My piggies prefer cheap supermarket hay to Timothy Hay

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RubberDuck

RubberDuck

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That's it really!

I tend to use meadow hay in the bedroom area because it needs so much to fill it, but have been putting better quality timothy hay in their hay rack. This last week, I ran out of the hay I normally use, but couldn't get into town so popped to Tesco and bought a bag of value hay while feeling a bit guilty.

They've been nomming the lot up every night - their bedroom was almost DEVOID of all hay this morning and I'd put 4 really big handfuls of hay in there yesterday! And they're eating less and less of the Timothy Hay. In fact, I can't remember the last time I topped up their hayrack - I must remove it all tomorrow and put some fresh in.

Is this bad? Isn't Timothy Hay supposed to be better nutritionally? I'd put Timothy Hay in the bedroom area (if only to use up the bag I bought!) but it seems a little coarser and not so nice to lie on as the cheap meadow hay... Gah.
 
No; timothy is the hay the gets the guts moving along best, but other hay is OK, too; the piggies just need to eat a little bit more for the same effect. I tend to switch around a bit - it's like eating different sorts of bread...

PS: Cheap supermarket hay tends to disappear in this house, too. I use it as underlay for my hay trays, but the dig for it through the timothy hay. Especially now that the cheap hay is actually fresher hay and better quality than what you can find in a timothy hay bag... rolleyes
 
I use hay from Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Tesco all my Guinea pigs don't have a problem with it. They have it everyday and always look forward to it. Although the stuff from the pet shop is pretty lush at the moment. lol
 
I've tried numerous ones for our piggies, Timothy Western, Alfalfa King...you name it, they've tried it and not been keen. Spent a fortune on the stuff :(
Zooplus do a 14k box of Meadow Hay and they really like this so have stuck to it but they also like Jollyes Meadow Hay and Asda cheapy one so as long as they get sufficient amounts, don't worry.
This is the one we buy:
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/hay_roughage/48095
Smells beautiful, lovely green soft hay.
 
I've noticed on the odd occasion when I've brought supermarket hay how much the girls enjoy it. Also when I clean the cage out I will take the top layer of fleece plus the dirty hay and leave it one the floor for them to 'rummage' through. They will spend ages going through it - finding that special piece they missed when it was nice and fresh and clean. Silly piggies. :))
 
Thank you so much for all the reassurances :) I shall worry less, then!

I dunno, you try and do the best by your piggies... guess I can't really complain when they helpfully prefer the cheaper choice, though :)) rolleyes
 
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