Best Food/Hay supplier UK?

[Banksy]

Hey,

New to forum soon to be new owners of Guinea Pigs.

We are trying to do as much research as possible and get the best we can for the new additions to the family.

We only have a pets at home nearby as none of the local rescue centres have any guinea pigs, and while they offer to provide the "full package" i have seen some of their reviews where the timothy hay has plastic shreds and the nuggets have a measly 1.8* review rating.

We want to do our best and we're aiming to have everything set up and ready to go, we are aware that for the first few weeks whatever food we get them, we will have to unfortunately mix it in with their old stuff (pets at home stuff) while they adapt to the new food (providing there is better).

Our question is, is there any provider in the UK that provides high quality Hay and Nuggets at a good price? What are the best treats we can buy? and where can we buy them? we've never owned guinea pigs before so the ingredients to look out for are a bit alien to us, we don't quite understand what is good and what isn't, unlike with our dog who we make our own food from scratch for as she has a rather sensitive stomach and diet.

Thank you so much for your time and help

 

[Piggies&buns]

I buy my nuggets from Piggie Parcels. It is a small business run by a member of this forum. The nuggets are grass based with nutrition in mind.
I also buy dried forage from her - they are the only treats I give my piggies (I have four).

In terms of hay. I buy a meadow hay by the bale from a local farm. It is cheap and used for bedding. As well as the four piggies, I also have two rabbits so get through a lot. I then buy orchard hay for eating from an online supplier, Happy Hay Co.

You will find lots of recommendations for online hay suppliers here as we all have our preferences!

 

[piggieminder]

A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)

Welcome to the forum. You may find the above link useful.

 

[Banksy]

I buy my nuggets from Piggie Parcels. It is a small business run by a member of this forum. The nuggets are grass based with nutrition in mind.
I also buy dried forage from her - they are the only treats I give my piggies (I have four).

In terms of hay. I buy a meadow hay by the bale from a local farm. It is cheap and used for bedding. As well as the four piggies, I also have two rabbits so get through a lot. I then buy orchard hay for eating from an online supplier, Happy Hay Co.

You will find lots of recommendations for online hay suppliers here as we all have our preferences!

Thank you so much for the Piggie Parcels suggestion, the pellets look great and we love supporting small businesses! I will certainly look at using them

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. It’s brilliant you are doing your research before getting piggies.

Basically they need lots of hay. Timothy and meadow is a good start. I used hay box for Timothy blend and a local pet shop for half a bale of meadow hay.

I use hay box nuggets ( only 1 tablespoon per piggy per day).

I feed veggies in the morning and evening.
Daily veggies are cucumber, coriander, lettuce (not iceberg) pepper. I also feed in moderation basil, mint, baby corn, green beans, corn on the cob. I don’t feed much fruit and never tomatoes (Chelitis)

Pea flakes and dried dandelion is a nice treat for them.

Make sure they have a nice big enclosure. How many piggies would you like? You can only have 2 boys. Don’t get more as they will eventually fall out.

Good luck. We are here to answer any questions you may have.

When you get them please post pictures of them as we LOVE piggy pictures.

I have two boars called Pepper and Pebble.

 

[Banksy]

Hello and welcome to the forum. It’s brilliant you are doing your research before getting piggies.

Basically they need lots of hay. Timothy and meadow is a good start. I used hay box for Timothy blend and a local pet shop for half a bale of meadow hay.

I use hay box nuggets ( only 1 tablespoon per piggy per day).

I feed veggies in the morning and evening.
Daily veggies are cucumber, coriander, lettuce (not iceberg) pepper. I also feed in moderation basil, mint, baby corn, green beans, corn on the cob. I don’t feed much fruit and never tomatoes (Chelitis)

Pea flakes and dried dandelion is a nice treat for them.

Make sure they have a nice big enclosure. How many piggies would you like? You can only have 2 boys. Don’t get more as they will eventually fall out.

Good luck. We are here to answer any questions you may have.

When you get them please post pictures of them as we LOVE piggy pictures.

I have two boars called Pepper and Pebble.

Thank you so much for your response.

We were under the assumption that timothy hay was best but looking at the link provided a few responses above that meadow hay may be even better?

We're planning on getting 2 piggies, possibly 2 males? maybe females? we're not sure if it will make a difference? obviously not 1 and 1! no piggy babies here please

We have a sort of "build it yourself" cage coming 105x105cm (11sq feet) + a secondary layer of like 100x50cm but we got 2 kits to try and make the second layer a little bigger (we've not recieved this yet), we're opting for tarpaulin liners with fleece bedding to go on top + a little bit of hay/wood shedding in areas for them to nest/forage etc.

As soon as we get them don't worry the SD card will be filled with photos of them when they are comfortable with us, if we do get 2 males prepare for a bombardment of Gino and Fred photos (yes, we love Gino D'acampo and Fred Sirieix)

 

[Banksy]

A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)

Welcome to the forum. You may find the above link useful.

thank you so much this is incredibly useful

 

[weepweeps]

I use the meadow in the hay tray with large handfuls of the more expensive Timothy to eat a few times a day. I’ve only ever had boars. I love them.

