Thanks for the replies you guys...
Randy, please don't take this the wrong way, as I mean it as a compliment, but your replies so remind me of my dad! Always so 'wise' and clearly explained, helpful, informative and to the point but not brief, and always trustworthy advice!
Maureen- you're so right- I am too nice normally lol, I need to toughen up and deal with Oxbow! Actually Steve puts in the orders so he's the one to email lol, and he doesn't take any crap so I'm sure he'll get somewhere at least....
I do really like Oxbow stuff, and to be honest I haven't had much to complain about up until now. I expect to sift out the very bottom of the pellets once we get to the bottom of the 'bin' we keep them in, but they'll have been there for 3 months, being scooped about, the bin gets moved for cleaning, and they are air-freighted so I can expect SOME amount of dust. But not almost 10% of an order! I know that with the hay, we ordered small bags originally and they were quite dusty, but we order the 1.1KG bags (2.4lbs), and they come in great quality. Even if there's a slight bit of dust it's still better quality hay than I've seen here so far...
Don't get me wrong, I could choose from a few pellet ranges over here, but the reason I love Oxbow BBT is because of the fibre content. When we first got Barney and Snowy, they were very prone to mushy poops, on a 16% fibre pellet. It turned out to be dietary, and cleared up pretty much completely, and they've all been fine on the Obow pellets ever since. Barney and Snowy now only ever leave their cecals if you scare them at 'snack time', but apart from that never any sign of them
So I don't want to stop using Oxbow if I can, because they have been great up until now and the pellets available over here don't match the nutritional content as I'd like.... None of the other pellets you have in the US ship over here I don't think..... I will have to think about it though if I get many more orders like this......
We will email and let them know.... To get another bag would be great! Because it's £45 / $67 for a 3 month supply, so it would save us a lot lol....
Stacey, yes I guess you could call it 'dedication' lol! I lined a laundry basket with a black bin bag, had the colander held over it, and used the cup to scoop out 2 cups at a time into the colander. Then I sifted around with my hands until no more dust fell, tipped it into our storage bin and started again. Steve bought Chalk in at one point and said 'this is the lengths that mummy goes to, to make sure your food tastes good' Lol.... I worry about myself sometimes...:?