Our Final Verdict
We give Small Pet Select a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
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Small pets like rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, and hamsters require different care than dogs and cats. Their nutritional needs and husbandry are more specific and require careful attention to ensure good health. Small Pet Select excels in this area by offering food, hay, treats, toys, and bedding for purchase from their website to keep your pet happy and healthy.
This small, family-owned company handpicks its products, offering only the freshest and highest quality items for our furry friends. Because all pets differ in what they like, Small Pet Select offers a Picky Pet Promise; if your pet is not satisfied with any product, they offer a 100% return policy. This is great news for us pet owners because we all have that one pet who fusses over everything!
Whether they run, hop, climb, or jump, your small critter is begging to try Small Pet Select. Read more to find out why!
At a Glance: What We Reviewed
A Quick Look at Small Pet Select
About Small Pet Select
Small Pet Select is small, family-owned company headquartered in Ellensburg, Washington, with an adorable origin story about a cavy named Lizzie who wouldn’t eat hay. The co-founding mother-son team of Laurie and Ben Gordon discovered the bountiful variety of fresh Washington hay which Lizzie loved, and the rest is history!
Today, Small Pet Select offers a wide range of products for rabbits, chinchillas, guinea pigs, and chickens. The selection includes their top-selling Timothy hay, pellet food, treats, chew toys, bedding, supplements, habitats and more! Run by a dedicated team of pet lovers, their mission is to deliver high quality pet care products with a unique Picky Pet Promise: 100% satisfaction guaranteed. No hassle, no questions, no worries.
Reviews of the Small Pet Select Food We Tried
Let’s take a closer look at Small Pet Select’s Timothy Hay, Rabbit Food Pellets, and Healthy Snackers treats.
1. Timothy Hay
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Second cutting Timothy hay is the gold standard (best) for maintaining healthy adult small animals. It provides the ideal ratio of nutrients and has flexible stems with moderate leaves compared to 1st or 3rd cutting of hay.
Their 2nd cutting of Timothy hay has leafy, soft green stems with a moderate amount of flowery heads that small pets love! This cut of hay has a texture and fiber content between the 1st and 3rd cutting and is the most popular hay they sell!
2. Bedding
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The hay and bedding are offered in bundles to help you save time shopping! The brown paper bedding is soft, absorbent, and made with unbleached virgin fiber. No additives, dyes, or irritants here! The bedding is sludge-free and is never made with recycled print. This package is great for rabbits, guinea pigs, and other small critters!
3. Rabbit Food Pellets
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The high-fiber Timothy hay-based formula is fortified with 100% of the daily vitamins and minerals your rabbit needs to stay happy and healthy! The hay makes up more than half of the formula (yay for high fiber!). The pellets are made in small batches for easier monitoring of quality and freshness. With 14% crude protein and 25% crude fiber, the pellets are an excellent choice for supplementing your rabbit’s hay with vital nutrition.
4. Healthy Snackers (Apple)
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A fun, healthy, and delicious way to treat your small pet! The snacks are made from real fruit with no added chemicals, preservatives, binders, or fillers. Clean fruit is mixed with their farm-fresh Timothy hay for an enjoyably healthy treat. The treats can be broken up into smaller pieces and hidden around your pet’s enclosure for foraging fun!
Our Experience With Small Pet Select
Everything arrived safely in a sturdy brown box. A cute bonus was the addition of a heart-shaped wood cut out with Smart Pet Select stamped on it; it serves as a great chew toy for the bunnies! I carefully examined all products, paying special attention to the Timothy hay, rabbit pellets, and treats for quality and freshness. Nothing but the best for my bunnies, and Smart Pet Select passed my inspection with flying colors!
My Favorite: The Bedding
I have to say that my favorite product of the bunch is the brown paper bedding. I’m used to using regular wood shavings and have done so for many years. I decided to try the paper bedding in the cage of my oldest rabbit, Rocky. He has some arthritis and a little trouble getting around, so I wanted to see if there was a difference between the wood shavings and paper bedding.
