Substrate supply issues - thanks Brexit!

[skittish]

I've recently discovered that the main bedding substrate we use for our degus is no longer available to buy and it appears to be a victim of Brexit.

At the beginning of December I received an email from the supplier providing an update on how Brexit was affecting them. The update said, among other things, that "A limited selection of our least popular products which are not stocked in the UK are no longer available to order." I bought a couple of bags as we were getting low and I had some loyalty points I wanted to use up before they expired, and didn't think too much about it after that.

Then at the weekend I went online to order some more, only to find it vanished from their website. Finally putting two and two together, I realised that our substrate was a German product so I imagine it wasn't stocked in the UK and this is why it is no longer available.

I also tried a German website I buy (or should say used to buy!) other degu supplies from that I couldn't get in the UK, and found that they have taken the UK off their list of countries they deliver to

[savvy]

I'm having the same trouble with Hansemanns.

What substrate do you use? We may be able to advise of an alternative.

[skittish]

Jan 5, 2021 22:37:47 GMT savvy said:

I'm having the same trouble with Hansemanns.

What substrate do you use? We may be able to advise of an alternative.

Oh no not Hansemanns as well?

We get our degu mix leaf from them as well. We do buy in bulk from them though so we get the bulk discount and also combine shipping costs. What are the issues you are having at the moment? Are they not able to deliver?

We use hemp bedding. I've been doing some googling and appear to have found a UK supplier of hemp grown in the UK, but no prices on their websites so I'm going to contact them tomorrow. Hopefully they're not too much more expensive...we go through so much of it!

We use the old bedding in our compost, and give away the excess for people to compost and mulch in their garden, so it gets a second use

[savvy]

I've been speaking to John at Ratrations, they stocked up with a load of stuff from Germany and Holland just before Christmas. If their website doesn't show prices, it's because it's out of stock. However, they only returned to work yesterday after the Christmas break and sometimes their website needs a quick update after everyone's been ordering during the holidays.

If you give them a ring, they'll tell you what they have and when new stock should be coming in.

[savvy]

Hansemanns just aren't responding to any emails at the moment, I'm going to give them a few days as German holidays are a little different to ours.

[skittish]

Jan 5, 2021 22:52:56 GMT savvy said:

I've been speaking to John at Ratrations, they stocked up with a load of stuff from Germany and Holland just before Christmas. If their website doesn't show prices, it's because it's out of stock. However, they only returned to work yesterday after the Christmas break and sometimes their website needs a quick update after everyone's been ordering during the holidays.

If you give them a ring, they'll tell you what they have and when new stock should be coming in.

Ahh I actually completely forgot about ratrations (how?!?)! Thank you for reminding me about them! I've just looked they have 1kg hemp bedding in, but I'll check if they're planning to get larger quantities in soon. We use a lot so 1kg bags aren't going to go very far, though I might just get a kg to check I'm happy with it first before buying it in bulk.

Jan 5, 2021 22:54:26 GMT savvy said:

Hansemanns just aren't responding to any emails at the moment, I'm going to give them a few days as German holidays are a little different to ours.

Yep, it's Epiphany tomorrow, which I know a few states in Germany celebrate as a public holiday. Talk about everything happening at once - Christmas break, pandemics, and Brexit - the perfect storm!

Thankfully we did a bulk buy in the summer so we are OK on Hansemann food at the moment. We sort of had Brexit in mind when we did it, but mostly we just buy in bulk anyway because of the reasons I mentioned earlier.

[moletteuk]

This is a widespread problem and could even be permanent in some cases. The UK government are requiring all international sellers to open an account with UK HMRC and collect the tax due to them and give it to HMRC direct.

I know if I were a business owner outside the UK I wouldn't be bothering if I could afford not to.

[bouncy]

Today is a public holiday in countries like Germany, so don't stress! Many countries have only taken the UK off their lists because they shut down for Christmas, only reopening yesterday. As no one knew what the Brexit agreement would be at that time, many have temporarily removed the UK until they reopen, at which point they'll sort it.

For hemp bedding, try tack shops, which sell the 20kg bales at a very reasonable price. For anyone desperate for forage, go to Galen's garden.co.uk. I placed my order Monday night, it was shipped yesterday, and arrived this morning! If anyone would like me check out some German sites for them, I'm happy to investigate.

This is my first January in this country for two decades (boo covid) - I usually do a bulk Hansemann order whilst I'm there (free shipping to Austria from Germany) because I get a discount paying directly from my € account and dump it all in the car. As I was going to try Galen's Garden anyway, I'm afraid I haven't even looked at the Hansemann Site yet!

[bouncy]

Quick update - Hansemann has a message that, because of the difficult times and limited staffing, they have been working between Xmas and new year. If terms of shipping, there is nothing there related to UK sales. In fact, they've stopped the free shipping to Austria because of rising costs!

We always had to email Hansemann to order, so I think we just need to be patient and wait for their responses!

[savvy]

I know during the last lockdown, I was exchanging emails with them at 2 in the morning! I think they are working from home as well so things are a little slow.

[moletteuk]

Hopefully it will get sorted in time. Covid must be increasingly affecting companies and deliveries again too.

[bouncy]

Yeah, my post has been normal, and orders made a couple of days ago are already arriving, but my mum is only just receiving December post now! We live in the same town, and she's 200yds from the sorting office!

[savvy]

My postie has just retired so we're breaking in a new one - it's gonna take time.