Watering system in Canada?

[Lisa]

Can anyone point me to a source for a watering system in Canada? I know agselect.com sells watering systems in the states but I don't want to have to pay import fees etc.

I don't want a watering system based on a vacuum system as these tend to leak.

[Cruciform]

Lisa,

I'm going to check with TSC to see if I can get all the parts for the water system mentioned here: http://www.dwightgood.com/snakes/ratrack.htm

I should get a chance to stop in this weekend, as they're just down the block. I will post if they can get all the parts through them. :)

[Lisa]

awesome, there's a TSC near here

[Cruciform]

I dropped by the TSC today, and started taking notes :)

The customer service rep did a walk-through of the water system parts with me and was pretty sure he can get all the parts I wanted, although he would like pictures of some of the parts because they don't keep it all in stock.

Also, the 3/16" stuff is uncommon there, but they have lots of the same components in 1/4" sizes.

The parts generally seemed to go for about $1.69 to $1.99 each, so it will be a bit more expensive than the prices quoted for Dwight Good's rat rack, but over all the prices seemed cheaper than similar items at Home Depot.

50 feet of 1/4" flex tubing was $21

Once I've got reference images for all the parts from AgSelect I'll go back and see about getting the exact amounts.

--Litter pans for breeding bins--
Pricers for litter pans were much better than those at Petsmart.
TSC Large Litter Pan: $5.49
TSC Jumbo Litter Pan: $7.99
Petsmart Jumbo Pan was around $14.99

--Food--
They didn't carry rat food, so I checked the nutritional values of the two largest bags of dog food.

TSC Brand Dog food: $15 / 18kg
Crude Protein: 21%
Crude Fat: 7%
Crude Fibre: 4%
Moisture: 10%

TizWhiz Dog Food: $24 / 18kg
Crude Protein: 24%
Crude Fat: 12%
Crude Fibre: 4%
Moisture: 12%


--Water Dishes--
The water dishes they have would be really good for an active snake :) They have crock style dishes which are solid and bottom heavy. They range from:

Small: $2.29
Medium: $2.99
Large: $4.99
Jumbo: $5.99

Not at much info on the watering system as I'd like, but a good start toward pricing out a decent breeding operation.

edit:
Oh! I forgot to add that if they don't have the shavings you need for your snakes or rats in stock, they get their supplis from here: http://www.pestell.com/
So anything that Pestell carries, they can order :) The aspen shaving link on Pestell's site is currently borked though. I'm going to email them about i.

[Lisa]

Thanks for the info, I'm mainly interested in the watering stuff, and they seem cheaper then the stuff @ agselect, and in Canadian funds too. What kind of nozzles did TSC have?

I picked up some jumbo kitty litter trays from superpet for 5.88 each, they measure 17X23X5 with out the litter shields. I'm thinking of using Rubbermaids after this.

For rat food we've been using a mix of mainstay and super c regular dog food. it's a bit cheaper and the seems to have the right nutrients from reading the bag. Mainstay's got too much protein for mice so we give them just super c dog food. I'm thinking of picking up some grain to supplement the food. The stuff you listed has too much protein.

For substrate we use shredded newspaper for the rats and shavings for the mice. I think we pay 5 dollars for what lasts us a few months.

[Jayson]

Hey Lisa

I thought of using the watering nozzels at tsc as well but the materials they used seemed very cheep compared to the solid brass one i got from agselect. Also the tsc ones are intended for chins, rabbits and gp,s and are much larger.
If you do decide to try them let me know how they worked for you.

[Lisa]

Will do. I just don't like the way the boarder can double the cost of everything between duty, brokerage and taxes. so if TSC works for me it should save a bundle.

[Cruciform]

Just the hard plastic nozzles on the rack. I'm going to look into brass ones.

[Lisa]

i purchased a couple of the nipples to try... some of the rats seem to like it, some prefer the water bottles (left them on the cage just incase). they're brass at the rodent end and plastic at the waterline end.

[Batdad]

Lisa

Check this post I submitted a while ago;

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=195145#post195145

If you need less than 10 valves or don't want the cross border hassles they are the only one I could find for the valves. For the rest of the system look at plant watering systems. I just got some parts Lee Valley Tools (Hose and fittings) and they seem to work well. Time will tell :)

Hope this helps
Bruce

[Lisa]

i want about 50 valves and tsc has them for 2.79...

[asphyxia]

May I have the info (tel or web) contact info on TSC.

Thanks
Brian

[Cruciform]

I couldn't find a website for them, but you can find them in the yellow pages easily enough. Check under farm or agricultural supplies.

[Lisa]

My local tsc (belleville) is 613-962-1600.

[The Green Mile]

Thanks Folks

[jadegrasse]

When I place orders under $50-$75 from Agselect in the USA I never have to pay anything and it comes directly to my house.

[Lisa]

I wish that they'd ship me $50 worth of goods for nothing...

i find anything i order from cross border is subject to duties and then of course ups and fed ex are crazy with the brokerage fees.

[Lisa]

Well it's been a couple weeks for my test batch, the tsc nipples are a hit.