Thursday 18 August 2016

Hey, Hay Hay

First Impressions count


Learning when to keep my mouth shut is tricky. Sometimes I open it when I shouIdn’t, sometimes keep it closed when I really should speak out loudly. Very rarely get it correct.
This week I  met two lovely rabbits which I will be caring for while the owners go away for a break.


During being shown the rabbits bedroom and where to find everything I will need. (Yeah once over, I would have laughed at that myself, but our Sugar Gliders have their purpose built cage in the spare room, and our rabbits have the entire area under the stairs) I noticed they used Meadow Hay as bedding and food. From memory, I recalled this having a too higher protein content for a rabbit to handle. I use Timothy Hay for that reason. I soooo wanted to tell her. While I knew deep down  my motives were genuine and wanting to be helpful , I do realise I come across often as preachy.


So here I sit double checking Hay facts. Timothy Hay is from a single species, Meadow is from multi species grass, but it seems I remembered incorrectly. Alfalfa Hay is the one containing  too many calories for adult rabbits, although it’s fine for kittens. (name for baby/young rabbits). In fact Alfalfa isn’t technically a hay at all, as it’s the leaves of a plant not a grass. I’m guessing the higher levels of protein/calories come from the fact the plant is related to the pea plant species.


I am so glad my head automatically said, SHUT UP, you have just met this lady, and for once I listened.


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