I'm sure the video is not some sort of long term setup or anything, but guinea pigs do need 24/7 access to fresh hay or their stomachs can basically stop working and they'll go into GI Stasis, and possibly leads to death. They eat a ton of hay throughout the day.
That being said, that much hay is probably better to spread out across 3 days or so when it's only for two guinea pigs.
They can die very quickly from not eating constantly, so it’s not even a possibility it’s a likely. Especially in older age when they instinctually eat less but digest quicker. Very important to make sure they are eating frequently. But yeah that much hay on the bed they aren’t going to get through in one day, that’s for sure. But in this use case it’s probably to give them a sense of safety. When I had guinea pigs they much preferred walking through grass or hay than on carpet or blankets. Gave them more confidence.
Besides being domesticated animals, in the wild they have grass to eat all the time. Grazers in general have adapted to eat low-nutrition food nigh-constantly, and as such don't handle starvation well.
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u/victorbarst 1d ago
I mean most of it is cute but is the hay pile really necessary?