Help! Cavies won't eat hay.

[blackieNbrownie]

I've had my cavies for 2 months now and they have been on a diet of fresh grass, pellets and a few vegetables. Yesterday I gave them hay for the first time. They still haven't eaten it. The hay I give them is Versele-Laga meadow hay. I don't think they have had hay before because the breeder who I got them from feeds them fresh grass and banana leaves instead of hay. Also, they don't eat anything dried like grass that has been dried up after 2 days. What should I do about this? I'm going to feel like I've wasted my money if they don't eat the hay.

[boofp]

Feed them pellets(1/8) in the morning leave them for an hour and take it up and then schedule the veggies in and then at night give them same amount before bed for an hour and take it up.

[lissie]

If they don't eat hay, you can keep feeding fresh grass. If they are eating unlimited amount of fresh grass, you may not need to feed hay.

[blackieNbrownie]

I do feed them pellets and vegetables day and night. The only vegetables they like to eat are bell pepper, celery, lettuce, carrots, kangkong and sometimes bok choy. Should I discontinue the hay and bring back fresh grass as their staple or is there a way to train them to eat hay?

[mommazilla]

I don't know if this applies but I noticed my piggies started eating a lot more hay when I got them better quality stuff. With the store stuff I was refilling their hay bins maybe once a day but I really didn't need to do it that often, now I have to refill their bins about twice a day. I switched to KMS.

[blackieNbrownie]

The cavies probably think the hay is bedding since they've been peeing and pooping on it a lot. I've seen one of my cavies eat a strand of hay but just several strands, not like the way they eat fresh grass. I'll give getting better quality hay a shot but if that still doesn't work, I guess I'll have to stick to lissie's advice of feeding them fresh grass.

[lissie]

Here is some info on fresh grass. How much grass are you feeding them? Unless they are getting unlimited amount of grass, you'd still need to feed hay.

http://www.guinealynx.info/forages.html

[blackieNbrownie]

Yes they do have unlimited grass. It's the type of tall grass common here in Asia which grows in our yard. It's pesticide free with no dogs and cats roaming around. I'm just worried that if I move out of this place in a couple of years I might not get fresh grass just like I do now and I will have no option but hay.

[lissie]

That sounds good. If you want them to get used to hay (incase you have to move). You can keep feeding them in a hay rack. Just have it available at all times, they might decide to try it.

[blackieNbrownie]

That sounds good. If you want them to get used to hay (incase you have to move). You can keep feeding them in a hay rack. Just have it available at all times, they might decide to try it.

How long should the hay be in the rack until I have to remove it or replace it? Molds are not a problem here since its really not cold, dark or damp where their cage is.

[lissie]

I usually top up everyday and replace once a week. You don't really need to replace. Since hay stays fresh if kept dry and well ventilated. I just prefer to clean everything out once a week.

[blackieNbrownie]

Alright. Thank you very much for the info lissie

[lissie]

You're welcome

[lindakandrews]

For my girls i find i is usually better to start them with hay as soon as you get them. Due to hip problems I
cannot pick grass so i make do with Oxbow Orchard grass hay,and i have tried grass hay at the CavyCott-
age at Virginia,they didn't mind it except Snowflake.So i will be getting Oxbow again for them. So i feed
them the hay daily and fresh mixed greens and some carrot,none acid cucumber,sometimes celery. I cann-
feed Snowflake,apple or acidy foods because of her mouth ends up with lumps.Hope this helps. Thankyou.

[mari11]

My two have hay in their outside space and will eat some but spend most of the day eating grass. They get a bucketful of grass at night and hay for both some bedding and eating - it starts off in two separate areas but migrates together. They prefer grass over hay but the fresher the hay the more they eat.

My hayrack is a flat grid tied halfway up the other grids(in a corner) with another grid on one side sloping up and tied to the top grids. It's big enough for them to sit in and eat so they'll do that sometimes too and pee in it, so I replace it a few times a week, depends on the weather. Colder days they sit in it, warmer they munch grass.

[blackieNbrownie]

Unfortunately I can't find any Oxbow hay in my country and shipping costs here are too high for that. This is my hayrack which finds barely any use in the cage since the cavies don't eat any of the hay. The rectangular dish where I place the grass is directly below it. I can't use the hay as bedding since it will cost too much and I don't want to use local hay from the farms since it could come with mites.

[mari11]

I haven't had any problems with mites in the baled hay here but could be an issue for you - we had mites at our first house with the pigs and it was a pain (for them and us) to clear up. That was from the grass outside on the lawn.

On the vets advice we dose them with a kitten anti mite/flea treatment every couple of months - it's been 18 months since and no more mites.

They just might not like the hay compared to the grass. It's definitely second rate food for my guys but they love it to sit in and will eat while they do that.