Hay cubes for Brody?...

[undergunfire]

Would it be okay to buy hay cubes in bulk from the feed store to feed to Brody? He would still be getting unlimited hay, 1/4 cup pellets daily, and 1 tbs of oats daily...but I thought the hay cubes would be fun as a "toy/treat", so it would give him something to eat around his cage (as it would move around on the coroplast when he took bites).

If so...do they come in bulk in a timothy hay variety, or are they always alfalfa?

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I am not sure if you can buy just timothy hay ones. I have seen timothy/alfalfa mixes. You could call some local feed stores are ask. I know there are timothy ones out there, but I am not sure if you can get them in bulk.
Hay cubes are fine as along as he is still getting loose hay (which he is). They don't have the long fibres and don't wear the back teeth as well as loose hay.

 

[Calift]

I've never seen straight timothy ones before...but I do think they would make a nice treat! My rabbit doesn't care for them much and since they aren't equivalent to real hay (unlike what the bag would like you to believe), its not a problem.

 

[JimD]

My buns get timothy hay cubes on a regular basis. They LOVE them!
I give them Kaytee brand, They come in one pound packs.
Oxbow also makes them and they are available in bulk.

 

[Amy27]

I am able to find the Timothy. I can find them at Petsmart. I usually buy them online just because it is cheaper and I can get more. When I bought them at Petsmart they would have 1-2 bags. I ordered my last batch from Value Pet Supplies. I remember there price per bag was more expensive then other places online but it was actually cheaper because of the shipping. But I can't remember what places I compared them to. I know where I am, Pet Supplies Plus doesn't carry the Timothy ones.

 

[undergunfire]

Thanks, guys! I think have seen Timothy ones at PetSmart...but they were kaytee and I refuse to buy Kaytee. I will check around and see where I can get Timothy ones.

If Timothy ones are too expensive due to ordering offline....would it really hurt if Brody got alfalfa hay cubes?

 

[Amy27]

The information I gave was for the Kaytee ones. I have only seen another brand at Pet People, I don't remember the brand. It wasn't a well known brand. But Pet People is only in OH and CA. They are a smaller store and sell like 10 rabbit products but one is Timothy cubes. May be there is a store near you that usually sells cat and dog products, but might carry a few rabbit products that would have it? I would have never thought to look at Pet People for timothy cubes but went there for cat products and saw them.

I don't know enough about alfalfa cubes to answer.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Unless he has issues with alfalfa, they should not be an issue. I would monitor him for signs that he is having an problem, but I doubt there will be a problem unless he already has one.

 

[undergunfire]

I'm going to call the feed store on Tuesday to see about hay cubes. I am sure I can get a massive 40lbs bag or something for real cheap. We have a couple pet stores around here...but they don't really carry anything good for rabbits.

I'm going to look around on some sites, now .


ETA: Checked the feed stores website and it says they have "Alfalfa Cubes" & "Alfalfa Oat Cubes". What is Alfalfa Oat cubes? lol.

 

[Hazel-Mom]

A mixture of Alfalfa hay and Oat hay.

 

[undergunfire]

Hazel-Mom wrote:

A mixture of Alfalfa hay and Oat hay.

Thank you ! Those don't sound too bad...maybe I will try them.

 

[slavetoabunny]

My buns love hay cubes. They are pretty messy though. I get straight timothy cubes from American Pet Diner. I order a 25 lb. box.

 

[ra7751]

While hay cubes may be more convenient, they are not a substitute for strand hay. Strand hay (or loose hay as it is also called) has several purposes. A "buffet" of different types and cuts of hay are best. By offering a variety, it encourages a natural type foraging behavior and that gives them a fun activity to do. Strand hay is the primary way to keep the teeth worn down. It's not how hard something is (and the little rock blocks sold at pet stores are useless) it's how chewy it is. If you look at your rabbit when he chews, it's not up and down....it's side to side. This allows for tooth to tooth contact which wears the teeth. This process does not crush the hay....it is folded into something that looks like an accordian (telling my age here). This makes the fiber content work even better to keep a ready gut. In a properly fed rabbit, you can see some of this folding in the undigested hay passed in fecal matter.

Randy

 

[undergunfire]

Thanks, Randy! I will be feeding loose unlimited hay, as well....Brody would throw a fit if I took that away, plus...I know better not to :biggrin2:.

I just wanted to see if hay cubes were okay for him to snack on/play with...just to change things up a bit. I always run out of toy ideas because we've probably done them all...so I thought hay cubes might be fun.



Patti...thanks! I'll look on APD right now.

 

[Evey]

Like Patti, I buy timothy cubes in bulk from APD just for my bunnies to play with. I've found that because of the cubes, they actually all eat a lot more of the loose hay, which is wonderful.

However, the only thing I hate about them is that the buns can certainly make huge messes with them! If you are a neat freak like me, this will drive you crazy!! I honestly only give them a cube or two a week because of this

Kathy

 

[undergunfire]

Kathy....there is no keeping Brody's cage neat, regardless of messy toys or not. He never eats his cecal poops, hay is everywhere, hair is everywhere, litter is scattered out of his litter box, etc. He's just messy!!

 

[TinysMom]

I picked up some alfalfa hay cubes today after reading this thread...normally they get coastal hay so this won't be changing much of that.

They loved it - Aggie was even playing in her cage and Robin was commenting on how she hadn't seen Aggie happy and playful in a LONG time....

Harriet though had different ideas on what to do with his hay cube - he immediately started humping it...

 

[undergunfire]

Peg! That is so great...I am glad the buns really liked the hay cubes. Did you buy them in bulk from TSC or something?

LOL...Harriet is a funny guy!!

 

[tonyshuman]

Hay cubes are a great treat because they're so healthy and bunnies really like them. A bit of alfalfa occasionally is fine for bunnies that are otherwise healthy. I put a pinch in my guys' rack occasionally and they go nuts for it!

 

[TinysMom]

I bought a 50 pound bag of them - there are alfalfa crumbs along with the cubes (which are in different sizes depending upon how the broke up).

Everyone got a cube and it barely touched the bag....I'm thinking that with my crew I'll probably give them 2 per week in addition to their hay (especially since it is alfalfa) and it will probably last me more than a month - well - depending upon if the flemmies (aka Nyx in particular) find their way into the bag/bucket I'm setting up.

Manna Pro is the company that produced these. There were no timothy hay ones there - but as I said - my guys are getting coastal hay - so this is really a treat and its so small...and not all of them want it.

I realized a while back after using my feed scoop to measure - I was feeding them 3-4 times the recommended amount for their weights. I've been cutting back and now use a much smaller scoop for their food and I'm switching them to a diet of more hay - it makes a horrible mess - but they do seem happier and hopefully healthier for it too.

I also try to do "a carrot in every food bowl" with baby carrots once a week - maybe twice a week - and I used to do "Crunchies in every food bowl" once a week (fruit loops) - but once my bag is gone - that's it. No more fruit loops.

WIth my guys/gals I'll probably use 3 bales of coastal hay and then alternate it (or mix it) with one bale of alfalfa - just for some variety....

And I'm rambling far too much.

Mercury was playing on the floor when we were handing out hay - he chinned his - and then sorta pushed it towards the dogs and took off binkying.