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How often do you get hay pokes?

Guineapigfeet

Guineapigfeet

Adult Guinea Pig
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I’ve just been to the vets with BB for a hay ‘poke’ - it was actually a bit of super soft hay lying under her bottom eyelid, so not really a ‘poke’ at all! which is the third time I’ve been for this sort of thing with my trio. The vet said I may want to re-think their bedding as I’ve had a lot of problems with this sort of thing. They’re bedded on Aubiose with thin layer of hay on top in their houses and a big hay-tray (which they do dive into)
The girls are nearly four so it’s equivalent to just under one eye injury per year as a trio, even though two have been one pig.

I wonder how often others have hay related injuries ? Is this a particularly high rate?
 
My pigs whole cage is layered in hay. You cant stop hay pokes, ite just one of those things with guinea pigs. I have only ever had 1 pig get hay caught in his eye in about 7 years of having guinea pigs. And i managed to get it out myself
 
I know, and I don’t want to not give them their big hay tray - they love it so much. Just wondering how many other people have. 1 in 7 years sounds heavenly! With my old four, over 10 years, I didn’t have a single one!
 
You watch. Il return home to a hay poke now. One thing i normally never do is say how well my guinea pigs are. Its jynxes things
 
I was about to say we've never had a haypoke but I wont say that because then one of piggies will just poke themselves in the eye to prove me wrong! One a year doesnt sound very high, its the same with any common illness or injury, and piggies do just really love diving face first into hay with their eyes open...
 
I’ve had many piggies and many hay pokes over the years. Some pigs never had a single one, others had a couple over their lifetime. It’s sadly a guinea pig design fault and the luck of the draw.
 
I only had one with the 16 I had before this lot, it wasn't really a 'poke' either but a grass seed that lodged itself under Patch's eyelid.
Bramble used to get quite a few from throwing her head around, in her 3 years I'd say she had at least 5. Daisy, Delilah and Pumpkin have also had one or 2 so id say in the last 3 and a half years thats at least 9 although I'm probably forgetting some. But its going to happen, can't really avoid it, all you can do it treat it promptly to avoid it getting worse :)
 
Guineapigfeet said:
I’ve just been to the vets with BB for a hay ‘poke’ - it was actually a bit of super soft hay lying under her bottom eyelid, so not really a ‘poke’ at all! which is the third time I’ve been for this sort of thing with my trio. The vet said I may want to re-think their bedding as I’ve had a lot of problems with this sort of thing. They’re bedded on Aubiose with thin layer of hay on top in their houses and a big hay-tray (which they do dive into)
The girls are nearly four so it’s equivalent to just under one eye injury per year as a trio, even though two have been one pig.

I wonder how often others have hay related injuries ? Is this a particularly high rate?
Click to expand...

I've had one year with 7 hay pokes, mostly from my more skittish or the odd cataract piggy... and others with none. This year, I've only had one so far.
It is just one of these things. Guinea pigs love to burrow in hay and it is one of their biggest pleasures and enrichments. Apart from providing soft hay for burrowing, there is not so much you can do; hay pokes tend to come with the territory when it comes to keeping guinea pigs in an enriching environment.

You can consider switching to fleece bedding outside the trays if you have an indoors set-up; but it is not suited to hutches or sheds that are not highly insulated.
Bedding For Guinea Pigs - Overview
A Detailed Guide For Fleece Bedding
 
One of mine has had about 7 pokes in his 5 years, the other has had 0. Seems pig dependent
 
I’ve had our pair for 3 years and they’ve each had a poke in that time, both within the last year when the quality of the hay has been impacted by last years hot weather. I try and remove the stalky bits but you can’t get them all.
 
I've had piggies for more than 12 years and none of them ever got a hay poke. The ones that i have now, i keep them on fleece and the hay is in their dispenser which is on the outside of the cage, so very small chances to injure themself. Plus they don't really eat too much hay tbh but a lot of grass
 
Never had a hay poke with any of the 5 guinea pigs - and that was with Comet leaping head first into bales of timothy hay and his general tendency to sleep right in the middle of it. They usually ended up with a 2"+ layer of hay on top of their bedding because that was how they liked it.
What hay is it you're using, and would it be worth substituting all or part of their daily hay with something that might be a bit softer? (as in, meadow hay is generally softer than timothy).
 
In 4 years one that I am aware of! That was very recent with Pippin.. noticed her eye was a bit red .. lovely lady at Cavy Corner got it out for me - I wouldn't have a clue!
 
1 in 4.5 years. This was a very soft piece of meadow hay more like a flat blade of grass which had gone under Peanut's lower lid so not realy a poke. I managed to remove it easily but he went to the vet for a check anyway, glad he did, the dye showed the eye surface was scratched. A week of drops and the eye healed nicely. My boars all love to burrow in deep piles of soft meadow hay, a natural behaviour I wouldn't deny them.
 
I had my Rainbow Piggies for 5.5 years and they never had hay poke and their bedding was newspaper and meadow hay. My current 5 are on puppy pads and meadow hay and have occasional hay poke. They just love diving into hay - it is one of the pleasures in life if you are a piggy and I couldn't deny them that.
 
Agggh! Chewie is at it now! Back to the vets this afternoon for her. Was prescribed metacam for the first time and this is the fourth hay injury. Is this something I should be asking for at every eye injury? She seemed to really enjoy it! Was a little monster at the vets though - the vet did manage to extract the hay, a piece of my super soft green meadow hay. Spending all this money on hay less likely to cause injury and two of them shove it in their eyes!
 
You poor thing! Touch wood we haven’t had any hay pokes with 5 pigs over the last 4 years of being a piggy slave. We have rather stalky timothy hay so hopefully they realise that they should close their eyes before diving in!

I’m honestly astonished that we’ve not had an issue with how daft the pigs are and Tonks with her wonky mini eye that’s blind. Especially as she insists on sticking her head in the hay bag for at least 10 hours a day :))

Hope she recovers soon, my pigs love metacam too so I hope she enjoys the extra pampering! :))
 
OH thinks that’s exactly it: it’s not sharp so they don’t need to close their eyes! Silly pigs. She’s been being very good with the drops and hoovering up the metacam.
Vet has four herself and one was in the other week for the same thing. Said I’d done pretty well going 3 1/2 years with no eye injuries, making up for it now!
 
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