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Thorns in hay

  • Thread starter Thread starter DMS260820
  • Start date Start date
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DMS260820

Lately i keep finding thorns in the meadow hay i buy. I have tried every different shop and different brand. Because i use it as a cage base flooring, i do buy cheap meadow hay. Its not there to be eaten but if it is, its a bonus to me. Obviously a farmer cant keep look out for thorns getting into bales of hay.

So is it a major concern against a guinea pigs health to find thorns? I do and i dont think its a problem. Lately though because of Dots operation healing, i have been letting the wild birds have the meadow hay with thorns in for nesting
 
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Pigs are more resilient than they're given credit for. Mine get brambles, hawthorne, thistles, wilted or dried nettles etc and they cope with the thorns really well, I only whip off the largest ones and they eat the rest. They may be grazing animals, but they have the thick, rubbery lips of an animal designed to also eat thorny weeds if they come across them :) As long as the thorns in the hay are from an edible plant then I leave them in, usually. I'm a little more cautious with the longhaired ones just to make sure they don't end up getting it caught up in their hair and becoming tangled or injured, but the smooth haired ones are allowed to keep and eat theirs :)
 
Eriathwen said:
Pigs are more resilient than they're given credit for. Mine get brambles, hawthorne, thistles, wilted or dried nettles etc and they cope with the thorns really well, I only whip off the largest ones and they eat the rest. They may be grazing animals, but they have the thick, rubbery lips of an animal designed to also eat thorny weeds if they come across them :) As long as the thorns in the hay are from an edible plant then I leave them in, usually. I'm a little more cautious with the longhaired ones just to make sure they don't end up getting it caught up in their hair and becoming tangled or injured, but the smooth haired ones are allowed to keep and eat theirs :)
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I did reasearch that rabbits are built to cope with thorns. But because guinea pigs are not in the u.k wild. I wasnt sure. Thanks for the reply👍
 
Its a bit of a trade-off, exciting forage vs consistent hay... piggy daddy opened some german brand meadow hay we got from zooplus yesterday and it was full of weird spiky plant bits... Ollie and Tallulah were very excited but the main herd gave us "the piggy eye" look of contempt and wouldnt sit in it and Blodwen ended up with weird meadow plant dreadlocks in her skirts...
Pillow Wad meadow hay from Amazon is our favourite very consistent greenish fragrant soft meadow hay, 3x 3.75kg bags for £20, its just nice soft dried grass with no weird or exciting things!
 
Claire W said:
To be honest, so long as I don’t find a smelly dead rat again in hay, I’m really not that fussed as I siv through it first anyway before giving to the pigs
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Lol I had a dead mouse and frog in mine! 😜😜
 
I just try and feel for anything sharp when I put the hay out - some bits are really sharp!
 
I recently discovered a small snake in my hay. I had to put my glasses on when I spotted it in my guinea pigs hay holder attached to side of the c and c run.
It had long since departed but must have been a foot long if it had been straight. I didn't look to closely at it when I removed it so I cannot say what type it was.
 
worried val of york said:
I shuddered when I found it. Luckily my guinea pig is totally unaffected by it.
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If it was a grasssnake they are not venemous but can leave a horrible oily liquid that comes out of them to stop predators wanting to eat them. I dont knoe about the bite though. Could have been a slowworm. But i dont know what they look like
 
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I first saw the wavy shape of the snake in the hay rack. As I had never seen anything that shape in any hay before that's when I got my glasses. Once I identified it as some sort of snake I put some rubber gloves on and picked up all the hay in the rack put in a refuse bag and in the outside bin. Only too relieved to get it out the house so I cannot say what it was other than I never want to see one again! My Granville was unfazed by my squealing and had been munching quite happily on hay surrounding the deceased snake.
 
worried val of york said:
I recently discovered a small snake in my hay. I had to put my glasses on when I spotted it in my guinea pigs hay holder attached to side of the c and c run.
It had long since departed but must have been a foot long if it had been straight. I didn't look to closely at it when I removed it so I cannot say what type it was.
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Could be a slow worm?
That’s so sad that young people would want to stamp on an animal, it just shows how the younger generation are so detached from nature, especially as all snakes and lizards are protected species, how sad 😔
 
Bill & Ted said:
Could be a slow worm?
That’s so sad that young people would want to stamp on an animal, it just shows how the younger generation are so detached from nature, especially as all snakes and lizards are protected species, how sad 😔
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I know... They found it so funny too :( poor thing was probably scared being yelled/stared at
 
Bill & Ted said:
Could be a slow worm?
That’s so sad that young people would want to stamp on an animal, it just shows how the younger generation are so detached from nature, especially as all snakes and lizards are protected species, how sad 😔
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I really don't know what type it was as it was late at night and I was giving Granville his hay top up and veggies for the night. I agree that it is disappointing and upsetting that anyone would harm a living creature for fun, I live near a public wood and during the nesting season (ie now) I am constantly finding broken bird nest boxes smashed on the floor. Youths use young saplings to bash the boxes off the trees. I sometimes see the fluffy nesting material strewn about showing there may have been eggs or nestlings inside the boxes. A sad indictment but luckily a minority of this generation.
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Slow worm ukView attachment 113980
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Our zoology students get taught reptile identification and on the exam they had to correctly identify an adder and give its latin name and identifying features... one enlighted student identified it as "a snake" and gave its identifying characteristics as "he uses a hissing voice". Which, while correct, is not quite the level of answer we expect at university...
 
worried val of york said:
I recently discovered a small snake in my hay. I had to put my glasses on when I spotted it in my guinea pigs hay holder attached to side of the c and c run.
It had long since departed but must have been a foot long if it had been straight. I didn't look to closely at it when I removed it so I cannot say what type it was.
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:yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes:
 
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