What is the best hay holder?

Essentia said:

I use fleece hay bags from threewingedfury. They are amazing. The fleece holds on to the hay so when they pull out a few pieces the rest doesn't automatically follow.

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^^^ I second the fleece bags. They're affordable too! My chins still make a mess with them, but not nearly as bad as before. I think they pull them out and drop them, that's how the hay gets on the floor. You know chinchillas, messy is their middle name

Twilight with her hay bag:

I use a cardboard oatmeal container. I just lay it flat and put some hay in it. They walk in, find a piece of hay they like, then back up to get out. The only time they made a mess was when I was using timothy hay - they refused to eat any stems or crunchy pieces and would only eat the soft grass, leaving probably 90% of the hay to be thrown out. I bought orchard grass hay and now they eat everything and don't make much of a mess unless I try to mix in the remaining timothy hay.

Or I feed them hay by hand because I pick out all the "good" pieces. They seem to prefer this over having to pick through the hay. Such lazy princesses -_-

The chins stomach.

I use the big blue metal ball thing. It still doesn't keep anything in, most inside of the cage, but some outside.

Kula said:

I use a cardboard oatmeal container. I just lay it flat and put some hay in it. They walk in, find a piece of hay they like, then back up to get out. The only time they made a mess was when I was using timothy hay - they refused to eat any stems or crunchy pieces and would only eat the soft grass, leaving probably 90% of the hay to be thrown out. I bought orchard grass hay and now they eat everything and don't make much of a mess unless I try to mix in the remaining timothy hay.

Or I feed them hay by hand because I pick out all the "good" pieces. They seem to prefer this over having to pick through the hay. Such lazy princesses -_-

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Good idea :up:

Mine only eat Orchard Hay/Grass now, they did not care for any brand of Timothy.

I use toilet paper tubes or paper towel tubes cut in half....

I think I might try the orchard grass too. I have a full bag of Timonthy left but I want to see if Sedona likes the orchard grass too and maybe she will eat more of it instead of eating what she wants and leave the rest to be sucked up with the vaccum but she is not as messy as Phoenix. Lately Phoenix has been the neat and tidy one (what a goof-ball)

Mine is pretty much like the quality cage one, only Quebec version:

http://www.ranchcunicole.com/spip.php?article32

I just don't like the fact that it gets messy on the floor underneath.

I saw it somewhere on here --- Pet Supermarket sells these wooden hideys that are like a hollowed out wood log with a pitched roof on top, and an entry hole. Flipped upside down in the cage, the roof makes a great "floor" and the chins pull the hay out of the top or the door. It's the least messy thing I ever tried!

Is this what you're referring to?

That's where I saw it -- it's GREAT -- except mine actually has a square pitched roof that, when turned upside down for the hay use, makes a sturdy base. But I'm sure that one works just as well. I love them and they seem as safe as possible.

Be careful of those wire V-shaped metal hay hangers inside the cage. I was using them for my guinea pigs, figuring they couldn't jump up into them and catch a leg or anything, because they don't jump. One morning, I found one of my boys actually hung himself (as in dead) in the V. Evidently he stood up on his hind legs to get a morsel at the top, but when he backed down he caught his chin/jaw in the decreasing part of the V and couldn't figure out how to get himself loose. It broke my heart.

We use cardboard tubes sometimes and they can work as something stimulating. Favorite are the metal hay bins you can take out and wash and that can hang inside or outside the cage. The new ones have lids on them which I'm not as fond as they prefer to take "top shelf." Used to have huge wooden hay boxes but they would just pee in and on it haha.

Love the picture of the little log hay holder!

I also use outisde the cage hay racks. Mine are from Bass. I get a very small amount of shake on the floor and it is more from the cage design than the rack itself. As for the chins pulling it all out, only Pinball does it and I believe it is mostly due to her wire being 1" x 2" while everyone else has 1" x 1/2".

In IKEA they sell various cutlery holders that are very suitable hay racks! Our ladies have this one in their cage:


The bottom is almost solid so the hay won't fall out. )

I personally would not put a wire hay rack/holder inside of the cage. Too many stories of chins and other animals getting stuck and injured or even killed.

I love the way the QC hayrack keeps the cage and floor clean, but I find the wire is all too ready to spring off the sides of the cage. I'm going down to Home Depot today to pick up a better wire.

For those of you who use the wire hay balls, please be extra careful with them. I had one when I got my chin, Herby and thought it was great on keeping the mess down to a minimum. This was until the day I heard her making the most awful sound and walked into my room, to find her hanging from it. She had gotten her head stuck and was hanging from it, swinging and trying to get loose. I shudder to think what could have happened had I not been home and heard her crying and gotten her out.

I am not coming down on anyone who uses them, just telling my story is all. I now use one of those ceramic chinchilla dust houses and it works great on keeping down the mess on the outside and inside the cage as well. And I figure even if it didn't, a mess is a small price to pay to not see her hanging like that again.

I have a "Rollin' the Hay" holder made by Super Pet. You can use it as a stand up or hang it from the side of the cage. It seems to work really well, my little guy just pulls what he wants out of it. The only time it gets messy is when it starts getting low on hay. He's gotten to where he starts just pulling it out piece by piece when it starts getting low as if to say "Hey waitress, more hay over here!" I swear, he looks streight at me and starts a small avalanche on purpose.:laughitup:

I've tried a few different ones.
I've tried the wire hay racks and the hay gets pulled out out everything time.
Tucker has a wood box and it works great for him.
Tried hay balls but those got ignored or all hay removed.
The ones outside the cage, also made a mess in the floor and just got pulled out.
Right now everyone has hay bags but the hay seems to get pulled out of them and a mess made.

I'm thinking about trying the rolling hay ball thing that chinsmom said. Maybe try small wood boxes as well.

Essentia said:

Is this what you're referring to?

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Those are neat.