Value Blend Hay

The best way to help transition your small pet to Rabbit Hole Hay grass hay is to blend approximately 25% of Rabbit Hole Hay Grass Hays with your pets old grass hay gradually increasing over the next 1-2 weeks.

As Timothy Hay and Orchard Grass are grass hays, they should be available to your small pet at all times. It is considered one of the foods that can be fed “free-choice” - i.e. they can have unlimited amounts of it without it negatively affecting them. 

For rabbits 7 months and older and guinea pigs 6 months and older, grass hay should make up for at least 80% of their diet. For chinchillas older than a year, grass hay should make up at least 75% of their diet.

Recommended Daily Feeding Chart based on your small pet's age and weight:

* Use a standard 8 ounce measuring cup
** Please follow all veterinary recommendations, every small pet is different and may require specific regimens to maintain optimal health

Store your small pet’s hay in a cool, dark place that is free from moisture. 

Sunlight is bad as it will not only change the color of your hay but it’ll also rob your hay of nutrients intended for your small pet. Moisture (like water) can cause your hay to develop fungus, mold and bacteria, which can be very dangerous to not only your small pet but you as well.

Coarse Timothy Hay is known for its high fiber and low protein, making it a great food source for adult rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas. By late spring or early summer the hay is ready to be harvested for the first time of the growing season. It’s usually by mid June that the farmer cuts the first growth of the year. During this early growth the plant grows long thick stems, short broad leaves, and long seed head (flowers) making it coarser than the two later cuts. When this is harvested it is commonly referred to as First Cut Timothy Hay and is a great choice to maintain healthy teeth and digestion.

Medium Timothy Hay is known for being a softer hay with its long thin stems, short seed heads, and broad flat leaves making it easier for rabbits, guinea pigs, and chinchillas to eat. After the first harvest of Timothy Hay, the hay is then left to regrow and is harvested a second time usually by late summer, commonly referred to as Second Cut Timothy Hay. Medium Timothy Hay is also high in fiber and low in protein making it a great choice for your small pet’s dental health and digestive system particularly if they are aging and need softer hay.

Soft Timothy Hay is known for containing mostly leaves with very few stems or seed heads. This grade of hay comes from the third seasonal harvest of Timothy Hay or an exceptionally soft second harvest. Stems, if any, will be thin and occasional seed heads will be short. The key to this grade of premium hay is that it is made up almost entirely of soft leaves. It’s good for small pets that have soft or weak teeth which makes it hard for them to eat more coarse types of hay. Soft Timothy Hay offers all the nutrients and fiber that are required for digestive health, but due to its softness it doesn’t cover dental health. Therefore, we recommend investing in chew toys, such as Apple Sticks, or mixing in some coarse hay such as Coarse Orchard or Coarse Timothy to maintain healthy teeth. 

Soft Orchard Grass is known for being the softest hay that we carry. For pets and owners who are allergic to Timothy Hay, Orchard Grass can be a great alternative. Orchard Grass is great for digestive health and can be fed free-choice to your rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas. Soft Orchard Grass has long soft grass blades, minimal seed heads and fewer stalks than other types of hay. Due to its softness, we recommend investing in chew toys or supplementing their diet with a little coarse hay to keep their teeth in good health.

Coarse Orchard Grass is very similar to Coarse Timothy Hay and is known for its large seed heads and more fibrous leaves and stems. For pets and owners who are allergic to Timothy Hay, Orchard Grass can be a great alternative. Orchard Grass can be fed free-choice to your rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas. Coarse Orchard Grass provides long strands that promote natural chewing behavior. It holds a great balance of roughage and nutrition to benefit both dental and digestive health.

Alfalfa Hay is full of protein and nutrients, making it perfect for growing rabbits between the ages of 3 weeks and 7 months. Alfalfa Hay has a thicker stem and lots of elliptical leaves compared to the long thin leaves found on grass hays. Mature rabbits can only eat a limited amount of Alfalfa due to the high levels of protein and calcium. Adult rabbits also require more fiber than alfalfa can provide to maintain healthy digestion. Transition your 7 month old rabbit (6 months old for guinea pigs, and 1 year for chinchillas) off of Alfalfa Hay and onto a grass hay (such as Timothy or Orchard).

Mountain Grass is high in fiber and low in protein and calcium content, ideal for keeping the digestive tracts of rabbits and other small animals functioning properly. It's made up of a variety of wild grasses that grow in a mountain meadow. Mountain Grass contains a variety of textures and colors, which your small pet will enjoy. Typically it has leaves that are fine and coarse in texture with almost no stems. It's known for being a grass hay that wild rabbits would naturally feed on with an added benefit of being coarse enough to wear down their teeth.

Oat Hay is known for containing mostly stems, long seed heads, and leaves. This grade of hay comes from the first harvest of Oat Hay. The key to this grade of premium hay is that it’s made up entirely of coarse stems and leaves. Near the end of the growing season the plant begins pumping sugars up into the seed heads to help them finish maturing. This causes our hay to taste great despite having more yellow than other grass hays. 

At Rabbit Hole Hay, we are monitoring this virus closely and at this time it has NOT affected our area of the country (Northern California). While all our hay is from the 2022-2023 growing season from Northern California, there have been NO reported cases affecting the area of the country where we source our hay.

As mentioned above, the USDA estimates that RHDV2 can remain stable for 3 months. Considering the dates of the recently confirmed cases and dates of harvest, we can safely reassure you that no Rabbit Hole Hay product that is available (whether on our website, Amazon, Chewy, Walmart, or by third-party seller) is currently at risk for being a carrier of RHDV2.

Our goal here at Rabbit Hole Hay is to continue to monitor the information coming from health officials carefully to ensure we are following any recommended precautions to keep your small pet safe. We are confident at this time based on the latest available information that the transmission of RHDV2 from a packaged product like our Rabbit Hole Hay, is highly unlikely. While RHDV2 could be transmitted in hay, it would require a rare combination of circumstances for the virus to be present and remain stable.

Even knowing that, we are committed to remaining vigilant both in how we monitor and how we move forward with product safety as it relates to RHDV2. We will be paying close attention to all the hay we source in the coming days and months to ensure it is processed in a way that helps us keep your small pets safe.

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