Hay feeder ideas

dannif_piggies

dannif_piggies

Adult Guinea Pig
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Okay so firstly, I wasn't sure what thread to put this under so apologies if it isn't quite right.
I need everyone's wonderful brains to help me think of a new way to provide Misty and a Willow hay.
So for the longest time I provided them hay in a litter tray, as they both love burying, but then, the pair of them realised he fun in both standing on one side, and tipping the entire contents out all over themselves sending the hay and wood shavings (I know not everyone agrees with wood shavings, and I wouldn't use them as the main bedding but it's simply in their litter trays in a well ventilated c&c) absolutely everywhere across the fleece, I do have a bath mat which sweeps easily but the girls also like the bury under this and just make even more of a mess 🤣
I then tried a hay bag that I made... well turns out if I make the hay bag big enough for them to get hay from, Willow shoves her head into the hole and gets partially stuck (luckily I was watching them) 😩 I've also tried a metal over the door storage basket as a hay rack, you've guessed it... they both jump over the side and into the top to then sit in the hay, which in turn means they'd probably be able to jump over the rest of the c&c 😂

I'm currently restoring to just chucking the hay on the bath mat and hoping as much of it stays on it as possible, well it rarely does as they both make their tunnels under it 😣 And I'm wasting so much this way due to it being spread right across the cage and it's getting sweeper up during poop scoops.

So does anyone, have ANY ideas about a suitable solution I'm not getting somewhat tired of the sheer level of mess after about 15 minutes of cleaning them 🤣 I understand piggies are messy and I won't ever have a pristine cage but I'd like to control it a little more than I currently am 🤦🏻‍♀️

Sorry I know this is a long message but I wanted to share all the ideas I've used and why they don't really work
Thanks everyone 😊
 
dannif_piggies said:
Okay so firstly, I wasn't sure what thread to put this under so apologies if it isn't quite right.
I need everyone's wonderful brains to help me think of a new way to provide Misty and a Willow hay.
So for the longest time I provided them hay in a litter tray, as they both love burying, but then, the pair of them realised he fun in both standing on one side, and tipping the entire contents out all over themselves sending the hay and wood shavings (I know not everyone agrees with wood shavings, and I wouldn't use them as the main bedding but it's simply in their litter trays in a well ventilated c&c) absolutely everywhere across the fleece, I do have a bath mat which sweeps easily but the girls also like the bury under this and just make even more of a mess 🤣
I then tried a hay bag that I made... well turns out if I make the hay bag big enough for them to get hay from, Willow shoves her head into the hole and gets partially stuck (luckily I was watching them) 😩 I've also tried a metal over the door storage basket as a hay rack, you've guessed it... they both jump over the side and into the top to then sit in the hay, which in turn means they'd probably be able to jump over the rest of the c&c 😂

I'm currently restoring to just chucking the hay on the bath mat and hoping as much of it stays on it as possible, well it rarely does as they both make their tunnels under it 😣 And I'm wasting so much this way due to it being spread right across the cage and it's getting sweeper up during poop scoops.

So does anyone, have ANY ideas about a suitable solution I'm not getting somewhat tired of the sheer level of mess after about 15 minutes of cleaning them 🤣 I understand piggies are messy and I won't ever have a pristine cage but I'd like to control it a little more than I currently am 🤦🏻‍♀️

Sorry I know this is a long message but I wanted to share all the ideas I've used and why they don't really work
Thanks everyone 😊
Click to expand...
Hope you can find a solution!
I’m kind of the same, Luigi knocks over litter trays with it in (normally on top of little old Jess) and she’s tiny and can get herself stuck in things pretty easily so I don’t risk it! Big hay piles and cardboard boxes with it in instead! Loads of waste! :doh:
 
What sort of cage are they in?
We use a large plastic box as a hay try and have a C&C cage.
When our sweet Oreo decided that it would be fun to flip the hay tray we just got a piece of wood from the DIY store and put it in the grids so it went over the middle of the hay tray and came out the other side of the grids.
It was one grid wide (slightly less to make it easy to poke through) and didin't stop the piggies getting in and out of the hay tray (we put it towards the back of the hay tray), but prevented it being flipped.
I hope that makes sense.
Because honestly large hay trays offer such enrichment I really think it is best to try and keep it if you can.
 
we use those basket things that are made to hang under a shelf I'm not sure if this is what you mean by "over the door storage basket" I make sure to not put any hides too close to them or one of my boys will jump in. but you could also put a flap of C&C plastic over the top as a sort of lid.
 
