For anyone in the LA area. There's a guinea pig rescue named LA GUINEA PIG RESCUE. I buy my 50lbs of hay from there for $20. And the 25lb of oxbow pellets for $20 as well. It lasts longer buying in bulk and it's cheaper too. I have 3 piggies!
Lisa Strat I know she lives in Canada lol thank u tho. This comment was for anyone in the (california) LA area that owns piggies. let me edit my comment lol.....
This is so informative! Love it! Reminds me that I keep meaning to pick up some different hays for the boys to try. I usually just stick to orchard grass and timothy hay, but some of the others always catch my eyes when I'm in the store!
The BambooQueen no not recently people have been finding dead rats and insects in it anything under four stars is not good I just check the reviews first
I had no idea that they mixed the orchard and timothy! I always buy a bag of each. Now i will just buy the one. Also ive seen that botanical hay but never bought it. I grow lemon balm in my yard and pigs LOVE it spring and summer but they cant have it in the winter. Cuz it dies out. Im so excited. Im going to buy some tomorrow! Thank you Abby for this video!!
Thank you so much for this video!!! I absolutely love Oxbow. I usually use the timothy. My 14 piggies hated the botanical and oat hay as a treat lol. By the way you made my night when reading the ingredients of the botanical hay. It was so cute lol. I love you and your channel. Ive learned a lot from you over the years and I truly appreciate it
guineapigmommy89, I have six pigs and not one of them liked the Botanical Hay. I have to admit I really didn't care for the smell of it. It was too strong.
MysticFox 77 my Guinea pigs don't care for oat hay I've tried it. They didn't want to eat it when I gave it to them. They just ate their other hay that's Timothy hay and orchard grass hay.
i have 4 gunea pigs i buy 90 lbs of hay and 96oz of hay evry month and i also give them each 2 tablesppoons of pellets every morning and a half of vitamin c tab from oxbow and they get romaine lettuce once a day and red leaf lettuce every dau and then i either give them a half a baby carrot or red pepper wedge or a slice of apple or a half of green grape !
Awesome and informative video! LOVE Oxbow and so do our guinea pigs and rabbits! The Botanical hay is my default when someone is under the weather - they can't resist the sweet smelling flavour of it. :)
Thank you so much for this video, very informative. i never realized orchard grass hay was softer then timothy hay.. So i ordered my Bella a 25 pound box. that should last her a little while, since she sleeps/plays in her hay too. hehe
fantastic video on a really important topic! I have never been able to understand who buys those tiny bags of hay at the pet shop. And why do the hay companies sell them to start with?? They are pretty much all you can get here apart from bales from rural supply stores (we cant get hay from outside the state due to quarantine laws). Important to make sure bales are kept out of the weather so no mould or mildew, and that they are free of trash or weeds. I think going through a rural supply store rather than direct from a farmer helps to ensure you're getting great quality as the stores are selective about who they purchase from to get a quality product. xxxx
Lola loves Oxbow hay and the mix of the two blends keeps her very happy and interested. I will have to try the botanical hay and rotate it in as the occasional treat. Great video!
I bought Oxbow Orchard aggges ago and both buns were uninterested. Bought it again a few weeks ago just to see and now they can't get enough! So it'll be one of their regular hays now :) Think I'll start with the 25lbs box and see how long that lasts 😀 I think it's awesome that you specified that the hay needs to be easy accessed if in a hay rack. It's so obvious but I rarely hear it mentioned! For my rabbits, they never liked hay racks, I guess the ones I had were too difficult to get a good amount of hay out. So I started putting it in the litter trays. After seeing Seymour's pile o' hay, I decided to try putting a hay pile on the floor to see what would happen (when they were younger they'd pee and poop in hay regardless of it's location 😂) but to my surprise it works! They eat it in a relatively civilised manner with no pooping or peeing in it whatsoever. I am delighted by this lol 😀
When i got my 2 guinea girls i started with just the oxbow western timothy hay and when i found they had oxbow timothy hay +orchard grass i got some and my girls love it 😁
It never fails that as I am thinking about a certain piggie topic, your exact video that I need pops up and your videos are so amazing and informative. You also have so many videos, I need to find the one where you talk about Vitamin C. I know there is a few of them where you say the brand and strength of tabs you give. Anyway, keep it up. Im loving your videos and your piggies ❤❤
My girls have a habit of poking themselves in the eye with timothy hay, so I give them orchard grass to help prevent that. The second I open a bag of botanical hay, they come running out, wheeking like crazy, and they eat their treat hay quickly. Oat hay is one that no matter how little I give them, they just won't touch it, so it's one I don't even bother to purchase. For us Oxbow has been the best so far, and we've been testing some Rabbit Hole Hay. They seem to like it, but it is pricier than Oxbow.
Dawn_PiggieMama16 same Mike don't like oat hay. But I haven't tried botanical hay I just have been sticking with the Timothy hay and the orchard grass hay blend for my Guinea pigs.
We have a wooden house with a hay rack on the back and little ladder on the back to get up. It is about 9 inches high and 7 inches long. They love to hide in it climb on it eat. And I put a few veggies on top. They love this house.
I like to keep some botanical hay on hand because the lavender aids in digestion and helps reduce gas. It also has benifits for senior pigs in reducing inflammation caused by arthritis. The chamomile is soothing for the tummy and digestive tract. I find pigs get very lazy after eating it though, as both are natural sleep aids. I use it sparingly on occasion and only at night.
