Advice On A Nugget Change?

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A&T

A&T

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So firstly I should tell you, that I originally fed Amber pets at home nuggets and Wagg muelsi. I knew about the possibility of selective feeding with muesli, however I never believed that she (and Trixie at the time) were selectively feeding, is anything the muesli would always be left over the nuggets. Anyway, Amber started to get quiet a lot of calcium deposits so I decided to cut out the muesli and change from pets at home nuggets. I tried her on JR grainless but she didnt like them. Then a friend sent me some Vitakraft and she ate those no problem. The calcium deposits have decreased but not fully gone, but I'm not to worried about that.. i'm just happy its not as many!

My first problem is now... Amber has basically completely stopped eating the Vitakraft, she wont touch them in the morning, and i'm sure only eats them during the day because shes hungry and wants some nuggets rather than just hay. Shes maybe eating 2... but never the full 5. Some days id actually go as far as saying she never eats any! I know that guinea pigs dont need nuggets but I would quiet like her to have them, just for added fiber and stuff.

Second problem is, I recently got a new guinea pig, a baby who is on pets at home nuggets. I tried her with the Vitakraft cut really small and even the small bits are to big! I know as she gets older she will be able to eat them probably but right now there's not way i'm going to give her the Vitakraft! She will be going in with Amber soon.. so basically what I need is to change them both onto a nugget that they both like... which isn't huge.

What does everyone think of Harrington's? I believe the Harrington's calcium is actually 0.8.. as where Vitakraft is 0.9? so that's better?
Other option is pets at home nuggets? are they high in calcium, I know people don't like pets at home but I'd like someone to comment on a nutritional point of view not a "dont get pets at home nuggets pets at home are the devil" point of view :)

I'm open to other suggestions also, preferable something I can get online?
Maybe Gerty Guinea Pig? That Selective stuff? Burgess?! (although i know Burgess are quiet big.. they're like a C shape aren't they? or have they changed?)

Any advice would be great! Even if its not from a in-depth point of view, just personal opinion :)
Thanks! x
 
No problem, I think you can get smaller bags to try it out, ask the company if they do sample bags just in case your piggie is fussy with them as well :) I got one from the vet last year (they were already on the food though).
 
Kerrie74 said:
No problem, I think you can get smaller bags to try it out, ask the company if they do sample bags just in case your piggie is fussy with them as well :) I got one from the vet last year (they were already on the food though).
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Yeah, there's a small bag of 350g on Fetch but its £2 odd! which for 350g seems ridiculous! I've just emailed the company to see if they do samples. She is a right little fussy madam! last thing I want to a 10kg bag of nuggets she isn't going to eat, on top of the Vitakraft I already have :)):mal::doh:
 
Exactly :) hopefully they'll send you a free sample :) Yeah the smaller a bags are a bit over priced which is why I went to 10kg, I used to have I think it was 2.5 kg or 3 can't remember, but that was £5.50 :/
 
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:DMy herd are all on Harrington's. It seems to be a very popular brand. The pellets are very small. You can get them from Fetch. £4.29 for a 2 kg bag.
With any brand of food, muesli or pellets, look for high Vitamin C and low calcium levels.
 
7squeakers. said:
:DMy herd are all on Harrington's. It seems to be a very popular brand. The pellets are very small. You can get them from Fetch. £4.29 for a 2 kg bag.
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Harringtons does seem to be the most fed brand! I've emailed them for a free sample too. I must admit my first 'right what should I do' was to go for Harringtons. Also getting it from Fetch would be handy as that;s where I get all of my Renal cats food from.
 
:DI always get mine from Fetch. The 1 hour delivery slots are very useful! Remember to change over the pellets very slowly, over a period of at least 7 days, to avoid tummy upsets. :tu:
 
7squeakers. said:
:DI always get mine from Fetch. The 1 hour delivery slots are very useful! Remember to change over the pellets very slowly, over a period of at least 7 days, to avoid tummy upsets. :tu:
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Really useful isn't it! and they're always available as I'm sure not many people know about fetch.
Yep thank you :) Did the slow introduction with the vitakraft before so i've got that under my belt ;)
 
i don't think it matters too much if you're not feeding over the amount recommended. that could be the issue rather than what type you are giving. about 1/8 cup per pig is the maximum you should be feeding really, although now having a baby aswell that may be tricky as she would probably eat more than that (although some do say all ages should have very little pellets so they become used to eating what is better for them early on)

i think all pellets have their downsides (which is probably why alot of vets don't recommend them at all).. so some are slightly higher calcium, some are too big, and some are also too high in sugar which is as concerning as calcium (harringtons are one of these brands, as are excel)

i personally think feeding a pellet they like/will tolerate is better than feeding one they love, just because they only need such a small amount (of course babies, older or ill piggies may have different requirements)

so really, you could just feed a small amount of one, or two mixed together, and see how that goes. if you're not already doing so, then i'd focus more on the amount of what you give rather than the type and see where you're at then :)
 
biscandmatt said:
i don't think it matters too much if you're not feeding over the amount recommended. that could be the issue rather than what type you are giving. about 1/8 cup per pig is the maximum you should be feeding really, although now having a baby aswell that may be tricky as she would probably eat more than that (although some do say all ages should have very little pellets so they become used to eating what is better for them early on)

i think all pellets have their downsides (which is probably why alot of vets don't recommend them at all).. so some are slightly higher calcium, some are too big, and some are also too high in sugar which is as concerning as calcium (harringtons are one of these brands, as are excel)

i personally think feeding a pellet they like/will tolerate is better than feeding one they love, just because they only need such a small amount (of course babies, older or ill piggies may have different requirements)

so really, you could just feed a small amount of one, or two mixed together, and see how that goes. if you're not already doing so, then i'd focus more on the amount of what you give rather than the type and see where you're at then :)
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I pretty much do feel what it says like based on age. Although like you said it would be tricky with Willow (baby pig) but to be honest Amber has never been one to eat nuggets until the bowl is empty? if that makes sense? Like she comes and goes to it of course but I dont think she's ever eaten over the amount she should be better if that makes sense?

