# Do rats need hay?



## CuteRat2 (Sep 20, 2013)

Do rats need hay?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Nope (thank god)


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## Hamsterific (Jan 14, 2013)

I've heard hay actually upsets their tummies.


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## mistymornings18 (Aug 13, 2012)

No they don't need it. But I've used Timothy hay as base bedding before in an emergency and they had a blast playing in it. 


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

I will sometimes give my ratties a fistful of hay and stuff it in a box or basket and they like to dig through it.

Just be VERY careful where you get your hay from! I have 2 rabbits and hay is their main food source. I was about to run out when I was out of town with them, and the only place nearby kept all their hay outdoors. The store is great, has lots of supplies and seems clean. The employees were nice enough to give me just a plastic bag and tell me just fill the bag and I could have that hay for free since I didn't need an entire bale since I was going back home in a couple days. But since the hay was kept in a covered outdoors area, they must have had a lot of wild ratties running around. And now my boyfriend's 2 rats have lice. We're assuming it was from the hay that we got there a month or so ago. They're in the middle of treatment for it now, but it was a HUGE mess to clean everything, throw away lots of stuff, get medicine, get diatomaceous earth, dawn soap, baths... All the treatments. And we have to do all this at least once a week for a month to make sure they're gone. The poor boys are really not happy with anything of this.

Anyway, aside from that warning story, all my rats seem to like the hay. Oftentimes they will sleep on it and some like to nibble it. Haven't had any problems with upset tummies that I can tell. It'd probably be fine if you gave them some soft orchard grass or timothy type of hay. Just be careful of hard stiff bits, you don't want anyone to get their eye poked. (get the kind that they store indoors in plastic bags, or freeze the hay for 72 hours to kill any bugs in it)


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## Hey-Fay (Jul 8, 2013)

I got a bag of timothy hay for the girls to play in aaaand they hated it. Won't be buying that again lol


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