Oxbow Apple Stick Hay Small Animal Feeder

I can’t get the bottoms and tops to stay in place. I bought three and my rabbit had the bottom knocked loose on the first in less than two hours. The second one lasted almost a day, until my rabbit tore through the ropes knocking all the hay to the ground like some sort of rabbit sized piñata. I suppose it works great if you’re just using it as a chew for your pet, but there’s far more practically priced chews out there if that’s all it’s good for.

We bought this in May of this year, and our 6-year-old Holland Lop is still using it. It's been a much better investment than the little Hay Forager, which he yanked off the cake, threw on the floor, and pooped on. It did arrive damaged, with the top board already broken into two pieces, but I was able to shift it around a bit and tie it differently to make it work. Since he doesn't care to chew on wood a whole lot, it's lasted us - it's suspended from the top of his hutch, and it means more hay in his mouth, less on his floor. He's still pretty messy, but it's helped so much. One last note - especially because of the very awkward way I had to tie it, it's rather difficult to fill, We bought this in May of this year, and our 6-year-old Holland Lop is still using it. It's been a much better investment than the little Hay Forager, which he yanked off the cake, threw on the floor, and pooped on. It did arrive damaged, with the top board already broken into two pieces, but I was able to shift it around a bit and tie it differently to make it work. Since he doesn't care to chew on wood a whole lot, it's lasted us - it's suspended from the top of his hutch, and it means more hay in his mouth, less on his floor. He's still pretty messy, but it's helped so much. One last note - especially because of the very awkward way I had to tie it, it's rather difficult to fill, and to be honest, I'm not sure it'd be much easier anyway. I found that the best way is to put your hay into a paper grocery sack, put the feeder into the sack, and stuff the hay into the feeder, so it doesn't make a mess. Once it's stuffed fairly well, it's not terribly messy, unless your hay is dusty (which Oxbow's is not), but since 2/3 of our cats like to eat hay and give themselves digestive upset, I still bring the sack to the edge of his cage, then lift the feeder into the cage and hook it to the strap on the ceiling. Overall, it's not the easiest product, but he eats hay much more enthusiastically and it's really cute to see him swing it a little to pull the hay free. … more

Okay I was very intrigued by this purchase just to receive it and be highly disappointed. I love spoiling my hamster and well this was one of the worst things I splurged on. It may look cute but it doesn’t get the job done. It came twisted and a bit broke. I fixed it but my hamster didn’t really bother with it. It just took up space so I chopped it up into little toys to try and be resourceful. Save your money on this one.

I use many Oxbow products and they definitely have my brand loyalty so I was very excited when I saw this hay holder. I wasn't expecting it to be a forever hay rack but I was disappointed when it started coming apart as soon as I started stuffing hay into it. The twine that holds it together isn't sturdy at all and breaks with the tiniest force

This feeder was very challenging to assemble and rather hard to put hay into as well. My chinchilla also destroyed it within the first 48 hours, completing tearing it down and breaking it apart. That being said, she loves to chew on the sticks it's made of so if you're just looking for a chew toy then this is a good purchase.

Always looking for things to keep our bunny engaged and active, I was happy to find this. Upon opening the bottom row was already broken. I decided to keep it and use it anyway. The jute rope is really thin and it tends to break at the connections with the wood balls. Bunny loved the challenge of pulling his hay from this contraption even with a full feeder of hay next to it. However I only got to fill it 3 times because each day it just kept falling apart more until it could hold nothing at all anymore. It was essentially a waste of $13. Conceptually it's a great idea but unfortunately it's poorly executed. If they could make this sturdy I would buy another one. Our bunny was not interested Always looking for things to keep our bunny engaged and active, I was happy to find this. Upon opening the bottom row was already broken. I decided to keep it and use it anyway. The jute rope is really thin and it tends to break at the connections with the wood balls. Bunny loved the challenge of pulling his hay from this contraption even with a full feeder of hay next to it. However I only got to fill it 3 times because each day it just kept falling apart more until it could hold nothing at all anymore. It was essentially a waste of $13. Conceptually it's a great idea but unfortunately it's poorly executed. If they could make this sturdy I would buy another one. Our bunny was not interested in chewing the sticks it's made out of whatsoever. If cannot be made sturdier then sell multiple in a package at lower price because they're just going to fall apart on their own very easily. … more

My guinea gs have had this toy for two months. I hung it in their cage and they always play with it. Great concept.

It was shipped to me broken. The strings must have been broken, because it was half way unraveled with pieces were scattered everywhere on the box. However, since I was expecting it to be chewed by my pets, they seem to enjoy it. I would buy it again, figures crossed for an in tacked one.

This was really difficult to put together, difficult to put hay into, and fell apart easily. We gave up on using it as a hay feeder, but our bunny LOVES it as a chew! Honestly worth it just for that, and the apple wood is perfectly safe. But if you’re looking for strictly a hay feeder, try something else.

Opened this product up and one of the beads popped off. As I but in the hay it broke even further. Seems as if the string does not run through the beads (making it stronger) but short strings glued at each bead and easily pops off. Love the idea of it but not constructed very well.