harlan rodent block

im searching online with little success for a rodent block to start feeding my rats. i heard the harlan was really good but everywhere online its over a dollar a lb, i have a exotic pet place thats an hour and half drive that sells it 99cents a lb i was wondering if n e one knows an online place that has GREAT deals for it or if i should just make the drive and get it there.. or is there n e chain stores that sell something similar i can look for ??? thanks for any help !!!

Check all your local feed stores I'd also look into mazuri 6f its great stuff. All my feed stores down here carry it.

droid!!!!

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Originally Posted by szynk.reptiles

im searching online with little success for a rodent block to start feeding my rats. i heard the harlan was really good but everywhere online its over a dollar a lb, i have a exotic pet place thats an hour and half drive that sells it 99cents a lb i was wondering if n e one knows an online place that has GREAT deals for it or if i should just make the drive and get it there.. or is there n e chain stores that sell something similar i can look for ??? thanks for any help !!!

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The best deal I've found online is at PetFoodDirect.com. This is where Harlan sells its lab block directly.
Harlan changed the name of it's lab block from "Harlan 2018" sold in 33lb bags to "Native Earth 4018" in 40lb bags when they started selling it online there.
Anyway you can get 200lbs of Harlan/Native Earth there for $80 + roughly $60 for shipping (+ or - depending on where you live) which works out to roughly $.70 a pound, which isn't all that bad for having it shipped to you door. Although I would only order from there if I couldn't find a local feed store that could order lab block for me.

Personally I get 50lb bags of Mazuri 6F for $29 a bag at a local feed store. If you haven't already I recommend going to Mazuri's homepage and entering your zip code in the dealer locator and seeing if there is any place near you that either carries it or can order the 6f for you.

To go with what Adam said..... Native Earth 4018 is great...
http://www.nationalpetpharmacy.com/P...nt-Diet-40-lbs
They sell it there for 1.20 more than Pet food direct, but no matter how big your order is the shipping is only 4.99

We use the Mazuri 6f at our rodent house it great stuff i like it better then the herlen. And if you got Mazuris website they have a dealer finder to find places near you that carry it....

http://www.mazuri.com/

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Originally Posted by azmodane

To go with what Adam said..... Native Earth 4018 is great...
http://www.nationalpetpharmacy.com/P...nt-Diet-40-lbs
They sell it there for 1.20 more than Pet food direct, but no matter how big your order is the shipping is only 4.99

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These guys at National Pet Pharmacy are selling 200lbs of Native Earth for $85 and only $5 to ship, that's only $.45 a pound, unless you are buying by the ton I don't think you could find a better deal, even at your local feed store.

Thanks for the heads up azmodane, I'll be making my next order from these guys.

Just to clarify, petfooddirect and nationalpetpharmacy are the same company. Why they do it that way, with two different sites.. No idea. If I need something, I often check between the two to see which site is offering the better deal that day.

I'd like to add a word of caution for those buying bags of feed from them. Better stock up before they catch on and nix the $5 shipping deal. When I first started out, the native earth was less than ten bucks a bag and shipping was very reasonable. After I ordered about five bags, they cranked up the price and the rate. That's when I finally went and found myself a local dealer for rat feed.

I use the 4.99 flat shipping myself and love it ... hope they don't catch on lol. And when you order, you get $5 off refill coupons :D

I've ordered the Harlan block (5 bags deal) twice now and got the $5 shipping each time. I don't think it's an oversight. I think they made a nice deal with UPS. :)

I'd recommend ordering the feed from them. It's good and they ship quickly.

Also just FYI, I'm getting ready to order 5 bags of Native Earth 4018 and a bag of aspen and I just found out the nationalpetpharmacy website is currently offering 10% off orders over $85 until 10/31/11 (coupon is SAVE1085), plus the shipping is free if you sign up for auto ship, which is where they auto ship out a new orders every so many months you choose, up to a year.

So in the end you can get 200lbs of lab block delivered to your door for 76.34, or $.38 a pound.

I love my Kent Rodent Feed. I pay .27cents a pound. 12.99 per 50lbs bag. When ordered by full pallet its $10 a bag.

Look into it. My mice and rats are producing some INSANE litters

wow thanks for all the help guys... i looked at my tractor supply and didnt see anything that looked like lab blocks... ill have to stop back in and ask and check a few other spots... but ill def take a look at these links ya posted thanks again guys !!!!!!

mazuri store locater says that tractor supply carries there stuff ill have to go talk to them !!! thanks everyone

said that about mine too but they dont carry it at either location.

humm alright ill take alook.. i think ill be by there in a few days ill check it out !

