timothy or alfalfa hay?

[pooky]

i was wondering if either of the two hays which can be bought for gerbil chewing and bedding is better (alfalfa hay or timothy hay). i havent heard much about either, so it would help me in deciding which to get.

thanks

[callimico]

I give alfalfa to my breeding pairs (as it is great for pregnant/nursing moms), and mix timothy with aspen for my other gerbils, they love making nests out of it, (I buy Kaytee timothy, and brown's alfalfa). With those brands the alfalfa is better chewing, but I did have another brand of timothy awhile ago that had longer thicker stalks that provided excellent chewing.

You could start with a bag of either hay, and then when you run out buy the other variety, so it keeps getting switched up, maybe you'll notice your gerbils prefer eating/using a certain type I think mine prefered the old brand of Timothy I used to have, but can find in stores anymore...

[pooky]

ok i'll do that. and then when the time comes, i might use it for introducing my gebils.

thank you for your info

[AndreaS15]

I use Alfalfa hay and cubes.
I know that Alfalfa should not be fed to rabbits for it alcalines (sp?) there unrine and forms crytals But for gerbils I've never heard it to be a problem, and I have never experianced anything from useing it.

I no "Local" and other hay bought from feed stores (say in a bale) should be frozen before useing, for it can contain bugs and other nasties that can make a gerbil ill.

[tirilliel]

I was just wondering about this, I just picked up some timothy hay the other night. I have some to my syrian hamster and my two dwarf roborovskis hamster and my gerbil Orlando.

Non of my hamsters touched it they didnt seem to care about it at all. On the other hand Orlando my gerbil started to eat it right away! I woke this morning to find that all the timothy is gone, either eaten or now nesting material.

Is timothy also good to offer to pregnant gerbils? I offered all my rodent these alfalfa blocks but none of them care for those either.

[lizzy]

I give timothy hay to my gerbils.

And you shouldn't give hay to hamsters, it can puncture their cheek pouches.

[RW]

I give both, plus oat hay, too. My gerbils seem to prefer stemmier hay, so they love alfalfa and oat. They like timothy, but better if I can find it with more stems.

You might want to freeze any hay for a week or two before giving it to your gerbils, to minimize the chance of bringing in nasty bugs like mites.

RW

[sweetie]

I use Alphalpha but will try timothy hay later. I tried the cubes but they do not touch them!!

[egirl]

I use alfabits [yes its one word] ;D

[GerbilGal]

I use the Timothy Hay Cubes for my gerbils. They love it when a new cube is coming their way. They chew it to bits.

[lpn1993]

I give my gerbils timothy hay, because that's what I have on hand for my rabbits. I'd like to try offering my gerbils some of the alfalfa cubes and see if they like them. Next time I'm at the pet store I'll pick up some.

[dietpeppers]

I tried Timothy hay when I first got my gerbils and they didn't touch it at all. I can't remember what brand it was, but I tossed it outside for the birds. Yesterday, when I went to pick up a bag of Kaytee Timothy hay for my degus, I thought it looked much fresher and better than the last bag, so I tried again. I filled up all their terra cotta pots with the hay and they are going to town with it. We sat there and watched them for quite some time, LOL.

I think I read somewhere that degus can't have alfalfa hay and then if they did, they could have it in little bits. I'm trying to buy things that can be distributed through my 21 gerbils and my 2 degus, LOL, so I probably won't ever buy Alfalfa until we get our bunnies - of course, we're waiting till we move to get those

[maxthegerbil]

Hi Guys. My new babies LOVE Alfalfa hay and it`s gone within minutes of puting a handful into their tank! It has such a beautiful sweet, aromatic smell. I hav`nt tried Timothy hay as yet, although it is available to me. I know good quality Timothy is excellent for chinchillas as it has a coarser bite to it for keeping teeth ground down! I will give Timothy hay a try one day, but I`ll stick to what they love for the moment.

[lpn1993]

I bought some alfalfa cubes yesterday to try with my gerbils. When I put one in their tank, they immediately ran over and starting eating it. It was really cute. I didn't buy many, in case they didn't like it, but it was a real hit! I'll have to go back and get more.

[queenofthenile]

I was under the impression that for most rodents, timothy hay is preferrable. From a rabbit handout by an Avian and Exotic Vet "Feeding alfalfa pellets and alfalfa hay provides an excess of protein to the digestive tract and leaves it deficient in fiber. Alfalfa hay should be restricted to young, growing bunnies."

I was also under the impression that alfalfa hay contains too much calcium. I'm not sure if this is true for just rabbits. I don't think gerbils eat much of the hay, rather they shred it. Regardless, I'm sticking with timothy hay because I believe it is safer.