As soon as I opened the bag of bedding and grabbed some in my hand, I immediately noticed a difference! The paper bedding is very soft, airy, and plush. There is a very low dust content compared to wood shavings, which is great for our small pets’ delicate respiratory systems. I switched out the wood shavings for the paper bedding in Rocky’s cage, noticing that a little goes a long way!
Over the course of a week, I observed how Rocky got along in his cage. He took an interest in the new bedding right away, smelling it all over. He soon fell asleep in it and looked very content. The paper bedding seemed to provide him with more cushioning and distributed his weight more evenly than the wood shavings did. He overall looked more comfortable and happier and seemed to be able to move around his cage a bit better than before.
On cleaning day a week later, the bedding was well compacted due to Rocky’s increased movements, but still soft. It fluffed right up again after agitating it with my hands. The bedding was easy to clean, and there was no harsh ammonia smell, which is something I’ve always noticed with wood shavings. The most surprising aspect was how absorbent the bedding was! The bottom of his cage was the driest it had ever been! The bedding absorbed his urine very well and clumped together in those spots, much like kitty litter, to keep the urine contained. After cleaning Rocky’s cage, I was very impressed with the bedding’s ability to absorb and contain fluids while providing a soft surface for pets’ comfort. This product gets an A+ in my book.
Happy Rabbits Loved the Hay!
The Timothy hay arrived in a colorful, decorative box that was fun to look at and read. The hay smelled very fresh, an odor I am particularly drawn to! It was very green, leafy, soft, and packed generously into the box. The hay was very clean, with minimal dust. Some other hays I have tried in the past were very dusty and dirty and went to waste. Course stems were minimal, which was great because my rabbits tend to avoid the harsh parts. Instead, my rabbits took right to the hay once I introduced it to them, and they happily munched away at it.
Rabbits, in particular, need roughage to promote normal wear of their teeth and to keep their gastrointestinal tract functioning normally. This is best accomplished by providing your rabbit with an unlimited supply of grass hay, such as Timothy hay. At least 70% of your rabbit’s daily diet should be hay, followed by 20% of pellets, and then 10% dark, leafy greens. Treats should be given occasionally, not more than once per day.
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The Pellets Went Fast As Well!
The rabbit pellets were a great addition to the hay and arrived in a resealable bag. They smelled fresh and had a very nice green appearance. Another bonus is that they are made from Timothy hay, which is a healthier hay than alfalfa for adult rabbits. High fiber is the way to go! Much like the Timothy hay, my rabbits took right to the pellets after I introduced it. It’s a great way to supplement their diet to ensure they are getting all the nutrients they need.
Trouble with the Treats
My rabbits are, unfortunately, weird about their treats. They never really enjoy treats that are specifically made for them. The apple Healthy Snackers were no different. Some of the bunnies may have taken a bite or two, but the treat was quickly ignored. I’m positive that other small pets will absolutely love them! I had no problems whatsoever with the quality and freshness of the treats. They smelled delicious! So delicious, in fact, that I may have eaten one or a few and quite enjoyed it. The rabbits are missing out! More for me!
The Twig and Hay Mobile
I thought that the twig and hay mobile was constructed well with a variety of pet-safe materials for the rabbits to chew on. It has a clip at the end that you can hang from the top of a cage, or it works just as well in your pet’s enclosure without hanging it. The clip is rather small, so if you have short, stubby fingers like me, it may be difficult to clip to the top of the cage. If the clip was a little bigger, it would be easier. The boy buns enjoyed rubbing their chins on the twigs to scent mark it, and the girl buns loved scratching and pulling at the mobile. It is a great way to keep your small pet active and entertained and encourages them to exercise their natural chewing behavior in a safe and healthy manner. This is a great toy for dental health!
Conclusion
If you are looking for fresh, healthy products for your small critter, Small Pet Select has it all! From hay to bedding to treats and toys, Small Pet Select offers a variety of products to choose from that will make you and your small pet happy. They hand-select all their products and ingredients to ensure nothing but the best for your pet. This is a company that really cares about its customers and keeping small pets healthy. I really have nothing negative to say about my experience with Small Pet Select and the products I’ve tried. It was a very positive experience. I encourage you to try it, too. Happy (or should I say “hoppy”) shopping!