 

[Merab]

I started ordering hay from the Hay & Straw company.
They do 3 varieties and my piggies loved them all.
The bonus was free delivery within the UK mainland so unless you’re on a remote island in the Outer Hebrides that would be fine.

Welcome to the forum and we look forward to getting to know you

 

[Banksy]

I use the meadow in the hay tray with large handfuls of the more expensive Timothy to eat a few times a day. I’ve only ever had boars. I love them.

so meadow is cheaper than timothy? is timothy classed as the premium hay for piggies?

I started ordering hay from the Hay & Straw company.
They do 3 varieties and my piggies loved them all.
The bonus was free delivery within the UK mainland so unless you’re on a remote island in the Outer Hebrides that would be fine.

Welcome to the forum and we look forward to getting to know you

this is another company i will need to add to my research pile! thank you for your response! luckily (or unluckily?) I'm mainland.

 

[weepweeps]

Meadow and Timothy are just different. Sometimes meadow is cheaper. Mine prefer to eat more Timothy than meadow. So I use the cheaper in the hay area for them to play and poop on.

 

[fluffysal]

For the sake of balance, where I currently live is impossible for deliveries and very tight for space since installing the beastie boy palace with penthouse. This means that I have been using mostly p@h hay, not the cheapest one though. The meadow and Timothy mix and apart from one bag that was a little dusty it's been fine. I do buy treat hay but only every 6 weeks or so. Dignified Sir George was on science selective pellets when I adopted Mischievous Master Boris. Master Boris was on p@h, so I did the mixing which resulted in Sir George deciding he preferred the p@h
Oh and I vote for you getting boars. They are lovable weirdos

 

[Lorcan]

I buy the timothy hay from Happy Hay. My two eejits won't eat meadow hay at all, but they love the really stalky timothy that most guinea pigs won't touch. Unfortunately til you have them in your home you're not going to be certain what hay they will or won't eat.

 

[eileen]

I use meadow hay from hay and straw company on line,Timothy hay.co.uk do a lovely Orchard hay,and soft timothy hay ,which mine love.
Congratulations on your research,and to new piggies.

 

[AidaB]

The rescue, which we rehomed our boys from said at our first meeting.
“You will soon learn hay is not just hay!”.
Good luck with your research.
Our Guinea pigs get a variety of hay, but we do tend to stay away from the super stalky Timothy.
We like natures own hay as our go to everyday hay, with other ones mixed in.

 

[Banksy]

For the sake of balance, where I currently live is impossible for deliveries and very tight for space since installing the beastie boy palace with penthouse. This means that I have been using mostly p@h hay, not the cheapest one though. The meadow and Timothy mix and apart from one bag that was a little dusty it's been fine. I do buy treat hay but only every 6 weeks or so. Dignified Sir George was on science selective pellets when I adopted Mischievous Master Boris. Master Boris was on p@h, so I did the mixing which resulted in Sir George deciding he preferred the p@h
Oh and I vote for you getting boars. They are lovable weirdos

Beastie boy palace with penthouse has me in tears, you have possibly won names of the year, Mischievous Master Boris haha I actually love it!

I buy the timothy hay from Happy Hay. My two eejits won't eat meadow hay at all, but they love the really stalky timothy that most guinea pigs won't touch. Unfortunately til you have them in your home you're not going to be certain what hay they will or won't eat.

Quite similar to our dog then, took us a long time to crack her favourite formula! We know that they will at least take to the P@H food until we find a more quality brand that they like.

The rescue, which we rehomed our boys from said at our first meeting.
“You will soon learn hay is not just hay!”.
Good luck with your research.
Our Guinea pigs get a variety of hay, but we do tend to stay away from the super stalky Timothy.
We like natures own hay as our go to everyday hay, with other ones mixed in.

hopefully we dont end up with 2 fussy piggies! but either way, we want to make sure that they have the best they can get so we will get there eventually, i will probably order a few different bags of hay and see where we go from there!

 

[Lorcan]

I got lucky in that I found what they loved and wouldn't touch relatively swiftly, but it does mean I can't use any sort of bedding hay. Meadow would be perfect but if they won't eat it I can't spare the space for another box.

There's a number of online suppliers that will do samplers, and if you can get those they'll be useful. They're expensive for what they are, but not when your alternative is a 5/10kg box they'll refuse to eat.

 

[Roselina]

Welcome and well done for doing your research
As you’ve found out everyone here is great and very friendly
We are all very happy to share our experiences and offer advice and the guinea pig guides are awesome
We can’t wait to hear about your adventures and see your piggies

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

My piggies won't eat timothy so I get my meadow hay from Nature's Own with their sweet meadow hay as an added treat hay during the months the fresh grass on my small lawn is not growing well and is lower in nutrients. They do timothy hay as well though. You can find them listed in our Hay Guide.

