It’s well known that cavies need plenty of timothy hay (or other varieties) for proper gut function, tooth maintenance, and overall internal physical health. What piggy owners don’t always realize is that hay is also important for social functioning and psychological well-being.
Veterinary science is a fascinating field, but most cavy owners just want to know what to do to make their babies gleeful critters. We can’t all be in the lab studying the psychology of our favorite animals, but we can make sure that they lead happy, healthy lives. Two ways to chase away the piggy doldrums are:
1) hay and
2) friends
If you read our article on how much timothy hay to put out for guinea pigs, you might have noticed that our data showed that the more guinea pigs you have, the lower the amount of hay per cavy you need. Of course the overall amount will increase, but not as fast as simply multiplying the number of guinea pigs by 2-3 ounces. This is because, no matter how much they ingest or what you do to prevent hay play, guinea pigs get pleasure from trouncing on, rolling around in, and pooping and peeing on a certain amount of hay. Hay play is good for their mental health. That trouncy, roly, poly timothy hay is shared among the buddies in your cage, and performs double duty for each extra cavy you have.
But all cagemates don’t share and share alike.
Sometimes you have sharers: Cavies that are happy and content to munch together on a giant pile of timothy hay without a nip or a mount.
And sometimes you have hoggers: Piggies that are determined to hog each and every pile or straw of timothy hay you put down in the cage.
For sharers adding timothy hay time to friendship makes it all more magical. For hoggers, every one gets stressed, and sometimes you risk a trip to the vet when someone bites too hard.
Sharers
Be glad if you have sharers. We all know that having cage buddies is required for a psychologically sound guinea pig. But we also know that friends in the cage can turn to hair-raising, fur-flying, anxiety ridden, biting enemies with the wrong cues. Sharers not only keep the stress off of each other, as they gather around the timothy hay, they can contribute to or amplify a pop-corning, chirp-filled, “water-cooler” party. That’s way better than stressed piggies.
If you remember that I’m a not-so-cheery version of Snow White and the Seven Guinea Pigs, I have my own set of sharers. Three of my cavies – Jody, Butch, and Zil – live together in one 7 foot by 2.5 foot cage. They are tremendous sharers when it comes to timothy hay (veggies are a different story!) In such a large cage, it’s always good to put down more than one pile, or have more than one hay rack. For our sharers, if we put down a pile for each, they really enjoy it if those piles close to each other. Or, we will put down two slightly larger piles about 10 minutes apart. It’s fun to watch all three run to the timothy hay with joy, munches, buzzes, purrs and chirps as they root through the hay and talk to each other – and then watch them do it stampeding glee all over again. New hay is always the better hay to a guinea pig! Often though, we will put down their portions for that meal in one big pile (varying locations every few days) and watch them root and munch happily together. Butch, Jody and Zil really are the best of sharers.
Hoggers
The challenge comes with hoggers. Hoggers especially make things difficult if yours isn’t the rare guinea pig who truly is solitary. This is because those piggies really should be in the same cage together, if you can swing it safely. Our second trio of cavies – Greasy, Quilt, and Table – are all boars. To boot, they are rescue boars who were kept in less than ideal conditions, at times in tiny cages, isolated from other piggies. It took a while to get the trio used to each other, but it’s clear they are happier cavies in having companions. The problem is that Greasy and Quilt are super dominant boars. They always want to be in charge of everything, and will battle to scars, blood, and exhaustion if the others won’t give way. Timothy hay time is no exception. A classic method of preventing tussles is to put the piles down at the same time, as far apart as possible. This makes it hard for any particular guinea pig to guard the pile from other cavy mouths.
Unfortunately, we have serious hoggers! Greasy has rather sharp teeth and is quick to slice a piggy that tries to block him from his timothy hay nirvana. Quilt goes into over drive and runs from pile to pile trying to prevent Table or Greasy from getting even a bite. He blocks with his body, mounts head first, and makes aggressive lunges. Sometimes the biggest problem is that he burns more calories than he can take in when he runs from pile to pile, and loses weight dangerously. Table is the only beta male, and gets along by simply quietly sitting and taking whatever non-skin breaking displays of dominance the other two get up to. Ironically, they don’t have a problem sharing their veggies!
We have to get creative with such naughty hogs. Now, if you have the time, you may be tempted to sit down and feed each one individually. This may work if they don’t fight over leftover hay after the first thrilling dole of new portions. It won’t work if they are determined to own the hay pile. Of course, there’s not always the time in the day to do intensive feeding. Plus, cavies need access to hay at all times, not just when you first give them a pile.
To prevent injuries, we will put a smaller feeding cage in the big cage. One of the dominant boars goes into that cage and gets to rule his hay pile all by himself. We alternate Greasy and Quilt so that it is fair to both boars. The other boar then only has to defend his pile from laid back Table, which means no fights, no blood, and no expensive trips to the vet for stitches. However, it can still mean that poor Table may not be able to get at the hay pile.
This is where we apply other tricks. Sometimes we put the hay piles under their huts. This allows Table to block Quilt from trying to come in and sit on his pile. Though Quilt tries hard, Greasy would rather be in his hut than trying to enter a well-defended igloo. If it’s just Greasy and Table, simply putting smaller bunches in different spots is enough to keep the hogging from getting out of control. With Quilt, the super-hogger, a different trick can be used. We plunk the pile right between the two, so it’s high enough to block Quilt’s vision. He sees Greasy eating in his cage, unable to get to his treasure. Since he can’t see Table, chomping away on the other side, he acts like he’s the only one chowing down on that delicious pile of timothy hay. Once they have their first roly-poly-munch-a-bunch and let everyone know whose hay is what, they calm down and don’t fight over the tromped on, save for later, play hay.
Do you have hoggers or sharers? What techniques do you use to makes sure timothy hay time is harmonious? We’d love to hear your experiences in the comments.
The post Sharers and Hoggers: Apportioning the Timothy Hay appeared first on Small Pet Select.