Where do you get your supplies? Tips?

[myflyer]

Ok. Rehab is expensive, anyone who has tried knows that. I had $150 into my first flyer before we even got home. There is food, medical care, housing, bedding, bedding, bedding, medicine, food, food, food, blankets, etc. So I was thinking - are there any little tips/tricks that some of you may know that would benefit someone just starting out, or even someone who had been doing it for a while but may be "doing things the hard way". Maybe one of us will mention something that will make a fellow rehabber's life a little less costly.
My tip: Food-
Visit your local grocery store or produce market and inquire about what they do with veggies, etc. when they are past their "date". Most markets just throw them into the dumpster......Carolina wildlife care works with one of their local stores and gets all of their produce to feed the hundreds of hungry fuzzies they save every year.

Nest box-
Ok, so I am doing this but don't really know if it will help anyone else. Flyers are cavity dwellers, and atleast here, those cavities are in high demand in the wild. In my flyers cage, I am using a 5" terra cotta flowerpot with an old tube sock streched over it to provide the small entrance area on the wide mouth of the pot.
Also, I wondered if you could get a older large limb and use a hole saw to make cavities in it to be placed in the wild for the furbies to sleep...

[Gabe]

Here's what I do. When someone brings me an animal and they say they would like to do something to help me out, I give them a list of stables that I need. That way they are donating something that they know will go directly to the animals, rather than giving cash.

I also check with my local Walmart weekly and get bags of broken animal food donated. There is a local Adult Care Center that makes fleece blankets for me, and I check out garage sales for baby blankets and such. I never seem to need towels as everything seems to come with a towel and the people never want them back. Same with boxes, I save boxes including tissue boxes to use for indoor nest boxes, when they're dirty I throw them out, saves on clean up.

[myflyer]

See, I learned something new-I would have never thought to ask a place like petsmart or grocery store for busted food bags, etc, but now I know. Hum...I wonder if the hospital gets everything laundered or if they throw used baby blankets out.......now Im thinking.

[Gabe]

Yes, hospitals are great sources for stuff, also your local vets. They will use 200 cc of a 1000cc bottle of LR and throw the rest away. Same with vet wrap, they will use 3/4 of it and throw the rest away. Just start looking around and start making connections. People that bring you animals for rehab may mention they work for the vet or the local grocery store. Keep your ears open.

[myflyer]

Hum.. I need a list of the meds I could use and possibly share-I work at a hospital and I think nearly everyone here owes me a favor by now.

[Mars]

Sign up for your local Freecycle.com Then list what you need as wanted and if you get a response you just need to pick it up. It's a great way to get small animal cages and carriers.

[Gabe]

Hum.. I need a list of the meds I could use and possibly share-I work at a hospital and I think nearly everyone here owes me a favor by now.


That is a great connection. The maternity ward uses erythromycin ointment to put a small speck in the newborns eye, then discards the rest of the tube. They have baby bottles and nipples used once then tossed out. I love the little speciman containers for mixing and storing formula. If you can't use it, take it anyway and share with other rehabbers. Oh yeah, the lab has little tubes with a green rubber cover that are so tiny but make great bunny nipples.