A Few Supplement Questions

[krissy]

Hey everybody, i have a few quick questions I thought i'd ask and get some good advice on this forum.

First question, is it okay to sprinkle milled flaxseed on my cavy's pellets? I know flaxseed is really good for human as well as horses ( I work at a horse farm), but will guinea pigs benefit from it. I've heard of owners feeding flax to promote a nice, shiney coat in there piggies.

Is this a good or bad idea?

Also is it okay to feed small ammounts of sweet feed? the kind i feed my horses contains oats, soybean, wheat middlings and molassas.

are these ingriedients toxic to guinea pigs or do they have any sort of nutritional value?

Right now my piggies are eating oxbow pellets withunlimited timmothy hay. I offer alfalafa hay and oat hay as a treat. I'm also feeding 1 cup of fresh veggies and fruit.

 

[Amanda1801]

Supplements are unnecessary if your pigs have a good diet (which it sounds like they do) unless they are unwell or have a long term medical condition.

To answer your questions...

Flaxseed - a bad idea because of the high fat content. Pigs with a good healthy diet should have a perfectly fine coat.

Sweet feeds - a bad idea because a) they don't need additional sugar and b) because they shouldn't have legumes etc.


I say stick to what you're doing! Oxbow are a good brand of pellets to feed, unlimited hay is spot on, and a variety of vegetables will give them the additional vits/minerals they need. Fruit should be fed sparingly because of the sugar content, as should alfalfa hay unless they're growing piggies, because of the high calcium content.