I find many people don’t realise just how different Canada is from the USA. We have even less access to supplies than you do. We only have Petsmart as our big chain - there is no Petco. While I will post things that you can buy from the USA via online shopping, keep in mind our dollar is not on par, and shipping is expensive. Where possible I will put the cost (including conversions). Keep in mind my own personal bias is included in this list, which I do apologize for. If you have other things to add, please post them below. Due to my own limitations, this may only be applicable for Ontario, but I believe in general should be uniform across Canada.
o Fairly decent option for bins, some smaller ones are great for hospital bins but this is not a bad bin for permanent housing. It’s also a lot sturdier than the Sterlite bins.
o Both versions will need meshing. Zoozones are also available from Oliver’s and PJ’s Pets as far as I know. All three stores sell incredibly unhealthy animals though, so I have a hard time supporting them.
o Keep in mind we do not have the $1/gal sale. Big Al’s may have something similar, though I imagine it’s more expensive. If someone can get me the price I’ll happily add it.
o Sometimes you can get lucky and find a bare 40gal breeder for fish, but that’s pretty rare.
o We also buy our aquariums second hand, off kijiji.
o Requires DIY. There are other IKEA hacks you can do, but I’m just posting the most popular one.
Just looking over this list, while I’m certain there are others I didn’t list, I hope this shows how difficult (and expensive) housing in Canada is. We aren’t lucky with your $1/gal sale. If we want tanks, we are paying through the teeth, or buying second hand (which is a valuable option). Bins seem to make the most sense, and then IKEA cages as well, or DIY. I suggest to most who adopt from Strong Brew Hamstery to look into either a bin cage, or a tank. If you don’t have the ability to DIY then you’re even more out of luck!
o The upper size is appropriate for dwarfs, though the quality of the silent spinners has decreased lately. The price is a bit inflated now. Also available at Pet Valu, and other stores in the area.
o $23.30 (Jr & Shipping) or $30.50 (Sr & Shipping) USD
o $30.93 (Jr & Shipping) or $40.49 (Sr & Shipping) CAD *Price conversion at 1.33*
o Another expensive option, and only available shipped directly from the company. However, you can choose the colours and their customer service is amazing.
o My favourite wheel, however the price makes it way too expensive for most owners, sadly. My personal hope is to be able to create these in Canada and sell up here, avoiding the USD conversion and horrible ‘international’ shipping.
Again, the options aren’t great and many are expensive. My favourite wheels are all imports, and with the shipping + conversion are extremely expensive. Comfort wheels work, especially for Syrians, but the noise may not be ideal for most owners.
o Unsure what shipping would cost, but if you can get to Brampton, Ontario, you can pick up from store. This aspen is fairly high quality, though we have yet to try it. You may find aspen in other stores as well, though I’m personally only familiar with the following two brands.
o While not all Bulk Barns carry these, it’s worth trying. The quality isn’t bad, and it’s our go to bedding. During the month, Bulk Barn also has a $3 off $10 coupon, which lowers the bedding to $8.49. I find this to be the most economical paper bedding, and quality wise, the best for burrows and odour control.
o More expensive when you’re using the $3/off coupon from Bulk Barn, but otherwise it’s a cheaper alternative. You can also find Boxo at Big Al’s, Canadian Pet Connection (http://www.canadianpetconnection.ca/)
We’re not as bad off for bedding, especially with how easy Boxo is to get! That being said, it’s good to check around your local stores and compare prices. Not everyone prefers the same bedding, and you may find CareFRESH, or a better Aspen bedding in a store near you.
Nutrition
Spoiler
As a note, I’m only going to do higher quality foods. We can get a lot of other foods, but it’s not worth it to buy them. Some of these foods are available in other stores as well.
o These are available in the superstores, unfortunately I do not have the price. See housing for my personal thoughts on supporting Big Al’s. Otherwise, decent option for blocks.
o It’s worth calling and asking if you’re interested, but I believe you can only get the huge bags of this food. Ren’s is a pretty decent pet store too.
o One of the better mixes we can get, and both stores are great. If it’s not on the shelves, you can ask them to order it in for you. At 17% protein it’s one of the only mixes we can use as a mostly stand-alone mix.
o Yes – we can get Higgins, but only this particular chain, and I need to find out whether other stores besides just the one I visited carries it. From what I’ve been told, they have an exclusive agreement with Higgins to carry their food. This means that it’s still incredibly hard to get this specific mix.
o High quality, but shipping can be expensive even for 5lbs. It’s not a great protein boost at only 18.6% but it’s honestly a great lab block. Right now we cannot get 8604/8640 blocks. I have asked if they’d bring them in, but they weren’t interested. They do have the 2019 blocks but I’ve never purchased them.
Those are most of our better mixes. My personal recommendation is Versele Laga & Harlan Tekland 2018 blocks, however you may find one or both difficult to get. Higgins, while an awesome food, is not easy for Canadians to access, nor it Mazuri.
