Hay Dilemma Again/still

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Kylie80

Kylie80

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The Patchy and Coco hay dilemma continues. They flat out refuse to eat hay during the day which i provide for them anyway. They only eat hay at night and only because I take away their bowls of left over pellets at bed time (they love their pellets but only get a tablespoon each cos they never finish them) They mostly eat the oxbow orchard grass which i give them at night and eat only a bit of the two varieties of Timothy hay i bought. They love their botanical hay as a treat on friday. They get their beloved veg twice a day but seriously worried they not getting enough to eat even though they gain weight weekly. Is it normal for them to not like hay, it's literally only 5% of their diet.
 
My first comment was to cut down on the pellets. But then you mentioned they only get 1 Tbsp each anyway so that is pretty much the recommended amount and shouldn't really impact their hay intake.

How old are they?
My piggies are currently between 4-5 months old. Initially they took the entire day to each 1 Tbsp of pellets. Now they polish them off in about 5-10 min. They also definitely eat more hay at night, though I do frequently see them munching on it during the day.

Where are your piggies? Are they indoors? Or outdoors? Are they new to your family or have you had them a while?
If they're indoors and still new to the family and perhaps a bit scared, that could be the reason they are eating more at night than in the day. Maybe they're too nervous to come out in the open so much during the day when people are around. Maybe consider putting the hay in a "safe" area? Like in a hidey house or somewhere they can feel safe whilst eating. Or even throw a blanket over the half of the cage that has the hay in it.

If they are gaining weight well and pooping a lot though then they are probably fine.
 
GPcrazy said:
My first comment was to cut down on the pellets. But then you mentioned they only get 1 Tbsp each anyway so that is pretty much the recommended amount and shouldn't really impact their hay intake.

How old are they?
My piggies are currently between 4-5 months old. Initially they took the entire day to each 1 Tbsp of pellets. Now they polish them off in about 5-10 min. They also definitely eat more hay at night, though I do frequently see them munching on it during the day.

Where are your piggies? Are they indoors? Or outdoors? Are they new to your family or have you had them a while?
If they're indoors and still new to the family and perhaps a bit scared, that could be the reason they are eating more at night than in the day. Maybe they're too nervous to come out in the open so much during the day when people are around. Maybe consider putting the hay in a "safe" area? Like in a hidey house or somewhere they can feel safe whilst eating. Or even throw a blanket over the half of the cage that has the hay in it.

If they are gaining weight well and pooping a lot though then they are probably fine.
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Thanks so much for your reply. They are just 3 months old and ive had them for about 5-6 weeks but they generally dont care if I'm around while they eating although Coco is a bit timid still. It does take them all day to eat their pellets too lol. They are housed inside. I put their orchard hay inside one of those log tunnels and they eat it while they burrow inside and the timothy hay in a brown paper bag but they will just lay on it and pee on it lol. I weigh them every week and they put on a consistent amount of weight every week and poo heaps, zoom around their cage and popcorn. The fact they eat hay at night is actually new for them, they would never touch hay at all until recently.
 
As long as you are offering lots of decent hay (and it sounds like you are) then they will eat it.
They are probably eating more than you think, and as they are happy an active and aren't stuffing themselves silly with pellets, then clearly they must be eating something!
I feel like we throw away a lot of hay (we have hay trays and clean them daily) but I know they do nibble a lot throughout the day, becasue if I am sitting in the living room with the pigs I will often hear them munching away.
 
Are they allowed to eat alot of the orchard hay, I dont give them too much as I think I read somewhere to not give them too much. Its the oxbow brand but they seem to like it. Strangely Oxbow products are really easy to get here and its not a large town but other brands near impossible.
 
I don't think there's any reason why they shouldn't be allowed a lot of orchard hay.
The only thing to avoid giving in excess is Alfalfa/lucerne hay as that's not actually a grass hay and is very high in protein and other things. A Handful a day to babies is generally all they should have, no more (though it's also not totally necessary if there is some alfalfa/lucerne in their pellets).
Any other grass hay is fine unlimited as far as I'm aware.
 
Mine have orchard grass and I don't tend to limit the amount except when our box is getting low just before payday. They do have a basic meadow hay as a base though and then orchard on top and timothy or oat in their hay bags as a treat.
 
I use pellets that are grain free, low carb and high in fibre Versele-Laga Cavia Complete Guinea Pig Food | Free P&P £29+

My guineas also love this hay, which is lovely and green, from untreated meadows. They get very excited when I put fresh hay in their cage and will eat some straight away. Then they tend to lie and pee on it. Bunny Fresh Grass Hay at zooplus

My 2 piggies get through about a couple of handfuls of hay a day but from watching them, I would think they eat more veg than anything else.
 
Mine began refusing hay a few months ago, I tried two different brands (can't remember which) and they just wouldn't touch it. The only hay they'll eat now is the Timothy Hay dandelion and marigold. I imagine they just decided they didn't like those flavours anymore, they can be a pain sometimes :D also to make sure they're getting enough hay I bought some Timothy hay cookies in nettle and dandelion from B&M, they're a good boredom breaker too.
 
All my hay eaters (current rabbits and past guinea pigs) loved the hay from here;

Hay and Straw

At £18.00 for 9.5kg it is good value.
 
You could try the 5 a day Timothy hay from the range and B&M. It's really good quality and is only about £2.50! It's really green and smells sweet and also has flowers on dandelion and bits of dried pumpkin, pepper, beetroot, maringold and mint which makes it a bit more interesting and fun and encourages foraging.
 
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