Wire Hay Rack

The guinea pigs feet and legs can be very fragile. If they climb into the hay rack or stand up against it, there is a chance their legs can get caught and twisted. Many people will use shower racks, a bent piece of grid, or a straight grid all can be cable tied to the edge of the cage.

A small GP with a small head can possibly get their head or body stuck in the wire openings. Be certain that the wire openings are smaller then the head of any of the GPs that will be using it.

Also be sure they can't jump in it and get a leg caught.

I used a bent grid as a hay rack and I had one get his little leg stuck in it. How he did that I'll never know. He broke his leg and I had to keep him confined to a very small portion of the cage to get it to heal. It did and he's all better. I have switched to an old wooden style cd holder. I used bungee cords to secure it and since it has three sections, I can put three types of hay in it for variety. I have also used the small cubes to make a hay box out of and I haven't had any problems since.

On www.livejournal.com, in the "green_vale" community, someone made a post about the rolling hay rack being dangerous as well. Her pig broke into it and got stuck!

I found the best Hay rack at Big W last week, it's a stainless steel Cutlery drainer


The pigs had no trouble getting to their hay, and it was really easy to attach to the cage. It was $5 as well, so that was an added bonus. (and I can't believe I found a picture of it on Google!)

I use an under the shelving shelf sideways for their hay rack. I got it for under $10 at Walmart and I just poked holes in my coroplast to hold the shelf in place. The holes are big enough for them to grab the hay but small enough for them not to get stuck in there. I also have a coroplast potty area with aspen and Carefresh under there since they do alot of their business in there while they eat. I tried to find a picture from Walmart to show you what I mean but I couldn't dig one up. I think I have a pic of it in my gallery.

Here's a link to an older version of my cage and a smaller shelving unit. My new one is larger ((broken link removed)). I hope this helps.

I would say the vast majority of piggers actually like having hay on the floor of their cages instead of it being in a hay rack. They love to lay in it while eating, run through it, burrow under it and have a blast with it.

Most of us that use fleece find it easier to put hay into a rack instead of on the fleece itself because hay really sticks to fleece. At the moment, I am using shavings because I am giving my house a thorough cleaning and just don't have the time to spot clean daily right now. The girls hate the shavings and so do I but they do love the hay in piles that I've been putting in there. I normally just use an under the shelf basket like JennG does and it goes in the girls "hay room".

in the same aisle of the home depot where i found the cubes i found a small storage unit made of wire (same as the cubes) for storing packets of seasoning cup of soup etc. It just hooks onto the cube and the slats are very close together so no piggy's will get stuck. It was like $5 canadian. i agree that some hay should be left out for them to play with though. Hope that helps!

I used to have a band grid stanting up straight (hotdog style) and put it on the side of the cage. But Now that I have a second level, I have a hay loft. I hung a big towel and filled it with hay.

I use the suet bird feeder from walmart.

Those bird feeders are pretty cool too!!

I just use an old dog kennel that I took the top off and put newspaper on it and sprinkle their hay in it. I clean it out every other day and freshen the hay every day and it's less mess than using a hay rack.

I used a gride and scored and piece of coroplast to make the back and sides. That way they can't get in the hay rack. I looked at them when i was shopping and they were $15 for a little hay rack and I have 3 little girls no way that would work.

Would it be a good idea to put those things in the dish washer that holds the tops of bottles and things?

So are the home made grid hay racks OK or not? I made one that was just bent and hanging from the side. DH pointed out to me if they climbed into they could probably climb out of the cage. Now I bent it into almost a circle. (like a tube) I have it upright from floor to top in a corner. Just need to know if it is safe or not.

Kathy

I had a wire rack and my littlest guinea pig, Angel, got her head stuck in it. She was reeting and reeting at 3 am, just freaking out. It took me about 5 minutes to get her out, she was really wedged in there. Then I didn't know what to use, but my daughter had made this wooden trough in school, and I use that. (So appropriate, really.)

I use a wire rack in the cage with my older lone guinea, and she never bothers it. But I'll never use a wire rack in the other one again, that was way too scary.