recommendations to make to this hay rack!

piggiemummy03x

piggiemummy03x

Adult Guinea Pig
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hi all, hope this is the right forum to post in! i purchased two of these hay racks online and after turning up today i’ve realised they gaps between the bars are absolutely massive! not only am i now thinking the hay is just going to fall straight out, but i’m also worried about my babies possibly getting stuck in there in some way?! i may just be over worried but would rather be on the safe side! does anyone have any recommendations on how i can alter these hay racks to make them keep the hay in as well as make them more safe for my piggies? thankyou! x
 

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I don't have any suggestions for altering the racks, but good on you for noticing that they are unsafe. I used to use racks/cloth bags, but I discovered over time that it's just easier and safer to put piles of hay in the cage. The piggies prefer it that way anyway as they can jump and hide in it.
 
Hope4gem said:
I don't have any suggestions for altering the racks, but good on you for noticing that they are unsafe. I used to use racks/cloth bags, but I discovered over time that it's just easier and safer to put piles of hay in the cage. The piggies prefer it that way anyway as they can jump and hide in it.
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i was possibly thinking about trying to mold some chicken wire on the inside? so it would be square holes it came out of meaning they wouldn’t be able to get stuck? it was advertised as suitable for guineapigs which is the most annoying thing! yes my plan was to have hay in bedding area of corse, then piles of hay dotted around and then 2 hay racks (one with timothy hay, one with meadow hay) so they have a choice on where they would like to eat it from!
 
Can you return them?
You could either get some which are smaller holes or not use racks at all? Use trays even?

I don’t use hayracks or trays. Mine are bedded on meadow hay everywhere in the hutch (not just bedroom area because they don’t tend to use like that) and just have piles of timothy. I’ve always found that when bedded on hay and have loose piles, that hayracks are just ignored anyway as they are harder work than just sitting and eating from the pile directly in front of them (or on top of them given they love being inside hay)!
 
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Piggies&buns said:
Can you return them?
You could either get some which are smaller gets or not use racks at all? Use trays even?

I don’t use hayracks or trays. Mine are bedded on meadow hay everywhere in the hutch (not just bedroom area because they don’t tend to use like that) and just have piles of timothy. I’ve always found that when bedded on hay and have loose piles, that hayracks are just ignored anyway as they are harder work than just sitting and eating from the pile directly in front of them (or on top of them given they love being inside hay)!
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ill have to check the returns policy! i was hoping i could do something with them now iv got them though, as i have mentioned i was thinking maybe pressing some mesh wire inside so they wouldn’t get stuck! haha yes of corse!
 
You can try to do it - not sure how easy it would be to get a balance though. You’d need to make sure it then didn’t become unsafe in another way - my concern would be getting their teeth caught on the mesh; and then in the effort to avoid that, the holes consequently then being too small that they can’t get the hay out anyway
 
piggiemummy03x said:
ill have to check the returns policy! i was hoping i could do something with them now iv got them though, as i have mentioned i was thinking maybe pressing some mesh wire inside so they wouldn’t get stuck! haha yes of corse!
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Returning is probably going to be the best and safest option.
Adding mesh or wire may leave sharp pieces that could hurt your piggies.
 
piggiemummy03x said:
i was possibly thinking about trying to mold some chicken wire on the inside? so it would be square holes it came out of meaning they wouldn’t be able to get stuck? it was advertised as suitable for guineapigs which is the most annoying thing! yes my plan was to have hay in bedding area of corse, then piles of hay dotted around and then 2 hay racks (one with timothy hay, one with meadow hay) so they have a choice on where they would like to eat it from!
Click to expand...
I would suggest returning them. Adding something else to it may render it unsafe in a different way than it is now. I understand that it was labeled for guinea pigs, but unfortunately there are other products on the market as well that aren't safe for piggies. You'll have to weed out the safe from the unsafe piggy items.
 
Piggies&buns said:
You can try to do it - not sure how easy it would be to get a balance though. You’d need to make sure it then didn’t become unsafe in another way - my concern would be getting their teeth caught on the mesh; and then in the effort to avoid that, the holes consequently then being too small that they can’t get the hay out anyway
Click to expand...
Hope4gem said:
I would suggest returning them. Adding something else to it may render it unsafe in a different way than it is now. I understand that it was labeled for guinea pigs, but unfortunately there are other products on the market as well that aren't safe for piggies. You'll have to weed out the safe from the unsafe piggy items.
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ah yes of corse:/
 
unfortunately it doesn’t look like ill be able to send them back so they will be kept out of the cage for now, maybe once they have grown i can reevaluate. i think they will be more suitable for adult pigs (my old girls DEFINITELY would have not been able to get themselves stuck in there:P) just not for 8 week old small babies at the moment!
 
Lorcan said:
It's never a fun job, and the packaging is designed to confuse us, it's not like the piggies can read.
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i know! i have noticed that a lot of items classed as suitable for guinea pigs, are in-fact, not, its scary because although we pick up on these things not everyone does:(
 
Ohh that's a shame, well done for noticing they're not suitable yet :) 👍🏻
If they can't be returned, how about putting the racks on the outside of your grids/cage so they can't get stuck in the vertical bars?
Making their cage the internal part of the rack.

If you were to cut a thin piece of card or paper & slot in over the inside of the rack it would stop the hay falling out the bottom of the rack & all over your floor/carpets, etc.

I used to use a hay rack but just put piles of hay in the hutch now, it's like a 24hr breakfast in bed for the piggies :))
Xx
 
I use piles of hay now too, they love it and it’s much more natural. I have a few ‘nesters’ who make the most fabulous round nests! I did use racks years ago but the guineas didn’t really use them and I had a small one which used to climb in and sleep in it instead :doh: it was cute but I was so worried she would get stuck.
 
GPTV said:
Ohh that's a shame, well done for noticing they're not suitable yet :) 👍🏻
If they can't be returned, how about putting the racks on the outside of your grids/cage so they can't get stuck in the vertical bars?
Making their cage the internal part of the rack.

If you were to cut a thin piece of card or paper & slot in over the inside of the rack it would stop the hay falling out the bottom of the rack & all over your floor/carpets, etc.

I used to use a hay rack but just put piles of hay in the hutch now, it's like a 24hr breakfast in bed for the piggies :))
Xx
Click to expand...
i did think about that but the cage wire it would be attached too i think would be too small to pull any hay from, i will give it a try though! yeah my plan was to have hay racks as well as piles so they had a choice of fresh hay from the rack that wouldn’t be covered in wee and poo lol xx
 
Guinea Slave said:
I use piles of hay now too, they love it and it’s much more natural. I have a few ‘nesters’ who make the most fabulous round nests! I did use racks years ago but the guineas didn’t really use them and I had a small one which used to climb in and sleep in it instead :doh: it was cute but I was so worried she would get stuck.
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bless them! haha they are so cheeky aren’t they!
 
I'd just put cardboard or w/e you have around to totally block up the holes and hang it outside the cage so the cages bars catch the hay it also saves room inside their cage.
 
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