Hi everyone! It has been a long time since I posted. This blog post is about hay and herbs.
Why hay?
Hay is important in a guinea pig’s diet. There are many brands of hay, most of them of good quality. However, some of them are ”tourist-traps”, but more about that later. Hay must always be supplied for a guinea pig. It keeps them warm in the winter. If you have your pigs on fleece in the winter (which I think is good for the summer but not so good for winter) you may want to make a nice, large hay box to keep your pigs warm.
What are good hays and where can I buy them?
You can find hay in your local pet-shop. Chances are, they have high quality hay in the rodent section, including herbage for them.
Good hays come from an unpolluted place, not a hay-making place that is right next to a highway. Good hay should not smell like fungi. It should smell fresh and clean. It shouldn’t be too hard (too many indigestible fibres).
Hays with herbs are always superb. Good brands add herbs to the grass. My guinea pigs adore that. You can select hays for your guinea pig’s health. If you have a guinea pig with stomach problems, it would be a good try to give him/her chamomile hay.
How do I distinguish bad hay from good hay?
Watch out! Guinea pig food companies might give you a handful of straw with a few marigold petals in it. At first sight, you probably might fall for it. I did so too. I walked in the rodent section, saw a hay marked as ”fresh, marigold infused hay, good for your rodent”, and a few weeks later I paid extra attention to the hay, and found out it is just straw with a few marigold petals. My pigs didn’t eat it because it was too rich in fibres.
So, when you see a hay brand screaming how good it is for your pigs, look closely. Do you see too much straw? Weird colourants? Rotten stuff? If you see that, don’t buy it. Does it stink like fungi or highway? DO NOT BUY!
Go for high quality hay that shows many different herbs good for your guinea pig, and different grasses. They might be more expensive, but it will be a better buy.
WHAT THE HECK IS THAT WEIRD COLOURANT DOING IN MY HAY!?
Watch out! Colourants and preservatives…no way. Go for the hays that tell you they have no additional colourants and preservatives. You don’t eat paint, so don’t let your pigs eat paint.
Awkward Alfafa
Alfafa…I’m not too pleased when it is in my hay… but I’m not too worried when given in small quantities. I think you should avoid it when you can, and if it is in your hay, don’t give too much and buy a hay you can give in normal quantaties.
What hays are good?
I recommend My guinea pigs recommend VitaKraft and Hope Farms. I don’t think VitaKraft is too pricey, and I like their herbage (soft hay with lots of herbs). I like their pellets too. Hope Farms has great chamomile hay, which my pigs adore. VitaKraft Emotion pre-biotic is loved by my guinea pigs, and I like it because it is good for their teeth and their digestive system. And it is probably tasty for them because they greedily gobble it up. 😉 As for Hope Farms hay, I don’t think I need to explain because my pigs have stuck their little noses inside the hay and are munching it up! 😀
I hope this Hay 101 post helped you! Feel free to contact me in the contact form about anything guinea pig related!
Cavy Dreams 