Their hay was what mine liked best when I did some trials just over a year ago to find the best quality/cost balance for me after I lost my locally sourced supply of farm hay. I order free bulk delivery. The larger hay bags come in 3.5 kg flat compostable bags, which makes them easier to handle and store for me - although with around 20 piggies I go through 5 bags in just over a week.

Nature's Own are farmers selling their own hay; I do prefer to buy direct and support independent businesses. The quality of it is so much better and - with the free delivery - even a little cheaper than 3 kg pet shop meadow hay bags.


Since I have to use 10kg pellet bags, my choices there are rather more restricted in that respect but with only 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy per day it matters less than ensuring that their main food (over three quarters of the daily food intake) - hay - is really good quality.
Veg, pellets and any treats all together only replace the supplementary role that wild forage used to have.

Here is the link to our diet guide which looks at all foods s to their role in a diet and then in detail at the food group itself: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

You may also find our New Owners information and practical advice collection very useful. I would recommend that you bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need since you will take different things away at different stages of experience.
Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive Information Collection

 

[Banksy]

Welcome and well done for doing your research
As you’ve found out everyone here is great and very friendly
We are all very happy to share our experiences and offer advice and the guinea pig guides are awesome
We can’t wait to hear about your adventures and see your piggies

It really is refreshing to see such an amazing community of people on the internet! It has also majorly boosted our confidence making this decision knowing that we will have access to so much helpful and knowledgeable people.

Hi and welcome

My piggies won't eat timothy so I get my meadow hay from Nature's Own with their sweet meadow hay as an added treat hay during the months the fresh grass on my small lawn is not growing well and is lower in nutrients. They do timothy hay as well though. You can find them listed in our Hay Guide.

Their hay was what mine liked best when I did some trials just over a year ago to find the best quality/cost balance for me after I lost my locally sourced supply of farm hay. I order free bulk delivery. The larger hay bags come in 3.5 kg flat compostable bags, which makes them easier to handle and store for me - although with around 20 piggies I go through 5 bags in just over a week.

Nature's Own are farmers selling their own hay; I do prefer to buy direct and support independent businesses. The quality of it is so much better and - with the free delivery - even a little cheaper than 3 kg pet shop meadow hay bags.


Since I have to use 10kg pellet bags, my choices there are rather more restricted in that respect but with only 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy per day it matters less than ensuring that their main food (over three quarters of the daily food intake) - hay - is really good quality.
Veg, pellets and any treats all together only replace the supplementary role that wild forage used to have.

Here is the link to our diet guide which looks at all foods s to their role in a diet and then in detail at the food group itself: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

You may also find our New Owners information and practical advice collection very useful. I would recommend that you bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need since you will take different things away at different stages of experience.
Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive Information Collection

Thank you so much, this is incredibly helpful! i have made an order for different types of hay now to see what the little piggies will prefer!

 

[Wiebke]

It really is refreshing to see such an amazing community of people on the internet! It has also majorly boosted our confidence making this decision knowing that we will have access to so much helpful and knowledgeable people.



Thank you so much, this is incredibly helpful! i have made an order for different types of hay now to see what the little piggies will prefer!

Hay is the daily bread of guinea pigs, so any of timothy, meadow and orchard hay is fine alone or fed in combination. Just have an eye out on what your piggies prefer and take it from there. I've always fed meadow hay going way back before timothy has come on the scene but since meadow hay contains different grasses, it provides food for a wider variety of digestive bacteria. Timothy is the hay that is digested better and you need to feed a little less of it but it requires a narrower band of digestive bacteria. Timothy is a tougher grass and makes often harder and spikier hay - and my piggies love sleeping and burrowing in their hay trays, so soft hay it is...

Other richer hays make good and healthy enrichment treats for a bit of variation but they should not be fed all the time.

Ultimately, there is no difference in longevity or health whichever hay you feed; or at least not that we have noticed.

Give yourself time to find out what works best for your piggies and yourself. Be openminded and do not fixate on 'only the best'. You will have to adapt anyway. Start with some basics and take it from there.

Thank you. We are working hard to provide a friendly and supportive place (it takes a lot more effort than the other way) but we have a lovely community on here that fully carries our forum ethos. We are not part of social media and have a few quirks because of that but we are also in full control of our place and how we want it to be. Please never feel that there isn't any question you do not dare ask. We are fully aware that it is often the little things that trip you up worst and that 'silly' questions are generally anything but. And that we are all on a life long learning curve, no matter how long we have had guinea pigs; but that we have all started out knowing nothing.

You can find some great practical information links in our New Owners guide collection into which more than 15 years of this forum with literally tens of thousands of questions plus some long term ownership experience have gone but you are always welcome to ask in our Care Sections and hang out in our Chat Sections. The guide format allows us update and extend our information resource at need (or as we have some rare free extra time) whereas any books or videos would have to be regularly replaced as they age rather quickly.