Dusty hay and sneezing!

[toki]

The hay I buy for Toki has always been great, however the last order I placed (of 4 large bags!!) seems to be highly dusty. It is making me wheeze, sneeze and cough, and even worse it is making Toki sneeze quite a lot. He sneezes and then cleans his face. I did contact the seller but the return costs would basically mean my refund was zero. So I am stuck with this “dust-extracted” hay and I believe all 4 bags are full of dust.

So I’m wondering, could it cause Toki any health problems to be eating dusty hay, or are the sneezes harmless? If it would be dangerous to keep feeding this hay… is there some way I can remove the dust? 

[Q8bunny]

It’s not dangerous per se, but you can help reduce the dust he’s inhaling and thus the sneezes.

First off, put on a face mask (a kerchief will do) and transfer the hay from bag to a box or old duvet cover, shaking the hay first as you go along to dislodge as much dust as you can.

Then, every time you give Toki a little pile of fresh hay, lightly mist it with water, tossing it a bit like a salad. This works to prevent any remaining dust from being able to float… and it’s on Toki’s little daily piles, which he eats before mold can develop from the dampness.

Hope this helps

[toki]

Thank you Q8bunny! That’s a relief, I was afraid Toki could end up with a respiratory condition or something. I have been using a face mask and it does help, but it still somehow gets to me (I suffer a lot with dust allergies). I think I will have to use some allergy meds on the side. I found a large plastic tub which I transferred some hay into, and shaking the dust off seems to have worked really well. I will try misting it if we still have problems. tho I’d need to buy another spray bottle first   

[Q8bunny]

Since you have allergies, at some point if you get the chance, try orchard grass hay. It doesn’t cause a reaction the way timothy hay does for allergic hoomins

[toki]

Oh yes, I’ve heard of that before. I’ll keep on the look out for some. I know Oxbow makes some but it’s a tad on the expensive side. My usual hay has never caused any allergies before, I’m not sure what happened

[Author]

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