Pet Habitat South Africa

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04 Aug 2023

Why Is Timothy Hay Important For Health Of Rabbits And Guinea Pigs?

Posted By : Guest

A scientific study on rabbits, conducted by The University of Edinburgh in 2013 has shown that feeding muesli or any dry food mixtures, with or without hay, is linked to abnormalities that can lead to painful dental and digestive problems that require expensive veterinary treatment.

The excuse by some pet owners to explain why they still feeding muesli type food is that the research does not apply to guinea pigs and chinchillas because the research was conducted on rabbits. Rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas may have different vitamin and mineral requirements for their daily maintenance, but they all have the same, unique dental physiology and digestive system due to an evolutionary adaptation to a plant-rich diet.

One of the main reasons we feed hay is because it is high in fiber and low in fats and proteins. This is critical due to their unique digestive systems. The research revealed the importance of fibre in their diet. The more concentrated foods you feed your guinea pig, rabbit or chinchilla, the less hay they consume and their water intake reduces, thus beginning a process of slowing down their gut motility.

Eragrostis (also known as teff) are perhaps one of the more widely used hay in South Africa. The major disadvantage of this hay is that the nutritional value can range from good to extremely poor quality. The quality will ultimately depend upon stage of growth when cut, fertilization, and environmental factors. Teff is a soft kind of hay, whilst imported timothy hay is a long fibre hay with a dry, course, fibrous texture.

Why You Must Feed Hay?

In the wild these small animals will eat grass, weeds, shrubs, bark from trees, vegetation that is quite fibrous and dry, not lush and juicy. Inside each tiny cell of these plants are even smaller, abrasive particles called phytoliths (plant stones). As they graze, they grind and break apart the plant cells, releasing the phytoliths, and exposing their teeth to the abrasive particles, This chewing action wears down their teeth much the same way as sandpaper.

The biggest mistake many pet owners do is feed concentrated dry food mixtures (muesli) that is labeled “complete” or “balanced.” From a nutritional standpoint, this is excellent, but from physiological standpoint, concentrated foods are not enough, because they do not contain enough phytoliths to properly wear down your pet’s teeth.

You can place wooden chew toys in their cage, but it will only help with front teeth, and not the back molars. Your pet’s teeth will continue to grow, just as they were designed to do, regardless of diet. Without hay in the diet, there is nothing to wear the teeth down, leading to dental disease that can impact their overall health and well-being.

Rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas and degus require a large amount of fibre in their diet to maintain normal:

gut function
dental wear
fermentation in the caecum.

Fibre comes mainly from plant cell walls. And plant cell walls containing lignin, cellulose and phytoliths which are important for salivation and dental health. Rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas and degus need both digestible and indigestible fibre in their diet, together we call this ‘beneficial fibre’.

Timothy hay provides all this fibre for your little furry friends. Digestible fibre is derived from a young, growing plant cell with primary cell walls that contains fermentable or digestible fibre. This fibre supports caecal fermentation and gives your pets the essential nutrients that they need.

Indigestible fibre is derived from older plants with secondary cell walls, which consist mainly of cellulose and lignin. This keeps their digestive system moving effectively.

Timothy hay has therefore the right combination of both types of fibre which is perfect for guinea pigs, rabbits and chinchillas and is also highly palatable. This means your small furry will probably consume less timothy hay to get ideal maintenance, whilst you may have to feed a lot more of local hays to get the same maintenance.

The Importance of Digestibility Factor Of Hay

The reason why timothy hay is so popular is because it has a high digestibility factor. Let's say for the sake of comparison, that you are feeding your rabbit, chinchilla or guinea pig a portion of a 2nd cutting hay that was cut when the plant was relatively immature, the nutrition and digestibility are high, and the cellulose content is low.

Your rabbit, chinchilla or guinea pig would be able to digest more of the nutrients out of this hay and would achieve maintenance or weight gain depending upon the size of the servings and amount of exercise he is able to do in his environment.

If this same field of hay had been allowed to grow for another week, for example, the indigestible portion of the plant would have increased, making the hay less nutritious and less palatable, and the amount of digestible energy that your fibrevore is able to extract from that hay is decreased. It would now become necessary to feed a larger size portion of this more mature hay to achieve the same maintenance levels for your pet.

This digestibility factor is the determining factor as to how much "good" your rabbit, chinchilla or guinea pig will get out of a particular type of hay. You can feed a large volume of hay that is low on the digestibility scale and keep the rabbit, chinchilla or guinea pig at his ideal body weight, but if feeding a highly digestible hay (high in nutrients) one would obviously need to feed a smaller amount to maintain the rabbit, chinchilla or guinea pig at his ideal body weight.

Within the confines of each cutting (1st, 2nd, 3rd) it is possible to have varying percentages of "digestibility" depending upon the stage of maturity of the plant at the time of harvesting.

A Few More Reasons Why Timothy Hay Is Great

Timothy hay has very little dust which makes it great for any of your furry pets who have respiratory problems. It’s also good if any of your family members suffer from asthma. It can be tidier too when you’re cleaning out your pet's cage. Dust from hay really can get everywhere if you’re not careful!