I had wanted to make a hay rack like yours with the grid. But someone on one of my guinea Pig groups said it was unsafe and still doesn’t give them enough hat. I don’t believe them with either statement. So after watching this I think I’ll do it and see how it goes ! I waste so much hay from my boys );
This is really nice! I have 2 Guinea Pigs I might try the mix of Orchard Grass Hay and Timothy right now I feed mine Timothy but if I can’t find it I’ll just get one bag of Orchard Grass too and then mix it!
You did a vlog on KMS HAYLOFT so I tried some on my piggies and they loved it. So I just ordered a 45lb bale also I use their pellets. So thanks for the infromation. As use the oxbow orachard grass once in awhile just to make it different so they wont get tired of timothy hay.
Great video! I recently bought a big bag of the Oxbow timothy/orchard mix and my girls are snubbing it. So, I bought an extra big bag of the Oxbow timothy to mix extra timothy with the timothy/orchard mix. :)
Hi Abby. You must have a very artistic job. You can have fun with your hair. I am 50 years old and am a musician at a conservative church, sometimes I get the urge to dye my hair purple! But that would not be acceptable at my job. Your videos are a great help. For the Q & A , do you believe in a higher power? Obviously this old Lutheran does. Just wondered. Thanks.
I personally buy from Small Pet Select, they have every type of hay. I usually buy 50 or 60 pounds of first cut Timothy for $80, it’s free shipping depending on how much you spend. Plus it lasts me almost a year for my rabbit! In my opinion that’s a great deal on good quality hay that isn’t dusty!
I recently added more Orchard Grass hay to my Snicker's diet because he seems to really like it, however, I noticed that after a few days of just Orchard Grass his poops got really small, I immediately switched it back to only Timothy and his poops went back to normal pretty quickly.. I like to mix in a little Orchard Grass but he gets mostly Timothy since then and I keep an eye on his poops lol maybe because of how fibrous the Timothy hay is? Good thing he loves all hay!
I get my guinea pigs Oxbow hay as that is what they like best. I feed orchard grass and Timothy hay to my guinea pigs. I only have 2 Guinea pigs so I tried the oxbow hay blends recently which is the Timothy and the orchard grass and they like that alot.
This is the exact bag i pixed up with a side bag of timothy hay. Dunno we will see. It seems like bedding more then food for them timothy they love fresh.
I have tried many different ones since I own a pet store. My piggies love the Martin Timothy Grass hay the best. I use Oxbow for their pellets and treat grasses. I tried a different brand for their pellets and they gave me 2 thumbs down, they wouldn’t eat it.
So is it normally for my guinea pig to pull out tons of hay and take naps on it and poop on it? I feel like he mainly pulls it out of the holder to do that rather than to eat it lol.
In a pinch I've bought the living world Timothy hay it smells and feels just like the oxbow from PetSmart but comes in half the size of PetSmart oxbow bags
This is good, but very North America centric. Timothy hay is native there, and is either unavailable or very expensive in other countries. The most common hay in Europe is meadow hay.
Do you think you can make more videos on how to care for bunnies? I am thinking of getting a bunny in the next few years but, I don’t know much about them yet. I own guinea pigs right now.
Hi Skinnypigs, I have a question. I just got 2 baby guinea pigs 9 weeks old. We dont have rescues here so I bought them from a pet shop I've used over 20 yrs. I'm just concerned because they told me to only feed them alfalfa hay, pellets, slices of oranges and some romaine for now. I watch your videos and i see you dont like the alfalfa hay. Can you guide me on what to feed them daily? I would appreciate it. I feel like they're hungry and feel badly. Also one wont drink from the water bottle and the other can go through half a day. Not to sure what to do about that. Thank you so much.
Oxbow is very pricey where I live in the states. I currently buy the 96 oz. bags of Kaytee Timothy Hay off Amazon.com for around $12. The bigger the bag the price per pound seems to drop. My daughters 3 piggies seem to like the Kaytee hay so far...
Kim O Kayte is deffinatley not the ideal hay. I tried it once just to see how it compares. It was just so synthetic and I do not like it. Please get some farmer hay or oxbow (or other vrands) I know it is expensive but you need to provide quality products for your pig.
I don't like the bent cage frame idea. As much time as they spend nomming on hay they might wind up rubbing their little faces a lot against the bars to get the choice pieces. I made a vertical wooden rectangular feeder out of plywood. Its about 2 feet high, and 6" by 18" on the sides. There is an opening cut all along one of the long sides at the bottom so as the piggies face it, there is a solid wall of hay facing them to pick from, and as they eat, they naturally pull down the stack from the top. FWIW I buy the Standlee brand of orchard Grass and timothy hay in 25 lbs boxes from Amazon. I fill the feeder with orchard on one side and timothy on the other so they can pick what they want. Mostly they prefer the orchard grass.
I put hay in a bent grid standing up and zip tied to the cage grids. My piggie pulls the hay out, eats it, sleeps on it, and makes a mess. I fill it daily and he seems to waste quite a bit of it throwing it around his cage.
Abby, can you smell the lavender in the botanical hay? I want to get some for my 3 girls, but a strong smell of lavender is a trigger for my migraines.
Was from Etsy. You could order one from www.etsy.com/ca/shop/ANGPrintingAndDesign?ref=listing-shop2-all-items-count#items She can make anything you wish!
