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Is timothy hay safe..?

redrobbo

New Kit
I had a conversation with the pet shop lady and asked her what the difference between timothy hay and normal hay was.. She said that the timothy hay had a sweetener added to make it more edible for bunnies and they should be given it mixed with normal hay as it increases the calcium levels to a very high state if used all the time... I have previously used it all the time and never noticed any problems but this came as a surprise to me .. Can anyone advise if this is true or not..
 
I had a conversation with the pet shop lady and asked her what the difference between timothy hay and normal hay was.. She said that the timothy hay had a sweetener added to make it more edible for bunnies and they should be given it mixed with normal hay as it increases the calcium levels to a very high state if used all the time... I have previously used it all the time and never noticed any problems but this came as a surprise to me .. Can anyone advise if this is true or not..

I would be astounded if there was any truth in what the pet shop lady said :shock:

Timothy hay is grown in the same way as other hay. It's all just different grass species.

If she had said that to me, I would have asked several questions. 1. Why does Timothy hay need to be sweetened, if other hay doesn't? 2. How do they 'sweeten' it? 3. Is she suggesting that it is 'sweetened' hay, which raises calcium levels or Timothy hay as a species?

I have fed Timothy hay to my bunnies for several years and rarely mix it with other hays.

If you return to the pet shop, I would be interested to hear more about her allegation.
 
I would be astounded if there was any truth in what the pet shop lady said :shock:

Timothy hay is grown in the same way as other hay. It's all just different grass species.

If she had said that to me, I would have asked several questions. 1. Why does Timothy hay need to be sweetened, if other hay doesn't? 2. How do they 'sweeten' it? 3. Is she suggesting that it is 'sweetened' hay, which raises calcium levels or Timothy hay as a species?

I have fed Timothy hay to my bunnies for several years and rarely mix it with other hays.

If you return to the pet shop, I would be interested to hear more about her allegation.

I agree, I’ve never seen any hay that is sweetened, and I would never feed sweetened hay to any pet. I’ve seen sweetened chop of different varieties meant for horses before but wouldn’t feed it to rabbits.
 
The only "sweet" hay I know of is haylage which is used for horses and has a very sweet smell. I use Timothy hay all the time.
 
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