybe we can all help each other save some money, and locate some stuff we otherwise might not be able to find.

I live in Hamilton, and the best place I have found to buy hay is at Pet Valu, where I can buy a 96 oz (6 pound) bag of Kaytee hay for just under $20 with tax. This lasts me two weeks with four pigs. Pet Valu is also where I would buy stuff like water bottles, since I try avoid the stores that do sell animals as much as possible.

For shavings, it has been harder to find a good deal! I have been getting my boyfriend to pick up shavings at TSC in K-W when he is there. The really big bag is $12, it does about 2x13 worth of cage twice. They also have bags of softwood the same size for $5. The aspen I have also found at Ren's in Oakville, but I can't remember exactly how much it was.

If you are looking for Oxbow products, Canadian Pet Connection in Oakville has lots of stuff, and they ship. $14.99 for 5lb cavy cuisine, $25 for 10lb, $100 for 50lb. They only had 5lb bags when I was there, but sold me two for the price of a 10 lb. They hay is pretty expensive, at about $50 for 9lbs, the largest size they had.

Global Pet Foods in Kitchener has Oxbow stuff as well, but the 5lb bags of cavy cuisine are $18. They only had 40 oz bags of hay, which were about $20 as well I think. I wasn't there myself - I had my boyfriend call me from the store, but then told him not to buy anything because it was too expensive.

If anyone wants to add local stores where you have found good deals to this thread please do! I am especially looking for somewhere to get a bale of hay!

[fairysari]

Has anyone found HEMP shavings in the really big bags?

[sophistic_chick]

Originally Posted by Terekins

I'm in Halifax too, and I find the best place for shavings and hay is Zellers. Sphistic_Chick, where are Global Pet Foods and the feed place located? I'm having difficulty finding toys, and haven't found cozies anywhere.
Thanks!

Global Pet Foods is located in Bayer's Lake right behind the McDonalds near the Carsand Mosher. As for the feed store thats located in Lower Sackville.

[Sensor Girl]

Right now I often go to "Mr. Pets" on commercial drive and 1st avenue (I live in Vancouver, BC) cause they're quite cheap, but they don't always have the timothy hay and only have two kinds of pellets, but they are MUCH better than the petcetera. Petcetera never seems to have the timothy hay (though I did score some timothy hay pellets there the other day!) and they charge an arm and a leg for their products. Does anyone know how Tisol is with product availiability and prices?

I also recently learned that you can get farm-quality hay through the Vancouver shelter (Clark and 7th) for $5 a bag. I haven't bought any yet, but I'll report back when i do.

Great idea for a thread fairysari!!

[Ragous]

I have found Hemp bedding in big bags at my local Walmart before, I used it when we had 'Geri' our Gerbil. Since then I use Kiln dried pine and fleece. When I had rats I did not use any shavings at all but lots of blankets for them to tunnel in....they loved it.

Here in Manitoba I usually go to Petcetera only for shavings, I hate the store but they are the only place I found to have cheap large bags of shavings. If there is another Manitobian out there that can tell me different PLEASE tell me where else to go.......I really hate this store. I have seen them with 4 guinea pigs in one 10 gallon aquarium, with only a small bowl of water and no food or hay. And they also don't check or garuntee the sex of there animals.

As for pellets I go to Petvalue a nice store that does not EVER sell animals.

[fairysari]

My local Pet Valu will special order stuff in for me - maybe they can get big bags of shavings for you. If you can find a feed store, they might have big bags of shavings too.

[clotho]

I had great luck with Pet Valu in my area. The manager is willing to special order in the big bags of shavings for me if I buy them 6 at a time. She is giving me a 15% discount for buying them in that quantity. That works out to paying for 5 bags and getting one free. I suggest trying to work out a deal with a local store in your area if you have the space to stores large amounts of items like shavings.

As for pellets, I am going to switch to oxbow as soon as the pellets I have now are gone. I will be heading to Canadian Pet Connection in Oakville to pick up the 50 lb bag. When I called, they said to just call ahead to make sure they have the large bags in stock because they sell fast and then they have to bring more from their warehouse.

[Sensor Girl]

For anyone interested, I was quite impressed by Tisol the other day! If you live in Vancouver, I reccommend it!

[Carissa]

Here in Manitoba I usually go to Petcetera only for shavings, I hate the store but they are the only place I found to have cheap large bags of shavings. If there is another Manitobian out there that can tell me different PLEASE tell me where else to go.......I really hate this store

I've had a terrible time trying to find cheap, safe shavings in Manitoba as well. I ended up switching to fleece for most of the cage and using Yesterday's News for the hay area.

Just a note for Manitobians, I've gotten Critical Care from Centennial Animal Hospital on Pembina Hwy in Winnipeg. They even mailed it out to me when it was an emergency because I live over an hour outside the city and couldn't make it in to the city because of a storm. I remember It costing me an arm and a leg but at the time I didn't care. They may have other oxbow products too, I'm not sure. Here is the site:

Centennial Animal Hospital

As for pellets I go to Petvalue a nice store that does not EVER sell animals

I buy everthing at Petvalu as well for that very same reason, which is why I was astonished when I walked into the Petvalu in Grant Park Shopping Mall and found guinea pigs in tiny aquariums. I always thought that every Petvalu was animal free like our local store.

Our local Petvalu is pretty good they sell the usual crappy cages and toys but they also make a genuine effort to have the stuff I need and one girl knows my routine so well she often has all my hay and bedding ready for me when I come. They also seem to support the newly established humane society in the area which is great.

[Mthermit]

For hay take a drive in the country. Often you will see sign posted with hay for sale on bale stacks or local stores. For $3-$5 you could get a 50lb bale of good hay - Keep it dry and its just as good if not better than what you are buying in the store. Local farm supply and feed stores will sell you a 50lb bag of guinea pig food for under $15.00 or you can buy the large bags of the feeds you want and mix them yourself.