Please feel free to add in things you know are available around your own shops. Hopefully this helps both Canadians and American alike. J
nebit, SyrianPumpkin, Poofthecat and 3 others like this
I'd like to mention that the All Living Things 40 gallon terrarium isn't always that price. I had been watching the price for some time before I actually got mine and it had been sitting at around $130 ish, but I bought it on boxing day for about $110
And yeah, "international shipping" is a pain. You Americans think you're so special that anywhere not in the USA is automatically international shipping... doesn't matter that we are on the same continent... right beside you XD
I'd like to mention that the All Living Things 40 gallon terrarium isn't always that price. I had been watching the price for some time before I actually got mine and it had been sitting at around $130 ish, but I bought it on boxing day for about $110
And yeah, "international shipping" is a pain. You Americans think you're so special that anywhere not in the USA is automatically international shipping... even if we are on the same continent... right beside you XD
That's good to know! I'll have to price watch it.
Ugh... the like $30 fee you get sometimes to cross an imaginary line boggles my mind. -_- One of the reasons I'm really hoping to make my own bucket wheels up here. I need more, and I know our adopters would love to be able to get some for, y'know, not $60... :P
Ugh... the like $30 fee you get sometimes to cross an imaginary line boggles my mind. -_- One of the reasons I'm really hoping to make my own bucket wheels up here. I need more, and I know our adopters would love to be able to get some for, y'know, not $60... :P
I KNOW RIGHT!? I mean, I only live like 20 minutes from the border, so its not like a US package has to go far to get to me :P
Good luck with the wheels though, and if you make them as awesome as the CSE's I would totally buy one Shouldn't be too hard ether, since the materials and even construction of them are pretty straight forward. You just have to source the materials for a good price, and make sure you have the right tools
I KNOW RIGHT!? I mean, I only live like 20 minutes from the border, so its not like a US package has to go far to get to me :P
Good luck with the wheels though, and if you make them as awesome as the CSE's I would totally buy one Shouldn't be too hard ether, since the materials and even construction of them are pretty straight forward. You just have to source the materials for a good price, and make sure you have the right tools
We're about an hour or so, so it's the same.
Thanks! Right now, sourcing the bucket is the hardest part. I have a quote for $35 for shipping for SIX buckets so I'm hoping to either have them give me a better quote, or to just drive down and buy a buttload of buckets and ship them to the USA. Otherwise, the other materials are easy to get.
If you have Amazon Prime then it's free shipping, and Higgins and Mazuri are prime.
I have prime. It's still $63 dollars in shipping. This is part of the reason I made this - Canadian prices are very different and may not be apparent to you because you are looking at it from USA ISPs and accounts. We cannot feasibly get Higgins from Amazon in Canada.
I have prime. It's still $63 dollars in shipping. This is part of the reason I made this - Canadian prices are very different and may not be apparent to you because you are looking at it from USA ISPs and accounts. We cannot feasibly get Higgins from Amazon in Canada.
Prime is meant to take off the shipping fee.
Is it the shipping fee, or the food itself that is 63?
Is it the shipping fee, or the food itself that is 63?
Yes, but not when it's from a private seller. They can still sell it for however much shipping they so deem. It's not prime in Canada, though I understand it must qualify for Prime in the USA.
The trouble with international shipping, regardless of proximity, is customs declarations and postage limitations, not to mention crossdock freight. I mean, I can't toss something to my FedEx driver and expect him to take his truck and tool around Canada to deliver stuff just because we're only a few hours away.
I should round up a bunch of US hamster stuff for people and meet at the border to do a swap :P
The trouble with international shipping, regardless of proximity, is customs declarations and postage limitations, not to mention crossdock freight. I mean, I can't toss something to my FedEx driver and expect him to take his truck and tool around Canada to deliver stuff just because we're only a few hours away.
I should round up a bunch of US hamster stuff for people and meet at the border to do a swap :P
Ugh, I know, logistics! I understand why it's there but it still is so frustrating. :( blah!
I got a little box up of stuff from some friends (plus a new hamster ;) ) and I'm hoping to at least get down to Buffalo in the next little while. I can send some things to myself there and do a bit of shopping for hamster supplies.
A swap would be awesomely fun. I'm not entirely sure what all we get you guys don't (versele, wooden toys?) but it'd be fun!
Ontario is so huge. Minnesota borders it, but we're at opposite ends of the territory. I can get to the border of Ontario in about 6ish hours from where I live, but it's totally in the wrong direction from Mississauga. It'd make more sense for me to drive through Michigan and border jump there. I've done a 6 hour drive and back again in one day (Chicago), but never 15!
I'd actually be tickled to do a hamster swap, but I haven't got my kids from Bill yet. What I have now are genetically unknown one generation back, so not overly helpful to an established program.
Ontario is so huge. Minnesota borders it, but we're at opposite ends of the territory. I can get to the border of Ontario in about 6ish hours from where I live, but it's totally in the wrong direction from Mississauga. It'd make more sense for me to drive through Michigan and border jump there. I've done a 6 hour drive and back again in one day (Chicago), but never 15!
I'd actually be tickled to do a hamster swap, but I haven't got my kids from Bill yet. What I have now are genetically unknown one generation back, so not overly helpful to an established program.
Yeah it is really massive. A lot of people don't realise just how big Canada is! We usually go places through Buffalo but that's because everywhere we want to go is directly south. I almost went to Michigan last year, though circumstances made it so I couldn't.
A swap would be awesome! Our plan right now is to get hamsters from Janice from Holmden Hills in the fall actually! Not sure how much space we will have. I can't remember what you said you asked up from Bill. But very likely I could send you someone from us.
Shouldn't be too hard ether, since the materials and even construction of them are pretty straight forward. You just have to source the materials for a good price, and make sure you have the right tools 
