Overseas food dilemma - Ack!

[-m-]

Hi everyone. I was an old member of the original CnQ board. I didn't post much but have enjoyed everyone's pictures and advice for years. I bought a pair of tan babies from a member as well. I used to live in DFW, Texas.

Anyway, my wife and I have just permanently relocated to Crete, Greece this week and we took our babies with us. Don't even ask how difficult is was getting them into the country. Anyway, it was a work move and we had shipped a few bags of pellets over prior to us leaving. However they have not arrived yet, and our kids are just about out of food. We are currently living in a hotel and are on foot for the moment so our options are very limited. There is a market across the way from us that has some veggies but I'm unsure as to what to feed them. My original thought would be to get a box of Shredded Wheat or something like that just to hold them over for a few days until the shipment arrives.

Any thoughts? It's really just a temporary thing but I fear our babies are getting hungry.

 

[tunes]

I wouldn't feed them shredded wheats or veggies. They've already gone through a huge change just getting over there. Messing with their diet could cause more of an issue than it's worth.

Can you get hay? Did you take hay with you? If you could get some good hay, you could easily keep them on just hay for a while until your food gets there.

The other thing you could do is order a box of food from someone and have it shipped priority. It won't be cheap. I think I shipped like 14 pounds to Spain for $40.00, but 14 pounds with just a couple chins would last you quite a while and you wouldn't have to worry about food.

BTW, congrats on the move! Wow - Talk about a huge move. I'm jealous.

 

[lydz]

Have you found any pet shops in the area to see if they have any rabbit feed you could use? They should because my sister in law in Cyprus has a chinchilla and they get the proper feed. Crete is very well equipped for an island.

Is your wife on this site too?...I may have spoken to her about the move when asking about I think implanting chips in the chins.

What city are you in? I'm Greek. Let me know if you need any tips (I actually have a cousin in Crete).

 

[lydz]

Was just thinking...you should definately be able to find rabbit food there since they do raise rabbits in Greece an Cyprus, of course they eat them in the end but still. And my husband says that he remembers the food they fed rabbits and it is the same. Just make sure you get the food that is not mixed.

If you are in Hraklion or near, there is La Vita e Bella pet shop.
http://www.lavitaebella.gr/
Address: Mahis Kritis st.93 Heraklion
they have english site. and they carry rodents and rabbits.

Another one is Damigos
Address :ΟΥΛΑΦ ΠΑΛΜΕ 106, ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ, ΚΡΗΤΗ
Translation: Oulaf Palme 106

Pets on Parade (looks more cat and dog)
Address: Ionias 145, Heraklion
http://www.petsonparade.gr/

Theofilos
Address: Papanastasiou 35, Heraklion

This looks like it is in another town. Not sure where.
ΚΟΖΙΝΑΚΙ - NEONAKIS
Address:28th Octomber 1-3, Mires

There is also a Cretan Animal Welfare Group. Couldn't find address but there are phone numbers, maybe they would know more shops and they have vets.

http://cretananimalwelfare.org/contact/

Hope this helps.
Just grab a taxi and go. Most speak english.

 

[tunes]

Lydz - I wanna talk to you about Greece in chat sometime.

As far as the rabbit food, the only problem with that is, he's got several bags of food on the way already. It would not be a good thing to feed them one for a few weeks, then switch them to another after that.

Now, what -m- could do, and it would probably not be a bad idea if that is all he can get locally, would be to check out the rabbit food, see if it's good quality, and start mixing it with the food he has left. Once the other food gets there, he can do a 50/50 mix, slowly start weaning it down as his shipped in food runs out, and then switch to the rabbit food completely to avoid shipping again.

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

If you can get some timothy hay they can live on that while you are waiting.

 

[lydz]

Lydz - I wanna talk to you about Greece in chat sometime.

Any time tunes....I haven't been in chat in a while. I'll have to check in.

 

[lydz]

Oh, and I want to know what the process was and how much it cost to get them there just in case my husband ever decides to move back home.

 

[-m-]

Hey everyone, thanks for the advice. I went to the store and got some granola without sugar and gave them some and they seem to be okay with it. We have hay for them but it's a new brand for our bunny with dandelions in it and I'm not sure if they'll eat it or not. We put it in their cage but I'm not sure if they're eating it.

I wasn't aware that Crete had any pet stores with chin food in it. That's good to know. We're in Chania btw. The customs people and everyone at the airline had no clue what a chin is. We have food coming in on Wednesday at the latest so I think they'll be okay.

Oh, and yeah I'm sure my wife has been on here asking about chips for our babies. I'm glad we didn't have to do that! It was such a battle getting them here.

 

[lydz]

The food they have may not chin specific food but they will have rabbit food which is similar. If you check the quality of it.

Chania is about an hour, maybe more from Heraklion. I couldn't find anything in any other cities.

It is an option to consider if you need food again so you don't ship and pay high costs in the future.

I can always find out what brand my sister in law feeds. It's probably a rabbit formula and let you know.

 

[-m-]

Cool, thanks lydz!

 

[-m-]

Hey thanks again everyone for the advice. We're currently feeding the chins some rabbit food we bought online. Of course there was a mix up in getting the chin food and it never got sent. They're eating it just fine though and everything seems to be okay. We've looked around and there's a pet store close to us in a nearby villa but doesn't carry chin stuff. I also think getting way out of town isn't an option at this point just because we really don't know our way around and the road signs are extremely confusing.

We've considered getting everything online, but we wanted some direction on the best site to use because shipping is so outrageous. Does anyone know that if we order from the UK or another site in Europe if the shipping will be as bad as from the US? Also, if anyone has any sites they can recommend in our neck of the woods that would be great.

 

[alli713]

Shipping from the US is going to get expensive if you want to buy food, as the flat rate box is about $42

There's a couple UK members on here, and maybe they'd have an idea of if there's any places over there that sell things online, and it would probably be cheaper.

 

[tunes]

Check with Claire D. She's in England and may be able to point you to someone who can help. I know there are several places in England that sell feed through their sites, but I don't know what their policy is on shipping or what the expense would be.

 

[lydz]

I tried searching online pet shops in Greece and I did get some hits that even mentioned Chinchillas specifically but they did not have supplies currently listed.

You could also try calling some of the pet shops I listed before see if they have something you need and then send it to you. Damigos lists chinchillas on their site. They usually have local couriers.

This website has some links of stores...haven't checked any on them.
http://www.chinquest.co.uk/links.html

I have to laugh when you describe the street signs of Greece. You'll figure it eventually. Just take a day and be willing to get lost. But seriously, it's an island, you can't get that lost

 

[menagerie]

John Hopewell is in the UK and sells a couple of different types of chin food. I had him ship some things to a friend in England that was coming to San Diego. He was really prompt at getting back to me with shipping quotes both within the UK and to the US, and shipped quickly.