Straw as bedding

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lizzie_71

lizzie_71

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I used to use hay as bedding for my guinea pigs, but they just sit there and eat it until it's all gone ::) they're so greedy! Then I tried shredded paper (I work from home and get through a fair amount of shredding in my 'office) but they ate that too. I was pretty sure that couldn't be healthy for them, so now I've switched to straw.

They still nibble at it but don't eat significant amounts. I think they are happy enough with it, but it's not very soft and cuddly. Do you think it's OK for them?
 
Well if your going to use straw i'd use the russell rabbit kind. It's nice and soft and cheap!
Don't use any other straw because it can hurt piggies eyes! And sometimes theres lots of sharp bits in it!
Search 'straw' on this forum, I'm sure theres a couple of posts about this
 
i would stick to hay they need hay as part of their diet and you can always top them up i do mine every day, not keen on straw as can be sharp, and shredded paper is no good if they eat it, I'm sure someone will give you a better explanation but if i were you id go back to hay ;)
 
The fact that your piggies eat all the hay is good.,it is absolutely essential for the piggy digestion and it helps to keep the teeth from overgrowing.Use hay for bedding as it is softer and more absorbent than straw,also less likely to cause eye damage.Provide hay to eat in a hayrack.,that will provide clean hay and will stop them eating so much of the bedding hay which will be soiled.

My pigs have newspaper with hay on top in their beds,but every pen has at least one hayrack.
 
They need hay to eat as well. If you use straw then use the barley straw as its nice and soft DFust Free Hay do some and their hay is wonderful, I smelt it and was smitten at the London show. I think straw is warmer than hay and always find it more absorbent (I get it in with rescues sometimes), but I guess being a natural product it varies ::)
 
You could use straw in the bedroom area and put the hay in a hay rack for them as hay counts for 80% of their daily diet ;)
 
my piggies have a cat bed for their bed, one of the little basket types with a fleece inside, and their hay stays in a huge manager..... ive found it much better and noticed that the pigs eat more of the hay instead of poopsying on it... and they all snuggle together in bed now...
 
I use russel rabbit straw it's nice and soft and they like it but i started chucking down large piles of supreme meadow hay in 1/4 of there hutch which the lie on and eat i just top it up every day. The better type hay goes in a rack so they can't poop on it. :)
 
Mine ignore any hay in a rack! they'll use the hay ball but not a rack, especially when they were living on it they didnt touch the good hay just ate the cheap stuff, mine live on megazorb now and they have a hay corner of timothy hay so they can sit on it/ eat it or do whatever they want with it lol but they still dont care much for the hay rack! i just top the corner and the ball up everyday x
 
mine LOVE hay and eat loads, but i still use it as it is an essential part of their diet. straw can be uncomfortable, can damage eyes, and i don't think it has as high nutritional content. i would stick to hay, personally :)
 
I do give them hay in a hay rack, they always demolish it all in no time. But if I give them hay bedding they will eat that as well and they are already very fat piggies.

I think some sort of fleecy bed might be good in their outdoor hutch, might look into that :)
 
They can't overdo the hay Lizzie, in fact it will keep them/get them slim/fit.

Straw is higher in fibre than hay and the Russel straw is lovely, just like Medibed. Hay is still a must have though :)
 
I use russell rabbit straw its soft and absorbant and comes finely chopped so won't stick in their eyes. On top I use hay and shredded paper if its really cold. Cleaning out is really easy then as everything goes straight into the compost bin guinea snd bunny poo makes great compost
 
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