Swissgreys said:
What sort of cage are they in?
We use a large plastic box as a hay try and have a C&C cage.
When our sweet Oreo decided that it would be fun to flip the hay tray we just got a piece of wood from the DIY store and put it in the grids so it went over the middle of the hay tray and came out the other side of the grids.
It was one grid wide (slightly less to make it easy to poke through) and didin't stop the piggies getting in and out of the hay tray (we put it towards the back of the hay tray), but prevented it being flipped.
I hope that makes sense.
Because honestly large hay trays offer such enrichment I really think it is best to try and keep it if you can.
Click to expand...
Would you mind send me a photo of this? I can't quite picture what you mean but I understand the concept. The issue I also have is they almost bury under the boxes and they'll end up scooting them into the middle of the cage 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣 I love seeing them in a litter box, and jumping into the hay pile. I even considered making some holes in the plastic and zip tying it to the c&c but then cleaning of the hay box would be so inconvenient that way. Anyway thank you for your suggestion, I'd appreciate a photo of how your hay box is :) x
 
Sweet Potato said:
we use those basket things that are made to hang under a shelf I'm not sure if this is what you mean by "over the door storage basket" I make sure to not put any hides too close to them or one of my boys will jump in. but you could also put a flap of C&C plastic over the top as a sort of lid.
Click to expand...
I think it's the same concept, thank you though! I did think about making a lid but they also have a corex chewing obsession and i think Willow would still sit on top of it 😂 I'll bare it in mind though, thank you xx
 
alpacasqueak said:
Hope you can find a solution!
I’m kind of the same, Luigi knocks over litter trays with it in (normally on top of little old Jess) and she’s tiny and can get herself stuck in things pretty easily so I don’t risk it! Big hay piles and cardboard boxes with it in instead! Loads of waste! :doh:
Click to expand...
Honestly the pair of them make so much mess 🤣🤣
 
dannif_piggies said:
Would you mind send me a photo of this? I can't quite picture what you mean but I understand the concept. The issue I also have is they almost bury under the boxes and they'll end up scooting them into the middle of the cage 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣 I love seeing them in a litter box, and jumping into the hay pile. I even considered making some holes in the plastic and zip tying it to the c&c but then cleaning of the hay box would be so inconvenient that way. Anyway thank you for your suggestion, I'd appreciate a photo of how your hay box is :) x
Click to expand...

Our current set up involves these plastic boxes (storage boxes from the DIY store) held in place between 2 C&C grids. This works well and stops the piggies moving them around.
IMG_5564.webp

Previously, with a different cage set up we had a wooden bar between the grids to stop Oreo tipping the boxes over. I couldn't find the wood we used, so it is creatively illustrated here with the piggies water bottle brush instead.
Hopefully it works well enough to give you the idea though.
IMG_5565.webp
 
Swissgreys said:
Our current set up involves these plastic boxes (storage boxes from the DIY store) held in place between 2 C&C grids. This works well and stops the piggies moving them around.
View attachment 145823

Previously, with a different cage set up we had a wooden bar between the grids to stop Oreo tipping the boxes over. I couldn't find the wood we used, so it is creatively illustrated here with the piggies water bottle brush instead.
Hopefully it works well enough to give you the idea though.
View attachment 145824
Click to expand...
Ohh that storage box may well do the job! I use basic cat litter trays and they have a somewhat rounded bottom, so easy for them to tip up and with them both standing on one side it's catapults across the cage 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣
Thank you so much for the photos! X
 
I have been using a corrugated plastic tunnel that the girls have outgrown to play in; but the hay is so short at present that they are pulling the hay out and using it as a toilet . Looking at the solutions folk are using they do take up a lot of room in the cage and therefore cut down on exercise space .
 
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