Guinea pigs not eating timothy hay?

Question

I have always fed my guinea pigs Kaytee Timothy hay. But now suddenly all my guinea pigs arnt eating there hay. Yes, sometimes I see them eating a couple a peices but they dont eat as much as before. They are still eating the pellets and veggies and drinking a lot of water normally. Just not the hay... do you think they got bored of the taste of timothy hay? What can I do?

Answer 1

they might be tired of it or dont like it anymore

Answer 2

Try another type of hay. There are tons of varieties out there or just mow the grass and bring some to the piggies.

Make sure the grass hasnt been treated with anything.

Answer 3

It's summer so get some herbicide/insecticide free dandelion greens (they're free!) or red clover blossoms, and mix it in with their daily hay rations to stimulate interest. Timothy is used because it is lower in calcium than alfalfa. Higher calcium can lead to bladder stones that sometimes need surgery to remove.

Keep your hay in a hay rack so you can accurately judge how much they are or aren't eating.  

Good luck and good question. Maybe they just need some variety!

Answer 4

Well, think of it this way...

Let's say you love French Vanilla Extra Creamy ice cream and you eat it every single day.  You'd probably get tired of it though you just love that flavor!

Your guinea pigs definitely need to have hay.  It helps grind down their teeth and keeps their digestive system going. It's not enough to merely give them more veggies (too much might cause diarrhea) to compensate for the hay.

I used to feed my piggies Kaytee hay but it got kind of expensive.  (I have 4 very hungry boars!) I also found it wasn't as *fresh*.  If the hay is really dry, it might not have much flavor in it.

You can get other kinds of grass hay like orchard grass.  I usually switch off from timothy and this Bluegrass hay from KleenMama. I live on the west coast.  I end up paying around $1 per pound including shipping.

Here's the link:

http://www.kmshayloft.com/hay.html

You can also try Oxbow:

http://www.oxbowhay.com/index.sp

You can find Oxbow at some retail places.

Good luck!