For my pigs, I always just feed timothy hay. Where I am located the timothy looks a bit like orchard grass, its very green and fresh but not as rich or leafy. Iv'e tried orchard grass with my piggies but it is too rich for them and makes their business a little too soft.
Hi Skinnypigs1 I adopted 2 Guinea pigs and puchased Timothy hay I didnt take in account that I would get babies. If I understand correctly from your video babies can eat Timorhy hay but should it be mixed with Alphalfa Hey?...or is it Alphalfa Grass?
It makes me sad to see how much these companies overcharge for hay. I live in a rural area, and year-round have pretty much unlimited access to any kind and type of hay I desire for $3-6 a 50lb bale. My supply is beautiful, soft, green second cutting Timothy hay from a local farmer for $4 a bale. My miniature horses and rabbits love to eat it, and my chickens and ducks love to nest in it. It's the same hay and has the same colour, scent, and texture as the overpriced hay Oxbow sells, but I get about 50lbs for $4, versus a small, overpriced baggy for $10. Hay is hay is hay, if you can find a local source for pesticide free, fresh hay, go get a bale and store it indoors in a large storage tub to keep it fresh. If you buy hay marketed for sheep/goats or miniature horses, the flakes will be cut nice and small too, which makes feeding them to your critters easier! There is no reason to get ripped off unless you live in a city area and this is your only choice. I mean it though when I say companies like Oxbow are selling $5 bales of hay for $100 in small packages.
I totally agree. Hay is wayyyy overpriced! If I could, I would do the exact same thing you do. But where I live (in the suburbs) I don't have access to farms anywhere near me (I would have to drive hours each way), and even if I did find one they''d probably use pesticides. I order from smallpetselect.com and for 20lbs its $45, but they have a point system so I almost always get a discount. :) If any of you are in my situation and don't have access to a farm to purchase hay, definitely check out smallpetselect.com because they are fabulous!
A farm around here is the same, 40lb for $55. It was crazy and not even nice, so I went back to Oxbow 50lb boxes. Buying in bulk is so much better, the small bags are a crazy price for what you get. I wish I could find nice farm hay here but am unable to find anything without alfalfa and the stuff I did find, as I said, was still very expensive and not nice quality.
I have such a hard time commuting to get good oxbow hay. My local pet store always has bad batches and i have to drive far. Switching to pet select on amazon. I think ill try some oxbow botanical though.
HELP!! So I want to try something different and I got someone Hay bales for my guinea pig and I put the hay bales in there cage and there not eating it and the hay bales are compressed and I wonder if I have to put water in it to uncompressed it.? Any ideas to get the hay out of there?
My dad's friend has a farm with cows and he makes bales of timothy and orchard grass mixed, it's mostly soft. There is no clover in it and less than 10% alfalfa. He doesn't use any pesticides or acids. My dad gives it to his goats. Will it be ok for guinea pigs?
That's cool that you have access to it. Honestly though, it's best to avoid Alfalfa hay in general, since it's so high in calcium. Does he have just timothy/orchard with no alfalfa?
Brenna D No he doesn't. It's less than 10% alfalfa, but I will avoid it and stay with oxbow. Was just looking into a possible cheaper, local alternative. Thanks for the reply. :)
I recently got 2 piggies over the summer and I always buy the oxbow timothy hay. However, I've noticed some times its thin and some times its really coarse. They usually pull it through the feeder where it stays on the floor. They dont eat it much but whats confusing is why is it so drastically different? I notice when I purchase a larger bag, it tends to be coarse as opposed to a smaller bag even though theyre labeled identically.
As long as they eat it, then shouldn't matter. Otherwise if they don't like it, I would try a different type. I use a combo of timothy and orchard grass.
So I have a guinea thats coat is so lackluster I’m nervous. I feed her oxbow pellets and the Grass mix. I bathe her occasionally (not all the time) and I still run into issues with her fur. She is a short hair guinea pig and when I got her her fur was beautiful. I don’t know what to do. It’s not too bad but I think I need to feed her better food (she’s not a big fan of orchard grass and I feed her that) I don’t rlly know what to do. Thank you.
Switch her to Sherwood Pellets, they are great, I use them and would never switch back. You can give her timothy hay, orchard grass or blue grass. Try different companies to see what she likes. Small Pet Select or Kms Hay Loft.
skinnypigs1 Thank you! She is starting to enjoy orchard grass more, which I’m so happy about. She’s really picky sometimes. I had to switch her pellets with more vitamins that can help her fur. I’m seeing some improvements😊
OMG, I want a guinea pig for my birthday but my dad said no. I did a lot of research and figured if I ever got a guinea pig I would buy c and c grids (3x6 cage) coroplast, Cotten towels, and fleece for bedding. I did so so so much research and watched so many of yours videos, which I love btw. I looked into food, hay, huts and litteraly everything a guinea pig needs and then my dad just smashed all that research down with a NO!! I’m so sad and I don’t know what to do. Can anyone give me advice on how to bribe my parents to get me a guinea pig, pls pls pls, I need help 😢.
Guinea pigs are creatures who need to be in pairs or more. If parents are not on board, then that is for the best to not get them to be honest. Parents who don't want them as pets don't like spending money on them and certainly won't let them get vet care which is needing when ill. Supplies are expensive. It is great you've done research, but I would never force a parent to get a pet, they should want them just as much as you.
