Shared hay for rabbits and chinchillas

A bonded rabbit and chinchilla — that's a lovely and slightly unusual pairing. The good news is that hay is the dietary foundation for both species, so you're not managing two completely different feeding regimes. Hay should make up around 80% of your rabbit's diet and a very similar proportion for the chinchilla — it keeps their gut moving and wears down their continuously growing teeth. Pellets are a small supplement for both, not the main event. Before I get into what hay works best for both of them, can you tell me how old each animal is, whether they're both healthy, and what you're currently feeding them?

That's reassuring — both at healthy adult ages and no obvious issues. The shared feeding setup is worth tidying up, but the core question about hay is actually straightforward: timothy hay is the gold standard for both adult rabbits and adult chinchillas. Meadow hay isn't harmful, but it's more variable in nutritional content and fibre consistency. Timothy hay has a higher fibre structure and a better calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, which matters more for chinchillas specifically — they're quite sensitive to excess calcium. What's your current hay brand, and how much are you going through in a week roughly?

Right, so the inconsistency is the main issue there — loose hay from a pet shop varies a lot in quality, dust levels, and how long it's been stored. For two animals where hay is genuinely most of their diet, I'd move to a reliable branded timothy hay. My specific recommendation is Oxbow Western Timothy Hay. It's consistently high quality, low dust, and appropriate for both adult rabbits and chinchillas — same hay, no compromise for either animal. It comes in good value larger bags on Amazon UK, which would cover your weekly usage comfortably. One product, two animals sorted. The only thing I'd adjust alongside it is making sure they each get their own separate hay pile rather than competing from one spot, especially since chinchillas can be a bit territorial around food.

Yes, that's worth managing. An occasional swap isn't an emergency, but regular cross-eating is a problem. Rabbit pellets are often fortified with vitamin D, which chinchillas don't process well in higher amounts. Chinchilla pellets aren't dangerous for rabbits in small quantities, but the formulations are different enough that you don't want consistent mixing. The practical fix is to feed pellets in separate spaces, ideally out of sight of each other, and remove any uneaten pellets after 20–30 minutes. Keep the hay communal if they tolerate it — that's fine — but the pellets need to stay separate. If they're genuinely bonded and grooming each other, they may naturally respect each other's food spots more than you'd expect, but it's worth observing.

That's exactly the right move. Oxbow Western Timothy Hay will serve both of them well and you'll notice less dust and more consistent quality straight away. Keep hay available at all times for both — it should never run out. And if either animal starts eating noticeably less hay or you see any changes in droppings, that's usually the first sign something's off with gut health, so it's a useful thing to monitor. You're clearly paying close attention to them both, which makes all the difference.