For rabbits and guinea pigs, hay isn't a snack — it's 80% of the diet and the thing that keeps their guts and teeth working. But hay is a crop: it has a harvest year, it loses nutrition and gets dusty with age, and the bag that sat in a warehouse is a shadow of fresh, current-crop timothy. The makers below mill and cut in small batches from recent harvests, and their pellets are timothy-based and fortified rather than cheap alfalfa filler. Fresher hay, better fiber, longer, healthier little lives.
Published July 2026 · Updated 4 Jul 2026 · Sourcing verified 4 Jul 2026
Small Pet Select sells ultra-premium timothy hay and hay-based pellets milled in small batches from current-crop hay only — so it arrives genuinely fresh and green rather than dusty and faded. Their pellets are timothy-based, high-fiber, and low-calcium (exactly right for adult rabbits and guinea pigs), fortified with real quality rather than filler. Direct-to-you and obsessive about freshness, it's the go-to for small-pet people who've learned that hay quality is everything.
Why buy it directCurrent-crop, small-batch hay is a seasonal, perishable crop — freshness fades fast. Buying direct from a maker who mills to order is the only way to get it green and nutritious instead of warehouse-stale.
See it at Small Pet Select →Sherwood makes grain-free, soy-free, alfalfa-free rabbit and small-animal pellets formulated with veterinary input — a genuinely different approach for animals whose digestion is easily thrown off by grain and excess calcium. For a rabbit with soft-stool or weight issues, or an owner who wants the cleanest possible pellet, Sherwood is the specialist pick. Thoughtful, health-first formulation from people who take small-animal nutrition seriously.
Why buy it directGrain-free, vet-formulated small-animal pellets are a specialty product in short runs. That careful formulation is exactly what a commodity, grain-heavy pellet skips for cost.
See it at Sherwood →Rabbit Hole Hay is a family operation that grows and hand-selects its hay, cutting and shipping it fresh to order rather than from a giant baled inventory. Getting hay straight from the farm that grew it — soft, green, and recently cut — is a noticeably different product for a picky rabbit or guinea pig. A lovely small-farm source for owners who want to know exactly where their pet's daily food came from.
Why buy it directSingle-farm, cut-to-order hay is the freshest a small pet can get. That farm-direct freshness is impossible to fake through a mass-baled commodity supply.
See it at Rabbit Hole Hay →Oxbow is the vet-recommended standard in small-animal nutrition — timothy-based pellets and hays with no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors, delivering complete daily nutrition. It's the brand most exotic vets name first, widely available and consistent, which makes it the safe, dependable backbone of a rabbit or guinea pig's diet. Not the smallest maker here, but honest, science-backed, and trusted for good reason.
Why buy it rightA vet-recommended, timothy-based complete diet is built on real small-animal nutrition science. Buying it fresh is what keeps that quality intact from bag to bowl.
See it at Oxbow →If you grow current-crop hay or make quality timothy-based food for rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, or other small pets — and you ship it fresh — this spot could be yours. Tell us who you are; no fee, ever.
Add your brand →Unlimited grass hay is the foundation and should make up the large majority of the diet, ideally a pile at least the size of the animal available at all times. The constant chewing wears down teeth that never stop growing and keeps the gut moving, which is literally life-or-death for these animals. Pellets and fresh greens are supplements around the hay, not the main event.
Muesli mixes, the colorful blends of flakes, peas, and seeds, invite selective feeding: the animal picks out the sugary, starchy bits and leaves the fibrous pellets. That drives dental disease, obesity, and dangerous gut slowdowns. A plain, uniform, timothy-based pellet where every piece is identical prevents the picking, which is why exotic vets steer owners away from muesli entirely.
For healthy adult rabbits and guinea pigs, timothy or another grass hay is right because it is high in fiber and low in calcium and protein. Alfalfa is a legume, not a grass, and its high calcium and calories suit growing babies, pregnant animals, or a vet-directed recovery, but fed to adults it contributes to obesity and bladder-stone risk. When in doubt for a grown animal, choose grass hay.
Yes, vitamin C. Guinea pigs cannot make their own vitamin C and must get it from their diet, so their pellets are fortified with it and they benefit from vitamin-C-rich vegetables like bell pepper. Rabbits produce their own, so rabbit pellets are not a substitute for guinea pig pellets. Never feed one species the other's fortified food as its staple.
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