Thank You so much for your honesty. I’m gonna go cry now😢😢😢. I guess I’ll just have to wait till I’m out of college which totally sucks. I have $500 saved up from selling plants on eBay but that’s probley not enough for yearly vet care. 😭 And yeah, I guess parents do need to be on board, I wish my parents were more supportive of me. Thanks again
I have a question for anyone .. need a lil help .. every time i hold my guinea pigs i get a skin allergy that goes away within an hour or so , it pops up like a rash and gets really red and bumpy...its not a big deal . i still love my pigs just the same.. i just want to know if anyone has been through this , anything i can do about it??? its not the hay that im allergic too ...
You probably have a minor allergy to them. There's nothing really you can do and personally I don't think medicine will do much. I'd think just wear gloves/long sleeves when you hold/pet them so they aren't actually touching your skin.
You could have an allergy to their hay which they roll around in. Just wear long sleeves and cover your neck; wash your hands before touching your face, neck or skin.
In this comment I said it wasn't a big deal meanwhile every time I got around their house I was wheezing and I can barely breathe boogers running from my nose LOL turns out I'm highly allergic to rodents
Maybe try showing them a video from a small animals expert saying it and try telling them that the guinea pigs can possibly go into GI stasis since they are not properly eating. Remember to tell them the guinea pigs are grazing animals. The hay helps there digestive system constantly move and without anything to constantly graze on there digestive system might stop. I’m pretty sure that’s what would happen but correct me if I’m wrong. I hope they realize that they could possibly kill them. Good luck 🙏
i have a really important question; how long can guinea pigs go without hay?? i know it makes up 80% of their diet but i seem to have run out of hay quicker than usual, and i can't get it until next week. i should have had a back up so this wouldn't have happened but lesson learned now. should i provide more pellets and veggies until i get the hay?? thank you!!
Don't increase the pellets. Increasing the veggies should be ok though. I'd recommend smallpetselect.com for hay. Hay in arrives in two days or less and it's reasonably priced for the quality and the amount you get.
Do you have a piggy who loves to spread their hay all over? It drives me crazy. It's looks messy all the time. I've tried using a hay bag… And then I've tried just throwing it in a pile and she still just spreads it all over.
Goodness, please start feeding it everyday, that is 80% of their diet. Links to helpful and honest sites are in the description box. Please research Guinea Lynx (excellent site).
I replayed your " No...that's not what's in this" Like 5 times 😂😂 your face was like you annoyed yourself and it cracked me up.
LOL
LOL I KNOW
For anyone in the LA area. There's a guinea pig rescue named LA GUINEA PIG RESCUE. I buy my 50lbs of hay from there for $20. And the 25lb of oxbow pellets for $20 as well. It lasts longer buying in bulk and it's cheaper too. I have 3 piggies!
Alba Carias I live in Alabama but I follow their Facebook page(: love them!
She lives in Canada
Lisa Strat I know she lives in Canada lol thank u tho. This comment was for anyone in the (california) LA area that owns piggies. let me edit my comment lol.....
Alba Carias i have guinea pigs and i actually got my piggies from them since i lived in the area and wanted guinea pigs
Thanks for sharing!
This is so informative! Love it!
Reminds me that I keep meaning to pick up some different hays for the boys to try. I usually just stick to orchard grass and timothy hay, but some of the others always catch my eyes when I'm in the store!
Wonder if the boys will like the other ones!
Is Kaytee not good?
The BambooQueen no not recently people have been finding dead rats and insects in it anything under four stars is not good I just check the reviews first
I had no idea that they mixed the orchard and timothy! I always buy a bag of each. Now i will just buy the one. Also ive seen that botanical hay but never bought it. I grow lemon balm in my yard and pigs LOVE it spring and summer but they cant have it in the winter. Cuz it dies out. Im so excited. Im going to buy some tomorrow! Thank you Abby for this video!!
Thank you so much for this video!!! I absolutely love Oxbow. I usually use the timothy. My 14 piggies hated the botanical and oat hay as a treat lol. By the way you made my night when reading the ingredients of the botanical hay. It was so cute lol. I love you and your channel. Ive learned a lot from you over the years and I truly appreciate it
guineapigmommy89, I have six pigs and not one of them liked the Botanical Hay. I have to admit I really didn't care for the smell of it. It was too strong.
MysticFox 77 my Guinea pigs don't care for oat hay I've tried it. They didn't want to eat it when I gave it to them. They just ate their other hay that's Timothy hay and orchard grass hay.
Ive stolen your idea of the cat scoop. What a good idea. Thank you. So much easier when I get them ready for the night.
i have 4 gunea pigs i buy 90 lbs of hay and 96oz of hay evry month and i also give them each 2 tablesppoons of pellets every morning and a half of vitamin c tab from oxbow and they get romaine lettuce once a day and red leaf lettuce every dau and then i either give them a half a baby carrot or red pepper wedge or a slice of apple or a half of green grape !
Awesome and informative video! LOVE Oxbow and so do our guinea pigs and rabbits! The Botanical hay is my default when someone is under the weather - they can't resist the sweet smelling flavour of it. :)
Is oxbow alfalfa hay okay for 3week old I’m getting him this Sunday and I’ve ordered that from pet shop?
