So the question that you might be asking yourself is do I actually need to purchase a guinea pig hay feeder. Well in my opinion you don’t have to get one, but there is no harm in having this item. It might keep hay fresher for longer but you will need more than one to supply all the piggies to prevent squabbling. If it’s something you want to do it is worthwhile just having a small pile of hay on the floor as it will make a good combination with the feeders. I mean some hay is likely to come out when they are pulling at it anyway.

I personally prefer to scatter the hay in piles on the floor, this way they can burrow through more and I know it is definitely going to last them for a certain period of time. Also, people say feeders prevent the hay from being contaminated but if you think about it guinea pigs take vitamin c pellets from their bottoms with their mouths, you would have thought that this is not hygienic. But the immune system is adapted to cope with that sort of thing. As I say some guinea pigs will love pulling the hay out from a feeder, others might not bother as much. It does keep it tidier but I tried placing hay into a specially made container once in the hutch and it didn’t work. I would say feeders take too much space up in a hutch but work better in a playpen/c&c cage as they are just one whole space without walls in between.

Don’t get me wrong I am not knocking feeders as plenty of people like using them in their particular habitat set-ups. There are many various designed options that are currently in the marketplace and can be made from wood, plastic, metal and fleece and have hooks so they can hang up on a wall or have bases to stand up. Make sure the one that you decide to purchase is something that the guinea pigs are not going to hurt themselves on, like sharp corners as they stretch up for the hay or get trapped in small spaces. There are feeders that can move about on wheels like the haypigs brand produce which is quite cool.

Conclusion

To sum up they might be or not be for you and your situation. The benefits to them are they mostly contain the hay to one area and a tray can be placed underneath to catch it coming out as well as having some in anyway. May well keep it quite fresh as it will stop poops and wees from going onto it. But remember some are not safe where your pets could get stuck or poke itself. I don’t like the idea of them scrambling close together to get some strands out, so just put the hay on the floor as well. Usually they are quite cheap to buy and some of them are made at a high quality. You can purchase some good ones on Etsy which are made with care in mind. They can be found on quite a lot of sites on the internet as you will see when researching them.

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