DIY Guinea Pig Toy: Box of Hay

If you're anything like me, you have several cardboard boxes at any given time lying around the house, thanks to your latest Amazon or other online purchase. (Blame Black Friday.)

Why keep them instead of tossing them in the recycling bin right away? For guinea pig entertainment purposes, of course! A box, sheets of newspaper, and fresh hay are all it takes to turn those empties into an easy, inexpensive source of piggy fun.

Guinea Pig Hay Storage

Chances are that as a guinea pig owner, you are undoubtedly familiar with the sight of hay being scattered all over the place. (Unlikely locations I have discovered hay: my handbag, the shower, the vegetable drawer of the fridge, an airplane seat, and between the pages of a book.) This holds true especially if you buy hay in large quantities such as flakes or bales, as people with several cavies are likely to do.

DIY guinea pig toy: Paper bag of hay

Have any spare paper bags lying around? For quick piggy entertainment fold the edges back, stuff with a handful or two of hay and lay them sideways in your cavy's cage.

Vertical hay rack in action

Here's a clip showing the piggies vertical hay rack setup. Poof and Truffle can be seen yanking out strands of hay from the ground level while Belka climbs to reach choice strands higher up. After investigating the camera, Peaches joins in on the munching.

Timothy hay comparison

After the piggies finished their sample of Small Pet Select's 2nd cut timothy hay (read the review here), we were curious to see how KMS Hayloft's 2nd cut timothy hay would compare. We placed a small order for everyone to try out. For a visual comparison, click to enlarge the image above or magnify it here.

Small Pet Select timothy hay product review

Responsible guinea pig owners know that quality grass hay is essential for a cavy's dental and digestive health. Although quality hay is available from multiple sources, you may find that not all guinea pigs favor the same hay. This can vary across brands, types, cuts, or even individual bales.

When Small Pet Select offered us the opportunity to sample their 2nd cut timothy hay we were interested in seeing how our pigs would react.

Bluegrass hay is back

Poof sitting on 45 lbs of hay

It's the moment everybody has been waiting for... bluegrass hay is back!

Multi flavored hay rack

Since we are spoiled little guinea pigs, we get three different types of hay in our vertical hay rack: timothy, meadow and orchard grass.

This picture illustrates how the flavors are stacked at different levels, similar to a multi layered cake. We can reach different types by climbing up and down the sides of the rack.

Wooden hay wagon for guinea pigs

"Umm, is something missing here?"

Whee guinea pigs have been thoroughly enjoying our new toys. First up is this sturdy wooden wagon made for holding hay.

Hay Solutions: On the cage floor

Hay is an essential staple of every guinea pig's diet, and should be available for your piggy to munch on freely at all times. One of the things an owner has to decide is how to give hay to their guinea pig. Whee here at the Cali Cavy Collective have experimented with many different methods of hay dispensing and would like to share our experiences with each method.

Offering hay to your guinea pigs by spreading it on the floor of their cage is perhaps the most straightforward solution to dispensing hay. Just take care not to let any wayward strands land in your piggy's eye when you're giving them some!

Hay Solutions: Vertical hay rack

Hay is an essential staple of every guinea pig's diet, and should be available for your piggy to munch on freely at all times. One of the things an owner has to decide is how to give hay to their guinea pig. Whee here at the Cali Cavy Collective have experimented with many different methods of hay dispensing and would like to share our experiences with each method.

Revy munching hay from her vertical hay rack

A vertical hay rack is our humans most recent solution to dispensing hay. Ours is a simple DIY version made from bent C&C grids, coroplast and zip ties. It is secured onto the side of the cage with a large binder clip for easy removal.

Hay Solutions: Litter box

Hay is an essential staple of every guinea pig's diet, and should be available for your piggy to munch on freely at all times. One of the things an owner has to decide is how to give hay to their guinea pig. Whee here at the Cali Cavy Collective have experimented with many different methods of hay dispensing and would like to share our experiences with each method.

Litter boxes are one common method used by many guinea pig owners. Typically associated with cats and rabbits, these plastic tubs readily available at pet stores in varying sizes. When choosing a tub, remember to keep the height and sides of the box in mind so it is not too high for your piggy to climb in!

DIY guinea pig toy: Hay tube treats

Hay-in-a-tube treat: oat hay on the left, timothy in the middle, and orchard grass on the right

Sometimes when our humans have extra cardboard tubes they make us hay-in-a-tube treats. They first got the idea from this useful list of ways to entertain your piggy.