A well-balanced food plan is the muse of a wholesome, blissful life for small animals like rabbits and guinea pigs. Whereas feed pellets can present important vitamins, hay ought to make up the roughly 85 per cent of your small animal’s day by day consumption. Not solely does hay promote correct digestion, but it surely additionally helps dental well being and encourages pure foraging behaviour.
Hay… it issues
Hay is excessive in fiber, which helps preserve your bunny or guinea pig’s digestive system transferring easily. It additionally wears down their ever-growing enamel, stopping painful dental points. With out sufficient hay, small animals can endure from digestive upset or tooth overgrowth – two frequent however preventable issues.
Choosing the proper hay
Not all hay is created equal! For grownup rabbits and guinea pigs, Timothy hay is the gold normal. It’s excessive in fiber, low in calcium and energy, and preferrred for day by day feeding. Different choices like orchard grass or meadow hay can add selection, whereas alfalfa hay (richer in calcium, protein and better in energy) is greatest suited to younger, rising animals or nursing moms. Converse to your veterinarian for his or her advice.
When choosing hay, search for recent, inexperienced, and aromatic varieties with out indicators of mildew or mud. Retailer hay in a cool, dry place to maintain it recent.
How you can introduce hay
In case your pet is new to hay or has been extra targeted on pellets, don’t fear – it’s by no means too late to start out! Start by providing small handfuls of hay alongside their common pellets and veggies. You may tuck it into toys, disguise small treats inside, or place it in a hay feeder to encourage curiosity.
It’d take some animals time to regulate. Regularly enhance the quantity of hay you provide till it turns into the first a part of their food plan. The purpose is to your small animal to all the time have entry to recent hay.
Hay isn’t simply meals, it’s enrichment! By incorporating high-quality hay into your pet’s day by day routine, you’re serving to them keep wholesome, energetic, and glad. Searching for extra ideas? Try our weblog for maintaining your small animal blissful and wholesome.
If this data was useful, please assist us proceed to teach about pet well being and well-being by making a donation. As a registered charity that doesn’t obtain annual authorities funding, the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society depends upon the generosity of donors to alter the lives of animals in want.
