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Chewing How can I encourage Charlie to eat more hay?

rolandinthehay

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I went to the vets yesterday and she said that Charlie's molars are looking a little long. She didn't think they needed to be filed down just yet, but we are going back in two weeks to see where things stand. She mentioned that because he is so young (4-5 months old), it is likely genetics causing the overgrowing, but I think it might also be because he just doesn't seem to eat his hay very often at all. He eats his veggies and pellets, but I rarely have to top off his hay. Is there a way I can encourage him to eat his hay more often? Or is there an alternative to hay for keeping teeth at the appropriate length?
 

agirlwithink

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Maybe cut back on the veggies and pellets to encourage him? Don't cut him off completely but hay should be 75% of his diet so cutting back on the amount of treat veggies may help.
 

Varcoda

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how much veggies are you feeding him? if you overfeed vegetables he will cut down the amount of hay he eats :)
 

PiggieGuinea

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Different hays might help too. When my piggies get bored of timothy hay, i get meadow grass or spinkle a pinch of alfalfa
 

bpatters

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Cut the veggies back to no more than one cup, and pellets to 1/8 cup. He's close enough to six months to survive on 1/8 cup of pellets. If he starts more hay, and he should, you can increase the pellets a little, but to 1/4 cup max.
 

Artista

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As stated above, variety. Mine gets bluegrass, tim hay 3, and tim hay 1 (because she loves the hard stems- and I do too because this is the best hay for keeping the teeth in check because it is stiff). She has a hay rack with blue grass mixed with tim 3 hay so she can pick and chose. It also keeps her entertained as this is a vertical hay rack and she loves going to different levels, standing, to select what she wants. There is a cup that has tim hay 1 in it. Then there is another cup in which I sort out the thick grass from the stiff stems in Tim 1 if she wants that. I find that she has set aside her toys even more and is enjoying the 3 options she has. She is definitely eating more hay than before. Also, we have a game where she enjoys taking a strand of hay from me and I'm praising her good job.
 

Coughingcolours

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How much hay do you give him at a time? Try just a big pile for him to play with, burrow in, and eat.
And maybe another hay rack..

Could you post a picture of your cage?
 

rolandinthehay

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@Coughingcolours I'm at the lab right now, but as soon as I get home I'll post a picture. I already have 1 hay rack and another feeder bin type thing where I stack hay high enough to play in.

[MENTION=27627]Artista[/MENTION] What do you mean by tim hay "1" and "3"? [MENTION=28488]PiggieGuinea[/MENTION] I'll definitely try adding more variety. Good types? Bluegrass, meadow hay?

[MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION] [MENTION=26768]Varcoda[/MENTION] [MENTION=28452]agirlwithink[/MENTION] He gets about a cup of veggies every day. I've been giving him a bit more the past two days because I find it is easier to feed him the probiotics he is on when I can sprinkle it on damp lettuce. It sticks better. If I cut down on the amount, I'll just feed him the probiotics with a syringe.

I definitely think he is getting distracted by the pellets. I'll limit him to 1/8 cup for now and see how much hay he begins to eat.
 

PiggieGuinea

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My piggies seem to love just fresh grass, and the meadow mixes from oxbow. But Ive heard that bluegrass is also a favorite by most pigs.

She means cuts. When hay is cut 1 it has more stems and hard bits.
Cut 2 is a mix between hard stemmy bits and leafy bits.
Cut 3 is mostly leafy soft bits.
 
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agirlwithink

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@rolandinthehay , I think [MENTION=27627]Artista[/MENTION] means Timothy 1st cut and Timothy 3rd cut. They are both Timothy but both cut in different growing times, thus changing the texture and hay.
 

GeekPrincess

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Try making the hay more interesting - stuff a bunch in an empty toilet paper roll or in a box, so it's like a toy.
 

rolandinthehay

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@agirlwithink [MENTION=28488]PiggieGuinea[/MENTION] Where do you get the different cuts? I'm feeding him Oxbow now - do they sell the different types? I haven't noticed anything.
 

PiggieGuinea

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Online. Alot of people use Klean Mamas and you buy online. You can ger different sizes and cuts. But dont worry, Oxbow is fine. If you want cut 1 use Kaytee lol.
 

agirlwithink

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@rolandinthehay, I don't think Oxbow sells different cuts of Timothy, only different grasses and hays in general. Some companies sell multiple cuts. Or if you get your hay from a feed store or a direct farm supply.
 

Mellisenda

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bpatters

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Cubed hay is not a substitute for long strand hay. It'll do more to grind down the incisors than it will the molars.

Also, a lot of those hay cubes have a lot of molasses in them to hold them together, and thus contain more sugar than a guinea pig needs. I'd stick with regular hay and only give an occasional cube as a treat.
 

PiggieGuinea

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They do. They sell alfalfa,timothy,bluegrass,meadow and all sorts of them
 

PiggieGuinea

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@agirlwithink Oxbow sells a bunch of hays and in different cuts. And dont get hay from a farm. It might contain mites and bugs and parasites and isnt very clean most of the time.
 

Mellisenda

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Cubed hay is not a substitute for long strand hay. It'll do more to grind down the incisors than it will the molars.

Also, a lot of those hay cubes have a lot of molasses in them to hold them together, and thus contain more sugar than a guinea pig needs. I'd stick with regular hay and only give an occasional cube as a treat.

That was essentially what I had stated in my post. :confused: The hay cubes I suggested for chewing treats only contain good quality hay or I would not have suggested them.
 

Artista

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@rolandinthehay , I think @Artista means Timothy 1st cut and Timothy 3rd cut. They are both Timothy but both cut in different growing times, thus changing the texture and hay.

Yes, that's what I mean. I get the bluegrass and timothy 3rd cut from KMS and what's called mountain mist (1st cut timothy hay) from (broken link removed)

My gp also loves the cattails that are on some ends.
 
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