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Science Selective Grain Free Pellets

Sian25

Sian25

Adult Guinea Pig
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Hi all. Does anybody know whether the science selective grain free pellets are any good? I think theyre new- well ive never seen them before. I have read the ingredients but have to admit that i'm not the most savy when it comes to piggy nutrition. Here are the ingredients if anyone hasnt yet seen them..
Composition: Timothy hay, soya bean hulls, flaked peas, ground soya bean meal, ground dried locust beans, pea flour, whole brown linseeds, soya bean oil, calcium carbonate, hydrolysed yeast, Yucca extract.
 
The new Science Selective grainless looks like a decent food. All the stats compared to other brands are promising, but I'm not 100% sure what it is like on the palatability scale as it hasn't been out long. A lot of the grain free foods are an acquired taste (mostly because they aren't filled with tasty crap that the pigs love). It's a bit cheaper than other brands in pets at home but still quite expensive online.
 
My local pet shop has this in and on offer for a week. I was going to try a bag but it works out a few quid more expensive and for 500g less than my usual brand so I left it for now.
 
it sounds good, compared with other brands... it has no grains and no added sugars.
It has crude fibres in a good percentage...
Nutritional Information:
Protein 16.0%, Crude fibre 20.0%, Fat content 4.0%, Inorganic matter 5.0%, Calcium 0.6%, Phosphorus 0.5%
and just like ALL the other brands, making the sum of the percentages above we get a number about 50%... I would sell a kidney (for joke) for knowing what is the other 50% made of... carbohydrates?:twist: why don't firms declare it?:bal:
 
We are currently trialling grain free pellets in this house. Favourite are JR Farms grainless so far. Then Rosewood naturals grainless then Versele Laga cavia complete. In fairness all 3have been better tolerated than I could really have hoped for.
 
Willow and Bracken are eating them fairly well. Spike and Peanut are on JR Farms Grainless but W & B were refusing them point blank, and I feel they need some nuggets until they are fully grown. I have slight concerns about some of the ingredients but I needed something I could pick up in the shop. To be honest all mine prefer non grainless but I'm not giving them that option!
 
piggieminder said:
Willow and Bracken are eating them fairly well. Spike and Peanut are on JR Farms Grainless but W & B were refusing them point blank, and I feel they need some nuggets until they are fully grown. I have slight concerns about some of the ingredients but I needed something I could pick up in the shop. To be honest all mine prefer non grainless but I'm not giving them that option!
Click to expand...
today a little piece of bread fell on my floor... my piggies found it and I can say I have never seen a similar scene before! they looked like crazy... then they understood I was eating the bread and approached me (they usually run away from me!). Therefore wheat is for them what chips and Nutella are for children (and adults..); but you are right: it shouldn't be an option also because wheat mixed with the sugar of fruits and vegs produces gas into the gut. I lived all my life with bloating and I was checked by the "best" doctors, until a simple doctor (who now is having a great success here) started saying aloud that the cause of bloating is the mix wheat+sugars. That was the end of my troubles. I imagine all the guinea pigs suffering with boating and all the owners who blame the grass (as I also used to blame the vegs, fruits and legumes). But maybe the MIX is the culprit and a piggie who eats wheat (in many pellets) always eats some sweet veg (carrots, bell peppers, etc.).
My piggies are growing up very well even with a diet almost pellets free, but if we want to use the pellets because they are fortified with vitamins and might be useful, at least we should keep in mind the fact that they are similar to a Mc. Donald's meal. Nothing poisonous, if the dose is very little (and just like in Mc Donald's we can opt for a little sandwich, avoiding sauces and the Big Mac).
Next Friday my piggies have another check up, the vet will check also their teeth; they spend the day eating unlimited grass and hay (more grass than hay)... we will see...
 
I wouldn't be surprised if pet food manufacturers monitor forums like this, just as writers and journalists monitor Mumsnet for ideas.

I think the question to ask is, is this a reputable company who has optimum nutrition as its goal or is it a company who is trying to make a quick buck off the back of what they see as a grain free trend and replacing the grain with something that may prove to be just as bad?:hmm:
 
spock said:
I wouldn't be surprised if pet food manufacturers monitor forums like this, just as writers and journalists monitor Mumsnet for ideas.

I think the question to ask is, is this a reputable company who has optimum nutrition as its goal or is it a company who is trying to make a quick buck off the back of what they see as a grain free trend and replacing the grain with something that may prove to be just as bad?:hmm:
Click to expand...
just like the business "gluten-free"... and now on sale there are biscuits made of rice flour which has an extremely high glycemic index...
The truth is that beans and cereals are not suitable for piggies and dry food is innatural and the first culprit of the kidney damage of cats (for example). Now all the cats develop, sooner or later, some kidney or gut issues (and the firms produce loads of dry food for kidney weak cats... a circle!). But a flour (beans or cereals) is necessary for making the pellet itself... I don't think it is possible to make a little dry ball using only hay and herbs...
Companies know the owners' brains... Look at the cats' foods: label says "chicken with blueberry", in italian the word chicken is replaced with a funny and silly word used for talking to little babies... Have you ever seen a wild cat eating blueberries? And why don't firm produce "rats meat with yummy offal of lizards"? the cat would prefer a label like that...
Pellets wouldn't have any nutritional value if they weren't fortified with vitamins... that' all...
And pets of course don't need pellets, although the humans find them practical...
 
I get the science selective.... and have tried others but my two love them, I was always a bit concerned on the alfalfa in them, so
seeing the grainfree I thought I was doing good in getting so I could mix the two, they have wolfed these new one first .... went down very
well I can say.... but reading the above I'm not so sure they are worth a second purchase .... thought I was onto a winner !
I try and give half the science selective and half another make so reducing the calcium etc but cant seem to find one that
seems healthy AND they will eat , any suggestions ?
 
I mixed a bag of the SS grainless in with Burgess mint and oregano and the piggies eat the lot. Next batch will be SS grainless and JR Farm grainless.

My herd doesn't have nuggets every day,
 
Flamestriker said:
I mixed a bag of the SS grainless in with Burgess mint and oregano and the piggies eat the lot. Next batch will be SS grainless and JR Farm grainless.

My herd doesn't have nuggets every day,
Click to expand...
Thanks I tried the burgess mint and they ate if there was nothing else left.. so the normal science select went first every time. Now this new grain less is in...they leave the normal science select and eat the grain less. ..can't win! Will try the JR farm grain less too.
 
I bought a 10kg gag of SS mint, and simply mixed the grainless in with it. I have a pet food bin for the nuggets so I need many bags to fill it.

Useful as emergency feed in the winter if we have 6 ft snowdrifts and the country grinds to a halt.
 
Ive recently added Science Selective in with Burgess mint pellets as I want to get them onto grain-free. Another Forum member warned about these actually catching on their teeth and I did in fact notice this with one of the older piggies. Managed to remove it herself fortunately. Going to try another brand though to see which they prefer. Trying to give them all less of any type of pellets now except the babies as theyve a lot of growing to do as yet.
 
@Janice C the grainless Science Selective don't have the whole! Mine love the SS grainless but they are expensive at £7 for 1.5kg in Pets at Home which is the only place I can find them here. Going to try to find them on line later.
 
I'm still not sure on them either so I might just stick to what I know. I got a £10 off voucher on Zooplus so have just bought about £50 worth of food that will hopefully last me :)) 23 kilos of the stuff!
 
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