My Pets Won’t eat Hay, Can I Give Them Something Else?

All rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas need to eat hay, but they can be fussy, so you just need to find the one that they like and make sure they’re not filling up on other dry foods. A common problem with all our pets is that they love to eat and nibble on things, and will always choose tastier things than hay given the chance.

Make sure rabbits and guinea pigs have access to grass as this is also good for them and acts in a similar way to hay. If they don’t currently eat grass, wean them onto it slowly to avoid upset stomachs. Don’t feed them grass from lawnmowers as the way it’s chopped causes it to ferment, which is bad for their tummies, and only feed grass that hasn’t been treated with pesticides or near traffic fumes. Cutting down on pellets and dry food will encourage them to snack on hay. Try feeding pellets for breakfast and just provide hay throughout the day.

Warning: Slowly reduce the amount of regular dry food you give them if they not used to eating hay. If you suddenly take away their main food source, it could be dangerous.

What To Look For In A Good Quality Hay

Once you’ve seen top quality timothy grass hay you’ll never mistake it for a poor quality one. However, the challenge for many pet owners is to find good quality hay in the first place, as much of what is sold at pet stores can be very much sub-standard. But undoubtedly the one thing that will tell you the difference between a sub-standard hay and a top quality one, is the way your furry pet eats it!

Once you’ve seen how voraciously a guinea pig, rabbit or chinchilla munches into a pile of the best timothy hay, you’ll never want to feed him anything other than this. Not only does he enjoy it, but you’ll see a huge difference in the amount of wastage – because they won’t leave any of it!

And this is possibly one of the most important aspects of buying good quality timothy hay; because the last thing any of us want is to waste money on what we purchase. So even if the initial cost of buying a top quality hay might be expensive , in the long run you actually save money because what you have to throw away is minimal. Not to mention the satisfaction you get from providing your pet with the very best nutrition possible.

What Is The Best Imported Timothy Hay In South Africa?

Bunny Nature Pure Timothy Hay

This delicious timothy hay imported from Germany is tasty and healthy hay for your rabbit, guinea pig, chinchilla or rodent. The hay, made from the German timothy grass, is packed completely by hand.

The hay contains a low calcium content, which can have a positive effect on animals with bladder problems. In addition, it has a high content of crude fibre and is good for digestion. Because of a long chewing time, the hay stimulates the natural wear of the teeth.

In principle, the hay can be given indefinitely, but as a guideline you can stick to: rabbits about two handfuls of hay a day, guinea pigs one handful, degus and chinchillas about half a handful a day.

Newhay Pure Timothy Hay

Produced The Newhay Way™,this premium timothy hay is highly palatable, nutritionally robust, quality assured feeding hay that small animals find delicious. Baled within 48 hours of cutting to maintain the nutrition nature intended, and processed to reduce harmful dust and bacteria to ensure premium quality in every bite.

All Newhay timothy hay is produced on prime land on their farm in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Dedicated to delivering quality through every stage of the process Newhay use the purest certified seed and every strand is grown, prepared, packed and dispatched from Newhay farm, giving you peace of mind that every nibble will be as wholesome as the last.

Newhay wins awards for highest nutritional content and is thus considered a Superfood for rabbits and guinea pigs which explains why it is used exclusively to feed racehorses in UK.

Bunny Nature Hay from Nature Conservation Meadows

It is the most original and natural hay you can imagine. Of course this hay comes from nature conservation areas in Germany: untreated with fertilizers or pesticides, they are the home to a diversity of plants and herbs that no ordinary meadow can reach.

But even nature-protected meadows have to be mown (at a late cutting time), as this is the only way to maintain the diversity of plants, making them attractive for animals. This is all part of the Bunny Nature sustainability cycle.

The nature-protected meadows is mowed so that the animals can continue to find valuable food and, in doing so, we gain hay with a unique quality, composition and structure.

unique plants and variety of herbs
finest flower and herb parts
varied taste
from untreated meadows
gently dried in warm air - Co2 neutral
long, crsip stems

Chipsi Sunshine Timothy Hay

This timothy hay from Germany is a valuable plant food made from the finest meadow-rich grass with a high biodiversity. Due to the particularly strong stalk structure, the necessary tooth abrasion is promoted in rodents and small animals.

The high-quality supplementary feed with a high raw fiber content not only tastes delicious, but supports digestion and metabolism with valuable fiber. The high fibre content and the balanced calcium-phosphorous ratio ensure that bones and teeth of small animals remain healthy and strong. Chipsi Sunshine timothy hay has the following benefits:

Promotes the necessary dental abrasion due to particularly strong stalk structure
High-quality supplementary feed for rodents and small animals
High crude fibre and nutrient content
Supports with valuable fiber digestion and metabolism
High fibre content promotes optimum nutritional balance
Prevents excessive tooth growth and promotes digestion
Also suitable for sensitive animals and animals suffering from allergies
More affordable than Newhay and Bunny Nature hay