Something to keep in mind. At your local feed store they most likely don't get many requests for rodent lab block compared to the other items they sell, so most times the people working there will not be familiar with the Mazuri 6F.
Also many of these places don't carry 6F in stock but can order it and have it come in with their normal supply truck shipment.
In either case you need to approach them armed with knowledge. Remember the product code for Mazuri 6F is "5M30".
Also, the store I've bought the 6F from before didn't know what I was talking about until I told them Mazuri was a Purina brand, then they were able to figure out they could special order it with their normal Purina shipment.

And if all else fails as I said before you can order Harlan/Native Earth 4018 online from National Pet Pharmacy, which is only $.53 a pound for one 40 pound bag or $.38 a pound for five 40 pound bags shipped to your door (tax free in most cases), compared to paying a typical $30 for a 50 pound bag or Mazuri 6F at your local feed store( .$60 a pound + sales tax and round trip gas).

I honestly just can't believe what a great deal National Pet Pharmacy has.

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Originally Posted by Adam Chandler

I honestly just can't believe what a great deal National Pet Pharmacy has.

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They're selling it for 20% over wholesale... Pretty common for feed stores, they are just selling a lot of it to make their money, instead of selling it like box stores do...smaller quantities with huge mark ups.
My wholesaler buys direct from the mill, and charges me 10% over to bring it to me. He makes 10% for doing nothing but being closer to the mill than me, and he already brings me my order anyway... Win/win.

If you happen to live close to a Purina mill, or a ADM mill, or whatever mill, you can buy direct. Mills are located pretty much all over the US. It's easier for them to bring the products to the mill, and mill it, rather than truck the finished product all over the country. I have a Purina mill about 45 miles from me, but they don't mill Mazuri, they mill the LabDiet Rat Chow, which I don't like...

When I called my tractor supply to find out if they carried rodent block, they said, "yeah, it's in the back near the horse food".

I drove 40 minutes and asked them to show me, it was rodent block alright, the poison block used to kill rats, not feed them.

*sigh*

I'm ordering online next week

Thanks! I was ordering from PetFoodDirect.com and it was costing me over $70 to ship. I just checked and to get 5 bags of Harlan it was $156. I was seriously considering hog feed at the local Tractor Supply when I ran out of Harlan, but once I looked at the National Pet Pharmacy site with $4.95 shipping, the cost difference between hog feed and rodent food was not that significant (to me anyway). Also, it saves me a trip on the weekends and I can still use it in the food hoppers of my lab cages.

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Originally Posted by Don

Thanks! I was ordering from PetFoodDirect.com and it was costing me over $70 to ship. I just checked and to get 5 bags of Harlan it was $156. I was seriously considering hog feed at the local Tractor Supply when I ran out of Harlan, but once I looked at the National Pet Pharmacy site with $4.95 shipping, the cost difference between hog feed and rodent food was not that significant (to me anyway). Also, it saves me a trip on the weekends and I can still use it in the food hoppers of my lab cages.

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Also if you check the box to sign up for auto ship you get free shipping. Auto ship is just a interval system that you can setup, I've got mine setup to autoship a new order of lab block 6 months from now, but you can make it whatever interval you want.
And don't forgot until 10/31/11 they are offering 10% orders over $85 with the coupon code 'SAVE1085'.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

I love my Kent Rodent Feed. I pay .27cents a pound. 12.99 per 50lbs bag. When ordered by full pallet its $10 a bag.

Look into it. My mice and rats are producing some INSANE litters

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I gotta add a big +1 to this! We switched to Kent about 3 months ago and have seen a crazy increase in litter size and believe it or not a drop in food consumption! We pay 15.00 a bag for 50lb so with tax it's 80.25 for 250lbs. You will need to call a few feed stores to find a Kent dealer but it's definitely worth finding.

Here's the percentages
http://tapatalk.com/mu/c6e4e188-88ed-4796.jpg

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Originally Posted by Amon Ra Reptiles

I gotta add a big +1 to this! We switched to Kent about 3 months ago and have seen a crazy increase in litter size and believe it or not a drop in food consumption! We pay 15.00 a bag for 50lb so with tax it's 80.25 for 250lbs. You will need to call a few feed stores to find a Kent dealer but it's definitely worth finding.

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If you are interested in Kent feeds you can find a local dealer by entering you zip on the dealer locator on their homepage: http://www.kentfeeds.com/

There do not seem to be many stores that carry it on the east coast, the closest dealer to me in DC is 70 miles away.

