How to get a guinea to eat more hay?

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Bradley and Barney are on fleece bedding and I used to feed them their hay in just a pile in the corner but I was fed up with the fleece getting really messy and them pooping and peeing in their hay. Last night I put their hay in a hay rack, it's at their level and I have seen them take a few nibbles but the thing is the hay level didn't seem to have gone down. They prefer their 50g each of pellets/muesli. Any ideas on how I can get them to eat more hay? I'm worried about their digestive system.

Thanks :)
 
is it nice looking hay? :)) i know that sounds funny but everytime i buy a bag it seems different, could you get some really yummy stuff and mix it in and see if it helps? like timothy hay? my boys love that.

or maybe just get another bag of hay and see if they eat more of that.
 
I'm going to get them a bag of Excel Herbage Hay as soon as I can get into town on Saturday. See if that makes any difference.
 
also, you could try putting it in different things like toilet rolls etc or hay balls...make it all a bit interesting?
 
Guinea pigs will eat most hay when they can lay and roll around in it. You could try using a litter tray as this will contain most of the mess and keep it off the fleece. I also have a hay rack but find the girls will generally only eat hay out of it if I pull it through so it's sticking out. They then trim it neatly and wait for me to come along and pull it through again. You could also try stuffing an empty tissue box with hay so that it sticks up, they seem to like this too. :)
 
Mine have a hayloft. They have a C & C cage so it was relatively easy to add an extra level. It keeps (most of) the hay contained, and the pigs love to forage and sit in it. I don't know if that's a feasible solution for you, but I'm sure your pigs would love it! :)
 
I have one of my squigles on VetBed, I give him a hay cookie, and have a lil tupaware tub that I put a lil bit of normal hay in too. It does mean filling it up regularly during the day though haha, but I find he eats it more and doesn't turf it all out haha
 
Yeah I think using a litter tray would help contain most of the hay. They'll eat a lot more.

Also trying nicer hay is a good idea. And if you're worried about it, you could even cut down on their pellets, or just give them pellets once a day so they have to eat hay the rest of the day.
 
piggies are funny things.. ive been using Jollyes own brand of hay for a while.. then i thought oh i try them on some better stuff so tried this brand (can't remember the name) and they did not like it at all (it even had extra herbs in for them) so in the end i stuck to the cheaper brand and they love it, they wolf it down so much. :)) they also get readigrass once/twice a week which they love even more :))

Esther x
 
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