Rayen
Well-Known Member
So I have a system of where to put their hay that seems to work out fairly well, for about a day. I made a hay rack out of a few spare NIC cubes by their litter box and have one that hangs outside the cage up on their second level. They eat out of both of them, but they will dig and rip out all of what they prefer to eat.
So for a day or two everything is fine, the hay racks will empty, I'll fill them back up. But eventually, the pile that they don't want becomes a bit noticeable at the bottom and even if I put fresh hay on top of the stuff they don't want, they won't eat it. I can leave it there for days and they won't eat it. So I empty them out again, and they go back to eating their weight in hay again.
It just seems weird to me. Is there any particular reason they won't eat hay, even if it's fresh, if there's a bit of older hay beneath it? There are days I'm throwing away tons of perfectly good hay because it's 'old'. Is there anyway I can maybe trick them and make a baggy of hay they've discarded and add it to the cage later for them to eat, or will it still be 'old'? It isn't resting on the ground, they're not stepping or peeing/pooing in it. It's just touched the hay that was there, sometimes the hay that's been there only for a few hours. They will rush to a hay rack I freshly clean out and eat from it like they're starving, the 'new' hay isn't really any fresher. It was in an open bag I keep in a storage bin. It wasn't sealed, it got just as much air exposure, it's usually always the same mixture of hay I always give them so it's not a new kind either.
So picky!
So for a day or two everything is fine, the hay racks will empty, I'll fill them back up. But eventually, the pile that they don't want becomes a bit noticeable at the bottom and even if I put fresh hay on top of the stuff they don't want, they won't eat it. I can leave it there for days and they won't eat it. So I empty them out again, and they go back to eating their weight in hay again.
It just seems weird to me. Is there any particular reason they won't eat hay, even if it's fresh, if there's a bit of older hay beneath it? There are days I'm throwing away tons of perfectly good hay because it's 'old'. Is there anyway I can maybe trick them and make a baggy of hay they've discarded and add it to the cage later for them to eat, or will it still be 'old'? It isn't resting on the ground, they're not stepping or peeing/pooing in it. It's just touched the hay that was there, sometimes the hay that's been there only for a few hours. They will rush to a hay rack I freshly clean out and eat from it like they're starving, the 'new' hay isn't really any fresher. It was in an open bag I keep in a storage bin. It wasn't sealed, it got just as much air exposure, it's usually always the same mixture of hay I always give them so it's not a new kind either.
So picky!