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Originally Posted by Adam Chandler

If you are interested in Kent feeds you can find a local dealer by entering you zip on the dealer locator on their homepage: http://www.kentfeeds.com/

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Well that would have made my life easier a few months ago! Lol. Good to know, thanks for the link.

How long have you guys been feeding Kent 23% to your mice?

If not very long, you may want to change it out. That's almost double what they should be getting. Ideally, 13-16% protein. More than that and they will start having kidney issues/ hot spots, dry skin, the list just keeps going...

I tried my mice on ADM 19%, and after just a couple of months, they were showing signs of kidney problems...

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Originally Posted by jasbus

How long have you guys been feeding Kent 23% to your mice?

If not very long, you may want to change it out. That's almost double what they should be getting. Ideally, 13-16% protein. More than that and they will start having kidney issues/ hot spots, dry skin, the list just keeps going...

I tried my mice on ADM 19%, and after just a couple of months, they were showing signs of kidney problems...

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Me and you already had this discussion in another thread. My mice been on Kent for 5 years now. And are dropping 12-17pinks on average. Just past week female dropped 22 pinks. No problems with anything your describing.

Heres the 22 pink litter with few fosters.
http://i56.tinypic.com/2ege6f5.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/15i689v.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/2vvu93m.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/2nv5laa.jpg

Me thinks your lucky...
I hate Kent, lost rats on i when I switch over... Looked like Jim Jones was handing out Kool-Aid.

But, I'm glad you like it, and have luck with it... Nothing personal, just adding my personal experience with high protein and mice...

Yea, my mice only kill each other when im crowded. But last 3 months i gassed off every extra male keeping 2 per tub. Since doing that, this month ive had 22 females drop litters for me and not killing them at all.

The only killing that I get is when I have a crowded tub with hoppers mixed in....I think the hoppers are just too lazy to reach for the water valves.
I'll see if I still have pics of the mice that had serious skin issues, within weeks of switching over to 19%. I sent pics to ADM, the only reply I got back was, they would look into it. I switched back to Mazuri after that.

Rich, are you using the Kent 23, or 16%? Just curious...
I just can't imagine that even your rats aren't showing signs of kidney problems on that high of a protein.... I've feed literally everthing over the years, and I have to say, by far, Kent 23% was the worst stuff I've ever tried. I had less deaths on cattle cubes with Urea, before I found out Urea was toxic to rodents... The only other time I've had so much trouble was on hog feed and the high protein there..

IM using Kent 23%. I used to feed strictly mazuri 6f but at 23$ per bag and going though 3 bags a week was a waste.

When i switched to Kent, production stayed the same, and the were eating about 25-50lbs less a week depending how over ran i am.

My rats, are popping out litter after litter NON stop of 12-20 consistently. Rat recently 3 weeks ago dropped 32 pinks. if i knew my food was the problem for deaths and non production i would of switched years ago. But my production problem is i get too many males than females.

And about 8 weeks ago i started tossing in whole oats 13% protein and like 2% fat and so on. One hand full every 3 days on cleaning day. This keeps them for eating that for a day rather the kent. This also cut my bill in about 20% using Whole oats.

And i have same problem with Lazy mice, not wanting to figure out the Water Valves. And end up dieing, mostly Hoppers.

Have you tried horse sweet feed instead of oats? Runs about $4 a bag cheaper than straight oats. I use it on cleaning day, just like you, keeps them busy and give a bit of variety. I only use a bag a week.
I hear ya on trying to save. I order 20 bags of mazuri and 40 bags of rat block a month. It hurts even when they raise prices just $1 a bag.

The bag of oats is 50lbs for $10. Been 2 months and bag is still half full and i give them big hand fulls.

Never seen horse sweet feed but then again its in different aisle in feed store than where i go.

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Originally Posted by Shadera

Just to clarify, petfooddirect and nationalpetpharmacy are the same company. Why they do it that way, with two different sites.. No idea. If I need something, I often check between the two to see which site is offering the better deal that day.

I'd like to add a word of caution for those buying bags of feed from them. Better stock up before they catch on and nix the $5 shipping deal. When I first started out, the native earth was less than ten bucks a bag and shipping was very reasonable. After I ordered about five bags, they cranked up the price and the rate. That's when I finally went and found myself a local dealer for rat feed.

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Bing. Called it. :D Good luck to those who are looking for suppliers.

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Originally Posted by Shadera

Bing. Called it. :D Good luck to those who are looking for suppliers.

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No joke...they are going to lose a lot of business operating the way they have been! Ive got one order in and they changed the shipping! AND...I was going to order 5 bags Friday and now they changed the price today!:colbert:RIP OFF!! Mazuri 6f is better and same price..