Thank you so much for this video, very informative. i never realized orchard grass hay was softer then timothy hay.. So i ordered my Bella a 25 pound box. that should last her a little while, since she sleeps/plays in her hay too. hehe
fantastic video on a really important topic! I have never been able to understand who buys those tiny bags of hay at the pet shop. And why do the hay companies sell them to start with?? They are pretty much all you can get here apart from bales from rural supply stores (we cant get hay from outside the state due to quarantine laws). Important to make sure bales are kept out of the weather so no mould or mildew, and that they are free of trash or weeds. I think going through a rural supply store rather than direct from a farmer helps to ensure you're getting great quality as the stores are selective about who they purchase from to get a quality product. xxxx
Small bags are useful for rodents who use hay for nesting, but dont eat it, such as mice and gerbils.
Lola loves Oxbow hay and the mix of the two blends keeps her very happy and interested. I will have to try the botanical hay and rotate it in as the occasional treat. Great video!
Thank you!
I bought Oxbow Orchard aggges ago and both buns were uninterested. Bought it again a few weeks ago just to see and now they can't get enough! So it'll be one of their regular hays now :) Think I'll start with the 25lbs box and see how long that lasts 😀
I think it's awesome that you specified that the hay needs to be easy accessed if in a hay rack. It's so obvious but I rarely hear it mentioned! For my rabbits, they never liked hay racks, I guess the ones I had were too difficult to get a good amount of hay out. So I started putting it in the litter trays. After seeing Seymour's pile o' hay, I decided to try putting a hay pile on the floor to see what would happen (when they were younger they'd pee and poop in hay regardless of it's location 😂) but to my surprise it works! They eat it in a relatively civilised manner with no pooping or peeing in it whatsoever. I am delighted by this lol 😀
Your animals all have such great names!
When i got my 2 guinea girls i started with just the oxbow western timothy hay and when i found they had oxbow timothy hay +orchard grass i got some and my girls love it 😁
4:32 "no that's not in here I was reading the wrong thing." I just died!😄
This is such good information love it thanks learnt so much
It never fails that as I am thinking about a certain piggie topic, your exact video that I need pops up and your videos are so amazing and informative. You also have so many videos, I need to find the one where you talk about Vitamin C. I know there is a few of them where you say the brand and strength of tabs you give. Anyway, keep it up. Im loving your videos and your piggies ❤❤
My girls have a habit of poking themselves in the eye with timothy hay, so I give them orchard grass to help prevent that. The second I open a bag of botanical hay, they come running out, wheeking like crazy, and they eat their treat hay quickly. Oat hay is one that no matter how little I give them, they just won't touch it, so it's one I don't even bother to purchase. For us Oxbow has been the best so far, and we've been testing some Rabbit Hole Hay. They seem to like it, but it is pricier than Oxbow.
Dawn_PiggieMama16 same Mike don't like oat hay. But I haven't tried botanical hay I just have been sticking with the Timothy hay and the orchard grass hay blend for my Guinea pigs.
We have a wooden house with a hay rack on the back and little ladder on the back to get up. It is about 9 inches high and 7 inches long. They love to hide in it climb on it eat. And I put a few veggies on top. They love this house.
Thanks for explaining botanical. Now I have a new thing to buy for my crew!
I have the Timothy and I have the botanical. My piggies love the botanical mixed in and it smells so good.
I buy a bale of hay every month for $9 at tractor supply
I have 3 piggies and 3 bunnies
JAMESDAYTONGC the hay bales at my tractor supply are $50 :(
I only see Alfalfa hay on their site
Wait no, but what hay do use?
I like to keep some botanical hay on hand because the lavender aids in digestion and helps reduce gas. It also has benifits for senior pigs in reducing inflammation caused by arthritis. The chamomile is soothing for the tummy and digestive tract. I find pigs get very lazy after eating it though, as both are natural sleep aids. I use it sparingly on occasion and only at night.
I had wanted to make a hay rack like yours with the grid. But someone on one of my guinea Pig groups said it was unsafe and still doesn’t give them enough hat. I don’t believe them with either statement. So after watching this I think I’ll do it and see how it goes ! I waste so much hay from my boys );
If they jump into it, I would take it down but otherwise I have found them to work just fine.
I always use Orchard Grass. Sometimes I'll pick up a bag of the Meadow too and mix it in. I'm a sneezing fool around Timothy.
This is really nice! I have 2 Guinea Pigs I might try the mix of Orchard Grass Hay and Timothy right now I feed mine Timothy but if I can’t find it I’ll just get one bag of Orchard Grass too and then mix it!
You did a vlog on KMS HAYLOFT so I tried some on my piggies and they loved it. So I just ordered a 45lb bale also I use their pellets. So thanks for the infromation. As use the oxbow orachard grass once in awhile just to make it different so they wont get tired of timothy hay.
Your videos are awesome and helpful!!! Going to bend a c&c grid to make a bigger hay rack. Smart idea! Thank you
Great video! I recently bought a big bag of the Oxbow timothy/orchard mix and my girls are snubbing it. So, I bought an extra big bag of the Oxbow timothy to mix extra timothy with the timothy/orchard mix. :)
Thank you so much for these videos. It helped me improve caring for my guinea pigs
You are welcome!
I also buy the 50 pound box of oxbow timothy hay! It lasts a long time with just my 4 piggies.
5:21-5:41 Angus in the bottom left corner is having a blast lol!!
I use oxbow! Thank you for sharing this info!
Hi Abby. You must have a very artistic job. You can have fun with your hair. I am 50 years old and am a musician at a conservative church, sometimes I get the urge to dye my hair purple! But that would not be acceptable at my job.
