Hay Cakes

[ScottandDebbie]

Has anyone tried Oxbow's Hay Cakes?

Oxbow's Hay Cakes... click here

I am really allergic to hay, and thought this might be something that would not only be better for my boys, but would stop me from having to wear face masks while adding their hay to their hoppers each day.

What do you think?

[Inrun]

Recommended for: Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Chinchillas and Prairie Dogs

Out of curiosity... who keeps prarie dogs as pets? I mean... where I live... prairie dogs are pests not... pets.

[Percy's Mom]

I'm thinking about getting some for floor time to make less of a mess. They still need the loose hay though as the blocks don't wear their teeth correctly. They would chew a block more with their front teeth instead of chewing with their molars.

[ScottandDebbie]

Ah.... thank you my dear cavy friend.

Don't want my boys to get long in the tooth....

[aqh88]

It could be useful if your allergy is to all hay and not just timothy(I'm allergic to the hay cakes) but I would still give them as much loose hay as possible. The hay cakes could keep them from going hungry when you can't fill the cage as much as you'd like but loose hay helps wear down teeth better and they prefer it more. The amount of hay I have to stuff into the girls cage so they don't run out before I fill it in the morning can set off our allergies a little if we stay in the room. Hay cakes though are worse than stuffing the cage with bluegrass. Potentially useful if you are so allergic to all hay you can't feed much out at a time but not a good replacement if you can avoid it.

Out of curiosity... who keeps prarie dogs as pets?

I believe quite a few people in the united states keep prairie dogs for pets or at least did before they were banned from interstate travel for awhile. I think they were at high risk of carrying monkey pox and so restricted heavily.

[ScottandDebbie]

What I usually do is overfill their two hoppers with timothy hay, that way I don't have to mess with the hay as often. And Scott certainly does his fair share of hay filling. The boys always have plenty of hay in their cage at all times.

I was just curious about the hay cakes. Might try them for floor times.

aqh88... I would suggest you trying a face mask when filling the hay hoppers. It really helps me. It reduces the airborne pollen that I normally would breath.

Sorry that you too have problems with hay allergies.

[Slap Maxwell]

I believe that Oxbow's are alfalfa based. My guy's favorites are American Pet Diner's Timbo Cube, which is timothy based and better for older or overweight pigs.

(www.americanpetdiner.com)

Kaytee also makes a timothy cube, which I use, however it does have some alfalfa sufficient for processing.

[Sabriel]

Oxbows are timothy now. They have been for a little while. They used to sell them at my old vets. But they never order anything fast enough to restock.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

There is no real substitute for loose grass hay. Hay cakes are compressed hay, and have more calories. They don't wear down the teeth like actual hay, as mentioned. It doesn't work their jaws the same.

[aqh88]

Hay cakes are compressed hay, and have more calories

How do they have more calories? Hay cakes are simply the left over small pieces that fall out of the bales when oxbow is packaging hay. They stick them together with a safe binder. Zeolite? Something like that. The only difference is the pieces are smaller. Much bigger than any other hay cube I've seen which is probably why they call them cakes instead of cubes. They should have the same nutritional stats as the timothy hay they come from.

[homeschoolmama]

I have been giving Mr. Pigg hay cakes to help with his impaction. He still gets tons of bluegrass & all his other lovely snacks, but also gets a few of these each day. They seem to be helping too. I don't know about all the time, but it shouldn't hurt to try.