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Safe chew toy Advice

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Kbyrne

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Hi all,

I want to get the safest, natural chew toys for our guinea pigs who are less than a month old. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!
 
Hay, willow balls, and more hay.
Some of mine nibble on their wooden houses, but overall they don't need chew toys as such - just lots of hay.
 
I don't really buy toys for my piggies anymore because anytime I did in the past, they didn't seem to care for them. One of my piggies likes hay stuffed into a paper bag. Twist the bag shut and then she'll tear at it to get the hay out. (I always have hay in their hayracks too). They have pigloos, fleece hidies, and tunnels, and sometimes a piggy safe cardboard box, but that's about it. They don't seem to need much to chew on - just their hay. (They also get pellets and veg, but hay they have unlimited access to). I stay away from ball toys because (depending on the design) I'm worried they will get their head stuck in them.
 
Have a read of the guide below on enrichment. Mine have never had toys and been absolutely fine. The most they’ve gotten is a paper bag (handles cut off) stuffed with hay. They have also had cardboard boxes for hides. They were thrown out once they’d been redecorated to within an inch of their life! I don’t think guinea pigs need ‘toys’ - that’s not the type of animal they are, if that makes sense.
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
 
Kbyrne said:
Hi all,

I want to get the safest, natural chew toys for our guinea pigs who are less than a month old. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome

Please be aware that the crucial chewing molars and premolars at the back of the mouth are constantly ground down by the silica in hay and fresh grass. Both the growth rate of their back teeth and digestive system (which is laid out to break down the nutritious but tough grass/hay fibre in two runs through thr gut) have developed on a mainly hay/fresh grass diet, which should make about 80% of the daily food intake.
The visible front teeth are self-sharpening in a balanced dental system; they are there to pick up and cut the food. They do need no extra grinding or cutting down (the latter of which can actually imbalance the dental system).

Chew toys are enrichment but they are NOT needed to keep the teeth ground down - that happens by eating unlimited hay and only a small but balanced selection of preferably green and leafy veg and fresh herbs, which replaces the wild forage with which guinea pigs will supplement their diet for minerals, vitamins and trace elements that are not present in large quantities in fresh grass or hay. What many people don't know is that fresh growing grass is actually high in vitamin C and is the reason why guinea pigs never had the need to make their own in the first place. 1/8 cup = 1 tablespoon of pellets is there to round out the diet but pellets are too soft and low in fibre to contribute to griding down teeth (they soften as soon as they are in contact with saliva), the same as a diet too high in veg. They are an additional source of vitamin C in a hay based diet.

The best chewing material and enrichment are hay and fresh growing (but dog pee free!) grass - you can offer different varieties as a special occasional treat and make them work for it. Willow, apple and pear wood is safe for guinea pigs and will satisfy their nibbling and gnawing instinct.
Please be aware that most pet shop toys are for their owners but of no interest to piggies. They love getting their food served imaginatively and having to work for it, from unwrapping to sprinkling. Beware of potential hidden wires in some natural pet shop products.
I find a log tunnel or a wooden hut a good object for chewing as well as sleeping/hiding.

You may find the information, ideas, tips and warnings in these links here very helpful, eye opening and certainly interesting:
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
Potentially Dangerous Cage Accessories And Toys

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

Please be aware that the crucial chewing molars and premolars at the back of the mouth are constantly ground down by the silica in hay and fresh grass. Both the growth rate of their back teeth and digestive system (which is laid out to break down the nutritious but tough grass/hay fibre in two runs through thr gut) have developed on a mainly hay/fresh grass, which should make about 80% of the daily food intake.
The visible front teeth are self-sharpening in a balanced dental system; they are there to pick up and cut the food.

Chew toys are enrichment but they are NOT needed to keep the teeth ground down - that happens by eating unlimited hay and only a small but balanced selection of preferably green and leafy veg and fresh herbs, which replaces the wild forage with which guinea pigs will supplement their diet for minerals, vitamins and trace elements that are not present in large quantities in fresh grass or hay. What many people don't know is that fresh growing grass is actually high in vitamin C and is the reason why guinea pigs never had the need to make their own in the first place. 1/8 cup = 1 tablespoon of pellets is there to round out the diet but pellets are too soft and low in fibre to contribute to griding down teeth (they soften as soon as they are in contact with saliva), the same as a diet too high in veg.

The best chewing material and enrichment is hay and fresh growing (but dog pee free!) grass - you can offer different varieties as a special occasional treat and make them work for it. Willow, apple and pear wood is safe for guinea pigs.
Please be aware that most pet shop toys are for their owners but of no interest to piggies. They love getting their food served imaginatively and having to work for it, from unwrapping to sprinkling.

You may find the information, ideas, tips and warnings in these links here very helpful, eye opening and certainly interesting:
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
Potentially Dangerous Cage Accessories And Toys

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)
Click to expand...

Thank you all!
 
Kbyrne said:
Thank you all!
Click to expand...

The guides mentioned above are all part of our pretty comprehensive New Owner's helpful and practical guide collection. It is one of the most comprehensive information resources around into which our long term experiences on this forum have gone. You may want to bookmark it, browse, read and re-read at need. We specifically address all the areas that we get the most questions and concerns about, helping you to settle your piggies in, understand their prey animal instincts and pretty complex social interactive behaviour and make friends with them in their own language; plenty of practical care, diet and housing advice, learning more about guinea pigs as a species, how to avoid/deal with the most common pitfalls that await the unwary buyers of guinea pigs; learning what is normal and what not and how to spot illness plus what to do in an emergency etc... With tens of thousands of piggies having passed through this forum since its inception, we have had time to find out what really works and what not. The guide format allows us to update and extend our information as needed.
Here is the link: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
 
I recommend apple tree wood chew toys and willow chew balls. Don't buy anything that is not the natural color of the material because these dyes are not suitable for guinea pigs.
 
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