Odd pricing at my Wal Mart

[Leaf]

I just went to pick up a few needed items.



I'm out of pellet food I normally buy at the feed store but thats no worry. Between veggies and hay my guys aren't starving.

I saw small world, 8# bag for over $10. Is that normal? I dont recall if thats even a good brand. I just glanced at the price as I skimmed for a small bag of timothy. I buy 50# at the feed store (different brand) for about $12.

I'm pinched for hay right now as well so I thought I'd check out Wal Mart's prices, though store bought hay like that gouges you, especially if you buy real bales...

Anyhow, the timothy usually runs around $3.50 a bagged "bale" but was priced at $1.49. I bought a few of the bags to tide me over until I can get some "real hay" but overall I thought the prices were odd this morning. :?

 

[naturestee]

Small World is bad stuff. It's amazing how much they charge for it. Odd that the hay was so cheap though.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Prices ARE weird everywhere! Petsmart charges $14 for the 5# bag of Oxbow BBT!!! I get it for $8 at Pet supply plus! They are supposed to be checking on ordering my big bags for me. I get the 10# for like $15 there. That's FINE!

*real hay* LOL! I hate our *real hay* cause it's just not as yummy looking I guess. I mix it up tho. I get their Oxbow, Kaytee, L&M (they don't like that much), Barn hay, and now and then Oat or Orchard grass.

 

[naturestee]

Bo- I noticed Petsmart's pricing too. I can get 10 lbs of BBT for $11 just down the street. They charge more for everything there, even normal brands of cat food like Nutro. I can usually save at least $5 buying it elsewhere. So I do.

 

[JimD]

I would bet that we have some of the highest prices around.

10# bag of Kaytee Timothy complete $17.99 - $19.99

6# bag of Kaytee Timothy hay $14.99 - $17.99

I order my hay from Kleenmamas and it works out to a little over $1/pound.

We're not rural enough to have feed stores

 

[PixieStixxxx]

I live in a big city, but if I need farm hay I need to drive out a good hour at the least to a farm. Otherwise, it's tiny bagged hay from the pet store for the same price as bales of farm hay.

Oxbow is about $2 - 3 per pound here =T

 

[BethM]

We started buying our Oxbow BB/T at PetSmart when they started carrying it. Actually, Jason just picked up a bag today. 5# bag for $12.99 plus tax. Before that, I was getting it at another (local) pet store for $9.99, and they had the punch card for a free bag after you buy 8 or 10 bags or something. But, they sell baby bunnies, and their housing for them in the store is REALLY BAD. Sorry for the caps, but it is that bad.

I decided I can't support that, just to save $25 or $30/year.

How long will a sealed bag of pellets keep? My PetSmart doesn't carry the 10# bags, and I can't store more than 5# of pellets normally. (That lasts my 3 bunnies one or two months, I'm not completely sure.) But if they ever go on sale, I might stock up if they will keep for awhile.

 

[JimD]

Most pellets have a one year shelf life, if the bags are still sealed.

There should be a customer service contact on the bag. Call/Email them and they'll let you know what their manufacturing standards are.

Pellets can also be frozen....not sure how long they'll stay good.

 

[BethM]

JimD wrote:

Most pellets have a one year shelf life, if the bags are still sealed.

There should be a customer service contact on the bag. Call/Email them and they'll let you know what their manufacturing standards are.

Pellets can also be frozen....not sure how long they'll stay good.

Ok, thanks! I'll check into it.
Also, my HRS group meets at an animal shelter, I might try to find out what pellets they use for their bunnies (they only take 2 at a time) and donate a bag or two if/when PetSmart puts them on sale.

 

[Erins Rabbits]

Wal Mart has terrible pricing on that kind of stuff! I buy my rabbit goodies from KW or our local feed stores. I currently pay $16 for a bag of Purina Show and $1 for a (roughly) 15lb bag of any hay I choose, even with five bunnies and a litter, it lasts me a month. I've got it lucky I guess.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

In a pinch I have to pay Petsmart's prices but they aren't very good at keeping it in stock.

I love Pet Supply Plus.... I'd much rather deal with them!

We had a small - cruddy petstore that carried Oxbow, but they had really yucky cages and sold baby bunnies... which they kept right next to the ginormous snakes...... :X

 

[kherrmann3]

That pellet food at Wal*Mart (near me) was less than $1 a pound, if I remember correctly. I could be wrong. That stuff was NASTY, though. It was ashy gray, not a nice, greenish-brown like good pellets, and it smelled weird. That's what Emma was fed before I got her. I put Oxbow in her cage and she scarfed it down. She turns her nose up at the old stuff now. I toss it outside for the critters (who won't touch it, either). What's that telling you?

I don't like the Kaytee hay. The stuff that Emma came with (once again, that's all she was given) was all pokey and stiff. It was mostly stems, not nice blades of hay. I cut it up and mix it with Oxbow orchard grass and timothy hay, plus a little Kleenmama's if they behave themselves. I have seen Emma binky when I grab the garbage bag that the Kleenmama's hay is stored in. She likes it THAT much. The "leftover" hay on the floor of their cage is normally the Kaytee stalks. I find that Kaytee also bothers my allergies (well, makes my skin itchier) than other hays. Maybe it's just the pokey factor...

