Hay Help

[chinchillachris]

Hi Everyone,
I have some questions about Timothy Hay. There's a Tractor Supply near my house and they conveniently sell Hay and Chin pellets. However, my chins (I have 2) eat the pellets, but the pretty much don't touch the hay. so I was wondering, what's the matter? Do chinchillas naturally don't eat a lot of hay, or could they not like this particular brand? Do you think the hay is poor quality? (I have noticed there are a lot of brown and withered pieces?) Thank you everyone!

 

[e.murphy518]

My chins actually all go through way more hay than pellets...I am not sure if that is common to all chins, but I know that one time when I was in a bind I bought Carefresh Timothy and they refused to eat it, it was terrible quality. But they scarf the stuff I get from KMS Hayloft down immediately

 

[ServantofBlueberry]

My girl loves hay so much, that if you hand feed it to her she thinks she is getting a treat. I would think that maybe that brand just isnt as tasty. I would try a better brand

 

[akane]

It's worth tracking down good hay from a local farmer or ordering online. Most of the hay that goes to stores has been exposed to too much sunlight, extreme temps, or is just old and the animals don't like it as well. Also tends to be dusty and set off allergies a lot more than other sources of hay. Every time I clean cages I pile some KM's bluegrass and a little local organic clover/alfalfa on the FN and CN shelves. It's usually gone in 2 days.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

I agree, probably worth finding another source for hay.
if looking online there are 2 places I've recently learned about myself as I'm also looking for new hay source...
http://www.kmshayloft.com/hay/
http://smallpetselect.com/timothy-hay/

I've learned that KMS is cheaper in price on their hay but shipping can be pricey depending where you live.
But Small Pet Select is offering free shipping with first order using code BetterHay (and after that you can find free shipping if you look around, I did before finding the free shipping on first order coupon).

For me 20 lbs of hay was going to be cheaper from Small Pet Select by the time hay price and shipping were added. Takes a little work looking into it though, but again depends where you live.

 

[akane]

I'd rather pay more for good quality bluegrass or orchardgrass. You can find orchardgrass hay from oxbow or they of course have timothy but timothy is the most common cause of allergies when feeding small animals. Oxbow also has chin pellets, hay with herbs, and herb treats. They no longer sell directly which sucks cause they are 1 state from me. You have to check the price and shipping from their online vendors list.

You can also find small boxes of grain hays on places like ebay but it's tricky stuff to make good hay out of. If it's cut really early it's the exact same as grass hay and can be fed unlimited. Slightly older hay with the start of grain heads can be used as a treat. Mine love individual pieces of oat hay with immature heads. If it's cut too late it becomes straw and loses most useful nutritional value. I only buy a few ounces of oat hay at a time to use as treats. We did used to get 1lb boxes from someone on ebay though when doing guinea pig rescue.

 

[javachin]

Sounds like they don't like that particular hay. I buy my hay from Kleenmama and my chins devour it.

 

[Lily&Lucy]

I have had that issue in the past. My chinchillas would get picky about their hay. I would try switching to a different supplier and see if it makes a difference.

 

[ticklechin]

Chins are picky, mine don't like APD alfalfa, they like oxbow, they don't like oxbow timothy, they like APD 1st cut. You just keep trying types/brands of hay until you find what they like.

 

[chinchillachris]

Thanks everyone! I went out and bought some Vitakraft brand timothy hay. They haven't seemed to eat too much just yet, but we'll see how they like it.