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Post by antwoord on Mar 20, 2015 16:26:15 GMT
Hi all, I'm new to guniea pigs and this forum so please bear with me. About 2 weeks ago I got my two babies, Ninja and Hi-Tek. Yesterday I bought this and it said Timothy hay, but it looks and feels different than the petco hay I bought before. I'm sorry, I'm not sure how to post photos on here so I made a photobucket for it. Thanks in advance  s172.photobucket.com/user/Antwoord/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsduhaoj06.jpg.html |
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Whimsy
Bronze Member
Posts: 400
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Post by Whimsy on Mar 20, 2015 22:23:44 GMT
It looks like timothy hay to me, but I am not 100% sure.
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Post by 3piggles on Mar 21, 2015 14:19:51 GMT
Hello and welcome to Wheekers. I can't tell from a picture. All hays vary so much in appearance, depending on where they are grown, and which cut they are. Second cut is better than first cut, as first cut has a lot of excess meadow plants in it. Third cut is good on good years, not so good on bad years, etc. I have to trust that the container is telling the truth. I buy Oxbow Western Timothy, which is always labeled. I buy it at a feed/grain store, as they don't have huge reserves in warehouses, getting moldy before they get to the shelves. I bought too many bad bags from Petco and PetSmart. Is there a reason you don't trust it to be Timothy hay?
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Whimsy
Bronze Member
Posts: 400
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Post by Whimsy on Mar 21, 2015 15:46:34 GMT
Wow, there's a science behind everything when it comes to guinea pigs :-) Good information.
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Post by Bean on Mar 22, 2015 8:28:08 GMT
I'm not an expert hayspotter, but welcome to the forum!
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Post by terrijanson on Apr 1, 2015 15:35:39 GMT
I love the Oxbow timothy hay. It is always fresh and smells wonderful! I'm afraid to use hay that has been baled by farmers because of the mites it may contain.
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Post by 3piggles on Apr 1, 2015 20:24:06 GMT
I have heard of mites and lice coming in on local hay bales, and of course, there are likely to be field residents like mice, snakes and bugs in the bale, too. Still, if money is an issue, and you can find a recommended farmer, you can get a lot of hay for the money. I never had a problem with lice or mites, but I did get a dead lizard once, and lots of non-hay plants.
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Post by Bean on Apr 2, 2015 8:39:33 GMT
I've never had a problem with mites (or lizards/ snakes, but we don't get so many over here!) and we've bough from several different farms over the years. I guess it only takes one bad experience to put you off though!
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Post by 3piggles on Apr 2, 2015 16:27:28 GMT
Several members, over the years, had lice come in on the hay. I'm not sure what type of mites would come in on hay, or if the members who posted that really had lice, not mites. We have a lot of denizens of the fields, and the haying process doesn't leave them much chance to escape. I'd love to live where there aren't any of the ones I really fear. Ooh, to be able to go off the path Mostly, we had good luck with that aspect of buying local bales. We just got a lot of other plant materials than we wanted. That probably explains why the store bought hay is so much more expensive, if it's sorted to get rid of anything but the hay. |
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