Hay My guinea pig doesn't eat much Hay

Nannub · Oct 19, 2015

I got a guinea pig less than a month ago, she's gaining weight and being more active than when I got her but she doesn't eat as much hay as other guinea pigs I've seen around (by around I mean, people posting here and / or Youtube users with guinea pigs). Last week her weight was at 540 grs. And this week she's at 630grs. She eats 1/8 cup of pellets every day and a cup of veggies.

*Also looking for a guinea pig sister for my GP. Still can't find the right one, tough choices.

Thanks!

pinky · Oct 19, 2015

What brand of hay are you feeding? Can you post a photo of it so we can tell you whether it's quality hay or not?

Nannub · Oct 19, 2015

pinky said:
What brand of hay are you feeding? Can you post a photo of it so we can tell you whether it's quality hay or not?

I'm feeding her Oxbow Timothy Hay, she used to sleep on it. Now that I put it on a hay rack she doesn't eat a lot. Maybe I have unrealistic expectations of the amount she should be eating.

Nazgul · Oct 20, 2015

My piggies didn't eat a lot of hay when I used a rack. I tried several different options - store bought hay racks, a hay bag, and a bent-wire rack. Same results.

So, recently, I decided to just try plopping piles of hay in the corner of their cage. It was great not only because my piggies LOVE sitting in their hay, but - more importantly - they started eating more!

It is a very messy process and you will have to refill more often (since they poop and soil the hay that's flat on the ground), but it works great. And you can avoid most, if not all of the mess by using a hay box or something similar. I myself plan to invest in one eventually but for now, the system still works just fine. (extra mess aside, lol)

pinky · Oct 20, 2015

Post a photo of your hay rack with the hay in it. I have to agree that they seem to prefer piles of hay. Mine devour their hay when it's in a pile.

Nannub · Oct 20, 2015

Nazgul said:
My piggies didn't eat a lot of hay when I used a rack. I tried several different options - store bought hay racks, a hay bag, and a bent-wire rack. Same results.

So, recently, I decided to just try plopping piles of hay in the corner of their cage. It was great not only because my piggies LOVE sitting in their hay, but - more importantly - they started eating more!

It is a very messy process and you will have to refill more often (since they poop and soil the hay that's flat on the ground), but it works great. And you can avoid most, if not all of the mess by using a hay box or something similar. I myself plan to invest in one eventually but for now, the system still works just fine. (extra mess aside, lol)

That's a really good idea. What I just did using your suggestion was to turn her Igloo that she doesn't use anymore upside down and put hay in it. Hopefully she'll eat more. If not I'll put in the floor and keep trying different options. Thanks!

mamaduck71 · Oct 20, 2015

No hay rack for my piggies. Just a big pile in there cage. I end up going thru a lot of hay, cuz when they are eating they are also peeing and pooping in it which in turn, that i hay they will not eat.
They love hiding in it.

Nannub · Oct 20, 2015

mamaduck71 said:
No hay rack for my piggies. Just a big pile in there cage. I end up going thru a lot of hay, cuz when they are eating they are also peeing and pooping in it which in turn, that i hay they will not eat.
They love hiding in it.

I guess my guinea pig is not the only one lol she also has a hay ball thing but I don't think she gets how it works

pinky · Oct 20, 2015

Nannub said:
That's a really good idea. What I just did using your suggestion was to turn her Igloo that she doesn't use anymore upside down and put hay in it. Hopefully she'll eat more. If not I'll put in the floor and keep trying different options. Thanks!

Don't flip your pigloo for hay. If it's one of those with the squares on top that stick up in a circle, you'll have depressions where they can injure their legs or feet if you flip it.

Nannub · Oct 20, 2015

pinky said:
Don't flip your pigloo for hay. If it's one of those with the squares on top that stick up in a circle, you'll have depressions where they can injure their legs or feet if you flip it.

yeah I put it back in the cage on the right way like 15 minutes after I did that. It was kinda dumb. Thanks for the advice!

Icarus_Hermes · Oct 20, 2015

Mine love hay piles too. If she still doesn't eat a lot, try switching up the type of hay. One of my pigs didn't eat a lot when I only bought Oxbow timothy, then I tried orchard and he went nuts for it! He loves bluegrass too. The only timothy he goes crazy for is KMS 3rd cut.

Nannub · Oct 20, 2015

I got a small bag of National Geographic hay mixed up with some other greens. Like parsley and dandelion flowers. Does anyone know if it's safe? It's has some kind of pellets in it.

lennier1 · Oct 21, 2015

Parsley and dandelion are fine. I probably wouldn't feed it to them every day, but it's fine as a treat. Of course, they might like it fresh even better. Mine go crazy for dandelion greens.

Nannub · Oct 23, 2015

Icarus_Hermes said:
Mine love hay piles too. If she still doesn't eat a lot, try switching up the type of hay. One of my pigs didn't eat a lot when I only bought Oxbow timothy, then I tried orchard and he went nuts for it! He loves bluegrass too. The only timothy he goes crazy for is KMS 3rd cut.

I got Orchard Hay, my gp went nuts over it!!!! Omg I'm so happy! She's been more active these days, munching on it all night long.

Icarus_Hermes · Oct 23, 2015

Yay, glad to hear it! Always fun to find a picky pig's favorite!

PiggleLove2013 · Oct 23, 2015

In addition to the hay piles, pigs tend to like orchard grass more since it's a sweeter hay (and a little stringier/softer). Brand is definitely important too. See how the hay smells and looks. Does it smell sweet? Is it green? Check for these and if your hay isn't checking out, that could be the issue too. However, I've never had issues with Oxbow.
@Nannub I don't quite know about their hay but National Geographic's other animal products are junk. Their pellets are horrible, so I don't think their hay would be much better.

bpatters · Oct 24, 2015

Brand is definitely important too.

Sorry, but brand is never important with hay, except in a very general way. Hay is hay is hay, and the quality has more to do with the growing/harvesting/storage conditions than the name of the company who's distributing it. Very few, if any, of the large hay suppliers for pets grow their own hay. They all buy from farmers whose raise huge quantities of hay, and the farmers sell to whoever's paying the best price. It's entirely possible that a farmer sells one year to Oxbow and another to Sweet Meadow Farm -- same hay, different name.

You want dry, green, sweet-smelling hay. You're more likely to get that if you buy large quantities of hay at a time, because the hay is packaged in a way that keeps it from drying out. The flip side of that is that you can't see what you're getting, the way you can in a small cellophane bag. But that small bag is way more expensive, and is much more likely to dry out than hay packed tightly in a box.

Nannub · Oct 24, 2015

bpatters said:
Sorry, but brand is never important with hay, except in a very general way. Hay is hay is hay, and the quality has more to do with the growing/harvesting/storage conditions than the name of the company who's distributing it. Very few, if any, of the large hay suppliers for pets grow their own hay. They all buy from farmers whose raise huge quantities of hay, and the farmers sell to whoever's paying the best price. It's entirely possible that a farmer sells one year to Oxbow and another to Sweet Meadow Farm -- same hay, different name.

You want dry, green, sweet-smelling hay. You're more likely to get that if you buy large quantities of hay at a time, because the hay is packaged in a way that keeps it from drying out. The flip side of that is that you can't see what you're getting, the way you can in a small cellophane bag. But that small bag is way more expensive, and is much more likely to dry out than hay packed tightly in a box.

thanks for the advice @bpatters . My pig has been eating more hay now that I got Orchard Hay. All the Oxbow Hay i got smells so good! I got Kaytee a while ago and had to return it, I got straw-like hay.

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Hay My guinea pig doesn't eat much Hay

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