Your videos are a great help. For the Q & A , do you believe in a higher power? Obviously this old Lutheran does. Just wondered. Thanks.
You crack me up, nope that’s not the ingredient!
I personally buy from Small Pet Select, they have every type of hay. I usually buy 50 or 60 pounds of first cut Timothy for $80, it’s free shipping depending on how much you spend. Plus it lasts me almost a year for my rabbit! In my opinion that’s a great deal on good quality hay that isn’t dusty!
Me too I love Small Pet Select! My piggies love the third cut.
I recently added more Orchard Grass hay to my Snicker's diet because he seems to really like it, however, I noticed that after a few days of just Orchard Grass his poops got really small, I immediately switched it back to only Timothy and his poops went back to normal pretty quickly.. I like to mix in a little Orchard Grass but he gets mostly Timothy since then and I keep an eye on his poops lol maybe because of how fibrous the Timothy hay is? Good thing he loves all hay!
I get my guinea pigs Oxbow hay as that is what they like best. I feed orchard grass and Timothy hay to my guinea pigs. I only have 2 Guinea pigs so I tried the oxbow hay blends recently which is the Timothy and the orchard grass and they like that alot.
I buy the big bag of the hay blend my skinny pig really loves it
I always liked Oxbow the best for my piggie, too, it was always fresh.
This is the exact bag i pixed up with a side bag of timothy hay. Dunno we will see. It seems like bedding more then food for them timothy they love fresh.
Never new there was so much hay so informative amazing xxx
I have tried many different ones since I own a pet store. My piggies love the Martin Timothy Grass hay the best. I use Oxbow for their pellets and treat grasses. I tried a different brand for their pellets and they gave me 2 thumbs down, they wouldn’t eat it.
So is it normally for my guinea pig to pull out tons of hay and take naps on it and poop on it? I feel like he mainly pulls it out of the holder to do that rather than to eat it lol.
This helps a lot!! I am looking to buy guinea pigs soon!
In a pinch I've bought the living world Timothy hay it smells and feels just like the oxbow from PetSmart but comes in half the size of PetSmart oxbow bags
Could you please give a more opinionated comment on the Oxbow Hay Blend? I stopped Timothy because of tough stems and waste.
This is good, but very North America centric. Timothy hay is native there, and is either unavailable or very expensive in other countries. The most common hay in Europe is meadow hay.
Do you think you can make more videos on how to care for bunnies? I am thinking of getting a bunny in the next few years but, I don’t know much about them yet. I own guinea pigs right now.
Angel_piggies Lyn I won't be making rabbit specific videos but rabbit.org is a great site to read ☺
Thank you!
Q and A on your other video do a tattoo tour
Hi Skinnypigs, I have a question. I just got 2 baby guinea pigs 9 weeks old. We dont have rescues here so I bought them from a pet shop I've used over 20 yrs. I'm just concerned because they told me to only feed them alfalfa hay, pellets, slices of oranges and some romaine for now. I watch your videos and i see you dont like the alfalfa hay. Can you guide me on what to feed them daily? I would appreciate it. I feel like they're hungry and feel badly. Also one wont drink from the water bottle and the other can go through half a day. Not to sure what to do about that. Thank you so much.
I love the little intro
Thank you so much I had no idea grass hay had to be feed with alfalfa hay for babies😁☺️
Not 100% necessary but feeding a high calcium hay like alfalfa is a good idea when they are babies to make sure they develop healthy, strong bones.
Oxbow is very pricey where I live in the states. I currently buy the 96 oz. bags of Kaytee Timothy Hay off Amazon.com for around $12. The bigger the bag the price per pound seems to drop. My daughters 3 piggies seem to like the Kaytee hay so far...
Kim O
Kayte is deffinatley not the ideal hay. I tried it once just to see how it compares. It was just so synthetic and I do not like it. Please get some farmer hay or oxbow (or other vrands) I know it is expensive but you need to provide quality products for your pig.
I don't like the bent cage frame idea. As much time as they spend nomming on hay they might wind up rubbing their little faces a lot against the bars to get the choice pieces. I made a vertical wooden rectangular feeder out of plywood. Its about 2 feet high, and 6" by 18" on the sides. There is an opening cut all along one of the long sides at the bottom so as the piggies face it, there is a solid wall of hay facing them to pick from, and as they eat, they naturally pull down the stack from the top. FWIW I buy the Standlee brand of orchard Grass and timothy hay in 25 lbs boxes from Amazon. I fill the feeder with orchard on one side and timothy on the other so they can pick what they want. Mostly they prefer the orchard grass.
Could u a vid about the ways that u pet your pigs because I have been trying to find different ways to pet my pig but I could use some advice plz
You should do a video where you do lap time or play time and talk about it
Is alfalfa and orchard grass hay good to have mixed because I have a 44lb bale of it and I feed it to my 3 month old piggies. Love you
I put hay in a bent grid standing up and zip tied to the cage grids. My piggie pulls the hay out, eats it, sleeps on it, and makes a mess. I fill it daily and he seems to waste quite a bit of it throwing it around his cage.
That will happen. Guineas can be quite messy with their hay. ;)
Thank you so much ..so much good information for a beginner 😊
Do you have a video on their pellets and quantity of pellets each piggie per day ty ty
THANK YOU! What are your thoughts on Oxbows Organic Meadow Hay?!
