Bulk Turtle Pellets

Robin; Welcome to the group – glad you found us o.k.! Good to hear those two little beauties are settling in fine. By the way, everyone else, Rick V. has some nice northern babies availbale now with very clear concentrics (unsolicited endorsement – sorry Rick – hope you don’t mind :-)). Robin – where did you se the bags of Mazuri aquaric turtle in San Antonio – any lead would be appreciated for the reasons below. Chun and everyone interested in bulk foods; My new dealer contact eventually found out just like you, Chun, that only the 0.5 lb consumer canister is available to dealers. It is retailing for around $4.99. I think Shawn at Turtletown is offering it for $6.00 a can. Mazuri headquarters finally told my dealer that he sure can order 50 lb sacks – but only in lots of 40 sacks! That is how much their mixing machine makes when they make it and they only make it when ordered. They suggested contacting zoos and breeders who might sell off an extra bag or two. My dealer hasn’t found any available yet, though. A 50 lb. sack would retail for only $23.00, about the same as Aquamax, so this is very disappointing. Maybe we can start a campaign to flood Mazuri with requests! Anyway, my dealer offered to sell me 0.5 lb canisters for $3.50 each as compensation in addition to getting me another bag of carnivorous Auquamax, which he had in the store in only three days after placing the order. Alerternatives: Since $6.00/lb is a lot cheaper than $13.00/lb for Reptomin, but still pretty expensive, I returned to the net for some other choices besides Aquamax. As I have stated before, my turtles love Aquamax and they have done well on it, but it is a little too greasy and odorous for living room tanks. 1. Flukers sells their aquatic turtle diet for $55.25 for a 25 lb. sack. Shipping is $12.75 per sack. Shipping is free if you order $125.00 of merchandise at a time from them. So, I ordered three sacks of Flukers today to get free shipping on 75 lbs of pellets. Flukers pellets are large, softer than most and come in a red and tan mix. My turtles liked them and the tanks stayed reasonably clean. 2. For bottom feeders like muds and musks and even a batch of yearling DBTS I have, NASCOs Turtle Brittle is about $12.00 for 5 lbs plus shipping. This too is a large soft pellet, but it all sinks rapidly. It also clouds the water as the turtles chomp down on it and it becomes powdery underwater. But it is reported to be a very good diet developed and used by zoos. 3. LLLReptile lists bulk ZooMed diets on their site. The Hatchling pellets that Rick V. prefers are listed at $99.00 for 50 lbs. The Adult pellets are listed at $53.33 for 40 lbs. I have not asked them about shipping cost or confirmed availability. 4. My personal favorite is T-Rex aquatic diets. They are smaller red and green pellets that every turtle I have likes. No grease and no odor. I have three year olds raised from hatchlings on T-Rex that have great shells and no health problems. From the T-Rex company page, I went to Creative Aquatics and found bulk pricing. Either Juvenile or Adult 10 lb sacks are $24.99 plus $6.75 shipping. Either Juvenile or Adult 50 lb sacks are $85.00 plus $21.30 shipping. The bottom line is that all of the bulk diets available hover around $2.00 to $3.00 a pound. Mazuri and Aquamax are the only truly inexpensive alerternative at less than $.50 per pound, but you have to be able to get them! So, if anyone does find a dealer ordering Mazuri aquatic turtle for a zoo or breeder, please let us know! Has anyone tried the Mazuri herbivore and carnivore turtle powders that are mixed with water to form gellatin cubes? One online retailer is offering trial sizes and bulk, but I have no experience with those products. Anyone know of a zoo or aquarium that uses the powder instead of pellets? Once the powder is mixed, how are the cubes fed and how long do they last in the water before dissolving? Has anyone heard any reports? Todd in Texas