Hay Mess free hay feeder suggestions?

[Cavykell]

I am looking for recommendations for a less-messy hay feeding situation.
Currently I have a plastic rack zip tied to the cage, but lately my boys just pull all the hay out of it onto the ground, and proceed to pee and poop all over it. I really hate all the waste of expensive hay, so am looking at feeding methods that don't involve me throwing away so much hay each day.
I am intrigued by hay bags (I'd probably make one myself), and have also seen people who just put a tray under their hay rack to catch spills, but I feel like my pigs would still poop in that.
Does anyone have experience with either of these methods, or does have some other magic solution?

 

[bpatters]

No such thing exists. Guinea pigs will search through a pile of hay strand by strand, until they find THE one they want. And they'll pee and poop on the rest.

The best thing you can do is buy hay in bulk so it's much cheaper, and just let them have at it.

 

[koalamissy]

Ditto what @bpatters said!!! When I first brought my girls home, I purchased a hay bag from the Guinea Pig Market, I mean, I watched videos from skinnypigs1 and she uses them and there never seems to be a mess, so cool!! EH, wrong!! My pigs would stick their heads in the bag digging for that perfect piece of hay and drag the rest out till they got what they wanted. There was still a mess. I gave up on the bag and just started putting the hay on the floor of the cage and they LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! (I was also paranoid that they would stick themselves in the eye with the hay). Now, I put handfuls down at a time and they jump in it and dig under it. This morning one of my girls was so happy (she definitely woke up on the right side of the cozy today) when I put the hay down that she started popcorning and running circles around the cage. She was diving into the hay and then running a lap and so on, she just cracked me up and gave me a happy heart to start my day!!

 

[jaycriae]

There's definitely not a good way to prevent them from making a mess of the hay and/or peeing and pooping on it, but what I've discovered does help some is putting piles of hay on top of the hideys, so they kind of lean on them with their hind legs and eat it off the roof. It's definitely very imperfect, but it keeps at least a decent amount of the hay up high where they can't pee on it and they can still sort through it to their weird little hearts' content.

 

[lisa325]

The best solution I have found ( and believe me I have tried many hay holders ) is a nice big hay rack purchased from the store here with a tray of some description all around the feeding area, ( I have the kitchen insert ). Yes, hay will still fall through, it's unavoidable, but it keeps it much more contained and easier to clean up. Also, pigs will poop where they eat so you have the added advantage of containing most of the poop in that area.

 

[lisa325]

I use wood chip pellets covered with a layer of fleece. I change the fleece once a week when I also sift out the used up pellets and top them up. I love this method, it's super cheap and so easy to pick out poops without having to sift through bedding, and much easier to scoop out any hay that has fallen through. I have bpatters to thank for turning me on to the wood pellets .

 

[lisa325]

 

[lisa325]

Thank you so much, we love our boys to bits . On the toys......they have come from several places like Petsmart, Petco, Ebay, Etsy, Foster Smith. I believe the ones in the pic are most likely from Petsmart or Petco. Foster Smith has some cute Christmas ones on sale now, I have them in their Christmas cage.

 

[CavySpirit]

I just got done shooting new photos for our new Toy Bundles on the Market.

They come stuffed with fresh hay from Small Pet Select and the herbal ones are particularly fragrant. The piggies actually like these. Aren't they adorable?? Love these.









www.guineapigmarket.com/toys

 

[koalamissy]

@CavySpirit - I had a ball like the one in the very bottom of the picture above my post and it didn't have anything in the middle of it. They loved chewing on it, but as it began to unravel, it was wrapped twice around one of my girls . I got scared that she would somehow get tangled in it and not know how to get out, so I got her out of it and threw the whole thing away. Do you know of that happening to anyone else's piggies, where they get tangled in it as they chew it apart?

 

[CavySpirit]

Yes, it's not wire, it just plant material that has give to it, so it's not going to be a deadly risk. My pigs have munched them to opening up. It takes them a while. It's not a concern for hurting them. If I thought there was any danger with them, of course we wouldn't sell them.

 

[trailhermit]

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Could you please post a photo of what the hay & fleece look like a few hours after you clean the cage! My piggies have poo everywhere within minutes of the cage cleaning. I don't know how you manage to get clean cage pictures.

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

 

[CavyTV]

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Oh my god, I love your cage! It looks so neat! I'm very jealous Where did you get those see-through panels? Also, how big is your cage? It looks absolutely amazing

 

[Soecara]

Where did you get those see-through panels?

You can buy them from the guinea pig cages store, https://www.guineapigcagesstore.com/pigture-window#.WKEnXlV97IU

They are clear acrylic, so you should be able to get something similar from anywhere that sells 1/8" thick clear acrylic that is also willing to cut it for you. Alternatively you could buy a clear acrylic sheet and try to cut it yourself, but acrylic can be difficult to cut as it is prone to fracturing if you don't have the right tools.

 

[CavyTV]

Woah, they are expensive! I have a 2x8 C&C cage, and it would cost more than $100 hmy: Checked online too, home depot sells 36in. x 48in. x .093in. for $39.58, the cheapest they have. All other sizes (not that much of a difference in length/width) are anywhere between $90-251.

 

[Soecara]

Yes clear acrylic isn't a cheap material, but it does look nice. It is one of those things where you have to weigh up how much you are willing to pay to get the look you want.