 

[BethM]

kherrmann3 wrote:

I don't like the Kaytee hay. The stuff that Emma came with (once again, that's all she was given) was all pokey and stiff. It was mostly stems, not nice blades of hay. I cut it up and mix it with Oxbow orchard grass and timothy hay, plus a little Kleenmama's if they behave themselves. I have seen Emma binky when I grab the garbage bag that the Kleenmama's hay is stored in. She likes it THAT much. The "leftover" hay on the floor of their cage is normally the Kaytee stalks. I find that Kaytee also bothers my allergies (well, makes my skin itchier) than other hays. Maybe it's just the pokey factor...

My buns have been spoiled with American Pet Diner hay. It is pricey, but still works out cheaper than buying Kaytee or Oxbow hay at the petstore. (My HRS group buys it 2 pallets at a time and sells boxes at monthly meetings, so it is cheaper than ordering one box at a time. Another rabbit rescue here does that, as well.) One 25# box lasts my 3 bunnies about 6 weeks.
Once we ran out, a couple days before the HRS meeting, so I got a bag of Oxbow to tide them over. Nick and Amelia would not touch it. They'd stick their noses in the hay and root around, eat maybe one pieces, and then leave it. As soon as I put the APD hay in, they scarfed it down.
(Tobi did eat the Oxbow hay, but she has also eaten her plastic house and a ball of her own fur :shock: so I don't think her opinion counts.)

 

[dootsmom]

Sweet Meadow Farms sells timothy pellets. With delivery costs it runs $43
for a 50# bag. My rabbits prefer it over Oxbow.

 

[BSAR]

Wow those prices are crazy! I would never spend 20 bucks on a 10 lb bag of food or hay!

Up here we usualy spend about $15.00 on a regular normal sized bale of hay. And I think about 12.00 or less for a 50lb bag of feed. This is at Del's by the way.

 

[undergunfire]

BSAR wrote:

Wow those prices are crazy! I would never spend 20 bucks on a 10 lb bag of food or hay!

I do have to add, though, that most of the pellets a lot of us seem to feed are timothy based...so we have to buy the more "expensive" brands because there isn't much choice out there :?. I can get alfalfa based pellets from the feed store in a 50lbs bag for dirt cheap, but they always say to feed adult bunnies timothy based pellets.

 

[BethM]

undergunfire wrote:

BSAR wrote:

Wow those prices are crazy! I would never spend 20 bucks on a 10 lb bag of food or hay!

I do have to add, though, that most of the pellets a lot of us seem to feed are timothy based...so we have to buy the more "expensive" brands because there isn't much choice out there :?. I can get alfalfa based pellets from the feed store in a 50lbs bag for dirt cheap, but they always say to feed adult bunnies timothy based pellets.

Nick has a very sensitive tummy, so it works best for me to feed a more expensive brand. When I first got him and Amelia, I was told they had been eating Kaytee Timothy Complete, so that's what I kept them on. It isn't the worst pellet out there (though far from the best), and is much less expensive than the Oxbow. However, I could only feed it twice a week, and then only small amounts, without poor Nick leaving gazillions of cecals around. After switching to the Oxbow BB/T, they get some pellets every day without the cecal problems, plus all 3 bunnies seem to have more energy now.
Luckily, I can afford the increased price, so it's better for me to pay for a more expensive pellet and have a happier bunny.

PetSmart is fairly close to me, while the feed store is a long drive, so by the time I drive there and back there's not a whole lot of savings. Also, I live in an apartment that is seriously lacking in storage space. I could probably stash a couple 5# bags of pellets here and there, but there's no way I would be able to deal with a 50# bag.

 

[JimD]

undergunfire wrote:

BSAR wrote:

Wow those prices are crazy! I would never spend 20 bucks on a 10 lb bag of food or hay!

I do have to add, though, that most of the pellets a lot of us seem to feed are timothy based...so we have to buy the more "expensive" brands because there isn't much choice out there :?. I can get alfalfa based pellets from the feed store in a 50lbs bag for dirt cheap, but they always say to feed adult bunnies timothy based pellets.

:yeahthat:

I can get a 50 pound bag of Purina (alfalfa) for $16 at the Pet Goods.

The choices and availability of timothy pellets is rather limited, though.

 

[Erins Rabbits]

undergunfire wrote:

BSAR wrote:

Wow those prices are crazy! I would never spend 20 bucks on a 10 lb bag of food or hay!

I do have to add, though, that most of the pellets a lot of us seem to feed are timothy based...so we have to buy the more "expensive" brands because there isn't much choice out there :?. I can get alfalfa based pellets from the feed store in a 50lbs bag for dirt cheap, but they always say to feed adult bunnies timothy based pellets.

I've never heard from anywhere other than the HRS and HRS supporters the feeding alfalfa to adult rabbits is a bad thing. My rabbits get Purina Show Formula, and they are all happy, healthy, and in great condition. Not only are they healthy, but I'm not spending (I looked it up online) $13 for 10 lbs. Sure, that looks cheap-ish, but when you put it into perspective, my rabbits will eat 75 lbs a month all together. that would total out to be roughly $95 dollars a month for a feed that won't keep them in good condition (Which matters, as they are show rabbits).

That's my one issue with that... it's ridiculously expensive compared to purina, which is premium feed, as well. So I think what it boils down to is personal preference, and, obviously, whether or not the rabbit is a pet or is stock.

That was a lot longer than I planned lol

 

[BethM]

Erins Rabbits wrote:

I've never heard from anywhere other than the HRS and HRS supporters the feeding alfalfa to adult rabbits is a bad thing.

While my HRS does generally recommend timothy pellets, some of the core members do use alfalfa pellets for adult rabbits. It depends on the rabbit.

I do use a timothy pellet, as I have found one that Nick does well on. No need to try anything different.