Hay Question

[SasquatchTortoise]

A few weeks ago, we got several very heavy rainstorms. I have a bag of coastal bermudagrass hay under the porch, but one of these days I forgot to take it off the ground, the porch flooded, and the hay may have gotten wet on the bottom. Today I just purchased a new bag of hay, but I noticed that it was quite yellow and had a slightly different texture- perhaps it is from later in the year, or got rained on? The old hay, despite the fact that it may have gotten wet, still looks good and I haven't noticed any mold (though it did have a few pieces of dirt and other grasses when I bought it). Would either of these be safe to feed? Thanks

 

[wellington]

As long as you don't feed any moldy hay it should be fine. Like the hay bales that are big and round and sits out in all weather. The outside is crap and shouldn't be fed but the inside if still good and not black/moldy can be used.

 

[Tom]

A few weeks ago, we got several very heavy rainstorms. I have a bag of coastal bermudagrass hay under the porch, but one of these days I forgot to take it off the ground, the porch flooded, and the hay may have gotten wet on the bottom. Today I just purchased a new bag of hay, but I noticed that it was quite yellow and had a slightly different texture- perhaps it is from later in the year, or got rained on? The old hay, despite the fact that it may have gotten wet, still looks good and I haven't noticed any mold (though it did have a few pieces of dirt and other grasses when I bought it). Would either of these be safe to feed? Thanks

Look over the wet portion and give it the sniff test. If it was only wet over night, I'd feed it out the next day. If its been wet and in a bag for several days, I would chuck it. Hay is still relatively cheap in the smaller quantities we use for a tortoise.

I'd have to see the second bag first hand before I could make that call, but there are differences from batch to batch that are perfectly fine.

 

[SasquatchTortoise]

I took these pictures of the yellow hay in the sun. It appears more yellow in indoor lighting, but all of the pictures made it look gray. Some parts still have some green in them.


Here is the old hay. It has a few yellow and brown pieces, probably from when I bought it, but overall it is very green and the bottom doesn't look moldy at all. I think I was being a little paranoid.

 

[SuzanneZ]

You can also go by how it smells . Mold and mildew smell "off."

 

[SarahJoy]

You can also go by how it smells . Mold and mildew smell "off."

True that… it even gets sour.🥴