Abby, can you smell the lavender in the botanical hay? I want to get some for my 3 girls, but a strong smell of lavender is a trigger for my migraines.
Yes, it is very strong.
I feed my guineas pigs timothy hay from fortified diet. It’s basically sold at all stores.
i love your shirt and i was wondering where you got it
Was from Etsy. You could order one from
www.etsy.com/ca/shop/ANGPrintingAndDesign?ref=listing-shop2-all-items-count#items
She can make anything you wish!
For my pigs, I always just feed timothy hay. Where I am located the timothy looks a bit like orchard grass, its very green and fresh but not as rich or leafy. Iv'e tried orchard grass with my piggies but it is too rich for them and makes their business a little too soft.
Oxbow has organic meadow hay too!
My babies love Timothy hay I buy the big box 😁😁😁 but my girl like to him up on top of there hay lol laydown and eat 😂
Hi Skinnypigs1 I adopted 2 Guinea pigs and puchased Timothy hay I didnt take in account that I would get babies. If I understand correctly from your video babies can eat Timorhy hay but should it be mixed with Alphalfa Hey?...or is it Alphalfa Grass?
It makes me sad to see how much these companies overcharge for hay. I live in a rural area, and year-round have pretty much unlimited access to any kind and type of hay I desire for $3-6 a 50lb bale. My supply is beautiful, soft, green second cutting Timothy hay from a local farmer for $4 a bale. My miniature horses and rabbits love to eat it, and my chickens and ducks love to nest in it. It's the same hay and has the same colour, scent, and texture as the overpriced hay Oxbow sells, but I get about 50lbs for $4, versus a small, overpriced baggy for $10. Hay is hay is hay, if you can find a local source for pesticide free, fresh hay, go get a bale and store it indoors in a large storage tub to keep it fresh. If you buy hay marketed for sheep/goats or miniature horses, the flakes will be cut nice and small too, which makes feeding them to your critters easier! There is no reason to get ripped off unless you live in a city area and this is your only choice. I mean it though when I say companies like Oxbow are selling $5 bales of hay for $100 in small packages.
I totally agree. Hay is wayyyy overpriced! If I could, I would do the exact same thing you do. But where I live (in the suburbs) I don't have access to farms anywhere near me (I would have to drive hours each way), and even if I did find one they''d probably use pesticides. I order from smallpetselect.com and for 20lbs its $45, but they have a point system so I almost always get a discount. :)
If any of you are in my situation and don't have access to a farm to purchase hay, definitely check out smallpetselect.com because they are fabulous!
A farm around here is the same, 40lb for $55. It was crazy and not even nice, so I went back to Oxbow 50lb boxes. Buying in bulk is so much better, the small bags are a crazy price for what you get. I wish I could find nice farm hay here but am unable to find anything without alfalfa and the stuff I did find, as I said, was still very expensive and not nice quality.
Lydia Dunnivan WHERE DO YOU SHOP FOR HAY!!!!!????
I agree we bought 105 pounds for $22 with taxs and it is greener than oxbow
life.with.6. pets where did you store the bale?
I got mine at petco. It’s 96 OZ. All it says is all natural Timothy hay. I’m not sure what kind it is
I have such a hard time commuting to get good oxbow hay. My local pet store always has bad batches and i have to drive far. Switching to pet select on amazon. I think ill try some oxbow botanical though.
Yaki Fawn small store select actually has their own website. It’s just smallpetselect.com
Panda Bee Yeah I just like using the prime option 😅 thank you
Yaki Fawn If you spend over $40 on their website you automatically get free shipping.
Love your tshirt!
Can you please do a cage cleaning the video🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
HELP!! So I want to try something different and I got someone Hay bales for my guinea pig and I put the hay bales in there cage and there not eating it and the hay bales are compressed and I wonder if I have to put water in it to uncompressed it.? Any ideas to get the hay out of there?
Great video. Thanks.
I have the Western Timothy + Orchard Grass hay!
I love your piggyss😍
11:24 butter pecan takes a bite of poop😬😁😀😂😂😝😘
My dad's friend has a farm with cows and he makes bales of timothy and orchard grass mixed, it's mostly soft. There is no clover in it and less than 10% alfalfa. He doesn't use any pesticides or acids. My dad gives it to his goats. Will it be ok for guinea pigs?
That's cool that you have access to it. Honestly though, it's best to avoid Alfalfa hay in general, since it's so high in calcium. Does he have just timothy/orchard with no alfalfa?
Brenna D No he doesn't. It's less than 10% alfalfa, but I will avoid it and stay with oxbow. Was just looking into a possible cheaper, local alternative.
Thanks for the reply. :)
No problem. ;) I understand, hay gets really pricey really fast, especially if you have a lot of pets.
Do you find the Timothy hay dusty?
Thank you for this video!!
I use oxbow wish they give more food for the price though
I recently got 2 piggies over the summer and I always buy the oxbow timothy hay. However, I've noticed some times its thin and some times its really coarse. They usually pull it through the feeder where it stays on the floor. They dont eat it much but whats confusing is why is it so drastically different? I notice when I purchase a larger bag, it tends to be coarse as opposed to a smaller bag even though theyre labeled identically.
All their supply probably comes from many different fields and just depends on the year for how things grew.
thanks. i started thinking i shouldnt be buying the hay when its coarse like that but it looks like its all good. i just got a huge bail of the stuff
As long as they eat it, then shouldn't matter. Otherwise if they don't like it, I would try a different type. I use a combo of timothy and orchard grass.
