GP Mix and/or Hay ?

[psychojelly]

1. I buy GP mix from a local stockfeed place - do I need to supply additional 'hay' on top of this, or is this enough for them to chew on to keep their teeth ground down, etc...

[Jennicat]

Guinea pigs always need hay. What is in this "mix"? Guinea pigs should have only a plain timothy based pellets and unlimited grass hay.

[kathrynj]

Jennicat, plain timothy based pellets are only JUST becoming available in Australia. A very select few vets order them in, and ebay sells them, however they are incredibly expensive to buy!

I have a thread on this aussie section with links to the available places that you can get Oxbow cavy cuisine pellets.

Grass hay, again, is very very very very hard to find, even lucerne hay is at the moment, due to the drought.

[Banana]

Oaten or wheaten hay is not too hard to get in Sydney and isn'y as bad as Lucerne. if you can get your hands on oxbow cavy cusine pellets, they are great. a little expensive but the pigs only need a small amount each day and they contain vitamin c.

[newpiggiemommy]

Maybe you could ask whoever you get the oxbow pellets from if they could order in some timothy hay. It is less expensive if you order it in bulk! Have you all tried to order it online? I am guessing whoever you get the pellets from must have ordered them online. If they can maybe you can also???

[pigsforlife]

newpiggiemommy -

There is an Australian Representitive which orders oxbow products in and distributes them to vets and ebay. At the moment, we can only get the small bags of oxbows cavy cuisine and oxbows western timothy hay. Oxbows Bunny basics is also available, again in the smallest bag. My vet believes that they will be getting larger bags in soon, but does not know when.

The smallest bag of oxbows western timothy hay (which is 15oz) costs $16.50 + depending on where you get it from. It would last me probably 3-5 days. I can not afford to spend $16.50 every week. Therefore I purchase Oaten Hay (which I believe is a grass hay) and supplement it with a handful of oxbows hay every other day.

[newpiggiemommy]

pigsforlife, thanks for explaining that to me(us)! I just wasn't sure how it all worked over there! Good luck, and I hope they get some bigger bags in for you all soon. I am sure your piggies are healthy and happy with the oaten hay!