Is it okay to just use orchard ? My pigs enjoy it more and they never waste it like Timothy (:
Ashley Hall any grass hay is great!! orchard is perfectly fine :)
So I have a guinea thats coat is so lackluster I’m nervous. I feed her oxbow pellets and the Grass mix. I bathe her occasionally (not all the time) and I still run into issues with her fur. She is a short hair guinea pig and when I got her her fur was beautiful. I don’t know what to do. It’s not too bad but I think I need to feed her better food (she’s not a big fan of orchard grass and I feed her that) I don’t rlly know what to do. Thank you.
Switch her to Sherwood Pellets, they are great, I use them and would never switch back.
You can give her timothy hay, orchard grass or blue grass. Try different companies to see what she likes. Small Pet Select or Kms Hay Loft.
skinnypigs1 Thank you! She is starting to enjoy orchard grass more, which I’m so happy about. She’s really picky sometimes. I had to switch her pellets with more vitamins that can help her fur. I’m seeing some improvements😊
OMG, I want a guinea pig for my birthday but my dad said no. I did a lot of research and figured if I ever got a guinea pig I would buy c and c grids (3x6 cage) coroplast, Cotten towels, and fleece for bedding. I did so so so much research and watched so many of yours videos, which I love btw. I looked into food, hay, huts and litteraly everything a guinea pig needs and then my dad just smashed all that research down with a NO!! I’m so sad and I don’t know what to do. Can anyone give me advice on how to bribe my parents to get me a guinea pig, pls pls pls, I need help 😢.
Guinea pigs are creatures who need to be in pairs or more. If parents are not on board, then that is for the best to not get them to be honest. Parents who don't want them as pets don't like spending money on them and certainly won't let them get vet care which is needing when ill. Supplies are expensive. It is great you've done research, but I would never force a parent to get a pet, they should want them just as much as you.
Thank You so much for your honesty. I’m gonna go cry now😢😢😢. I guess I’ll just have to wait till I’m out of college which totally sucks. I have $500 saved up from selling plants on eBay but that’s probley not enough for yearly vet care. 😭 And yeah, I guess parents do need to be on board, I wish my parents were more supportive of me. Thanks again
I never knew about different types of hay
I have a question for anyone .. need a lil help .. every time i hold my guinea pigs i get a skin allergy that goes away within an hour or so , it pops up like a rash and gets really red and bumpy...its not a big deal . i still love my pigs just the same.. i just want to know if anyone has been through this , anything i can do about it??? its not the hay that im allergic too ...
You could try brushing them daily
You probably have a minor allergy to them. There's nothing really you can do and personally I don't think medicine will do much. I'd think just wear gloves/long sleeves when you hold/pet them so they aren't actually touching your skin.
Wear long sleeves and change your shirt after, is a classic allergy to their dander, nothing you can do about it.
You could have an allergy to their hay which they roll around in. Just wear long sleeves and cover your neck; wash your hands before touching your face, neck or skin.
In this comment I said it wasn't a big deal meanwhile every time I got around their house I was wheezing and I can barely breathe boogers running from my nose LOL turns out I'm highly allergic to rodents
My parents don't listen to me when I say they need unlimited hay. They only give them like 4 strands and they call it a day 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Maybe try showing them a video from a small animals expert saying it and try telling them that the guinea pigs can possibly go into GI stasis since they are not properly eating. Remember to tell them the guinea pigs are grazing animals. The hay helps there digestive system constantly move and without anything to constantly graze on there digestive system might stop. I’m pretty sure that’s what would happen but correct me if I’m wrong. I hope they realize that they could possibly kill them. Good luck 🙏
i have a really important question; how long can guinea pigs go without hay?? i know it makes up 80% of their diet but i seem to have run out of hay quicker than usual, and i can't get it until next week. i should have had a back up so this wouldn't have happened but lesson learned now. should i provide more pellets and veggies until i get the hay?? thank you!!
Don't increase the pellets. Increasing the veggies should be ok though. I'd recommend smallpetselect.com for hay. Hay in arrives in two days or less and it's reasonably priced for the quality and the amount you get.
Thank you for all your advice, i'm able to get the hay tomorrow!!
Do you have any tips for teeth filing? I've bought all the wood chew toys I can find for them and they won't even touch them.
Hay is the best thing for their teeth all around.
Do you have a piggy who loves to spread their hay all over? It drives me crazy. It's looks messy all the time. I've tried using a hay bag… And then I've tried just throwing it in a pile and she still just spreads it all over.
What better for them, first or second cut?.....
I was told only to give piggies hay once a week...
A few months ago it ran out, I just give him a big bowl of lettuce and his carrots.
Moon: you need hay! Lettuce and carrots are great to feed IN ADDITION to high quality hay and pellets.
That is terrible. Please educate yourself on proper diet.
Goodness, please start feeding it everyday, that is 80% of their diet. Links to helpful and honest sites are in the description box. Please research Guinea Lynx (excellent site).
Are pellets with hay in them ok or should I still get hay because I haven't given them regular hay in almost a year and they seem to be doing fine
Phils eyelash they need the hay I was showing.
Where did you get 👚
Etsy
skinnypigs1 i really want one
If i want to chat with you...how can you let it happen( other than comments)
is oaten hay alright? timothy hay is just so expensive
I ❤️ Your videos!