Oh are Harrington's high in sugar then?

Yeah I see what you mean, I'm pretty sure Amber doesn't get over the amount she should have, she definitely doesn't with the Vitakraft anyway. I dont think she did when she was on pets at home either. We always chucked some away that were left.
 
A&T said:
I pretty much do feel what it says like based on age. Although like you said it would be tricky with Willow (baby pig) but to be honest Amber has never been one to eat nuggets until the bowl is empty? if that makes sense? Like she comes and goes to it of course but I dont think she's ever eaten over the amount she should be better if that makes sense?

Oh are Harrington's high in sugar then?

Yeah I see what you mean, I'm pretty sure Amber doesn't get over the amount she should have, she definitely doesn't with the Vitakraft anyway. I dont think she did when she was on pets at home either. We always chucked some away that were left.
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i wouldn't worry too much if her weight is stable. mollie isn't a massive fan of pellets either. she will pick at them through the day but only seems to want one or two at a time. the problem we have is benjie! he will eat far too many and is prone to weight gain. he came to us on harringtons and he was crazy obsessed with them! i weaned him off them but it took ages (i magine because of the sugar) and finally got him onto a small amount of oxbow. we have had to experiment to find what works for them as a pair. too little and he eats them all before mollie gets chance to have any, and too many and he gains weight. at the moment 1/16th cup in the morning and 1tbsp at night works well for both. mollie gets what she needs and benjie likes them but doesn't love them enough to eat the whole lot in one go :))

oxbow are good because they are timothy hay based, the calcium is low-ish, however they have some ingredients that people say are not good aswell, like limestone and calcium carbonate! :roll: so it seems to be that they all have bad points.

harringtons are meant to be high in sugar, as are excel. i'm not sure about other brands but think pretty much all pellets are sugary unfortunately.

there is a new one out recently which helen has said are on par with the jr ones i think. they're the meadow menu by rosewood. the same concept as the bunny and vitakraft.

when mollie was alone for a bit after eddie passed, she would make an 1/8 cup last 24 hours and i'd still have to throw most. she was the same with the excel she came to me with, and with the oxbow i changed her onto, and then with the harringtons benjie came to me on. she just isn't that into them. i think it's s good thing really and she always stayed a stable weight (even gaining the first few months after she arrived) so i don't worry too much about it. and our vet doesn't think it is an issue either because we feed lots of hays and leafy greens. and they have grass aswell. :)

i don't see any calcium spots around with this amount i feed, but there will be a few patches after some particular leafy greens, but that's normal :)
 
biscandmatt said:
i wouldn't worry too much if her weight is stable. mollie isn't a massive fan of pellets either. she will pick at them through the day but only seems to want one or two at a time. the problem we have is benjie! he will eat far too many and is prone to weight gain. he came to us on harringtons and he was crazy obsessed with them! i weaned him off them but it took ages (i magine because of the sugar) and finally got him onto a small amount of oxbow. we have had to experiment to find what works for them as a pair. too little and he eats them all before mollie gets chance to have any, and too many and he gains weight. at the moment 1/16th cup in the morning and 1tbsp at night works well for both. mollie gets what she needs and benjie likes them but doesn't love them enough to eat the whole lot in one go :))

oxbow are good because they are timothy hay based, the calcium is low-ish, however they have some ingredients that people say are not good aswell, like limestone and calcium carbonate! :roll: so it seems to be that they all have bad points.

harringtons are meant to be high in sugar, as are excel. i'm not sure about other brands but think pretty much all pellets are sugary unfortunately.

there is a new one out recently which helen has said are on par with the jr ones i think. they're the meadow menu by rosewood. the same concept as the bunny and vitakraft.

when mollie was alone for a bit after eddie passed, she would make an 1/8 cup last 24 hours and i'd still have to throw most. she was the same with the excel she came to me with, and with the oxbow i changed her onto, and then with the harringtons benjie came to me on. she just isn't that into them. i think it's s good thing really and she always stayed a stable weight (even gaining the first few months after she arrived) so i don't worry too much about it. and our vet doesn't think it is an issue either because we feed lots of hays and leafy greens. and they have grass aswell. :)

i don't see any calcium spots around with this amount i feed, but there will be a few patches after some particular leafy greens, but that's normal :)
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Oh god I bet thats a nightmare! or was! at least you've sort of sorted it out now and mollie can get a look in bless her! She sounds like Amber though, never finishing any nuggets. Since Amber has been having the Vitakraft she lost weight, not loads but that was probably because of the muesli that I cut out.

The problem is I dont have that many nuggets for Willow so I have a feeling I'm going to run out, I need to put a delivery in for tomorrow really and get her changed over ASAP! I'm thinking I might go with Harringtons, although I know you said they're high in sugar, I'm not sure that the difference between selective and harringtons in terms of sugar is that different? i'm not sure though. I can always change them onto something else. I'm just really undecided, I dont know whether to try the selective as i can get a small 350g bag from fetch or just buy a big bag of harringtons and risk it?! What would you do?! i'm so rubbish at decisions.
 
A couple of years ago I emailed selective about a sample and they sent me one of those 350g bags for free. Don't know if they still do them but worth a try. My guineas weren't keen on them though.
 
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A&T said:
Oh god I bet thats a nightmare! or was! at least you've sort of sorted it out now and mollie can get a look in bless her! She sounds like Amber though, never finishing any nuggets. Since Amber has been having the Vitakraft she lost weight, not loads but that was probably because of the muesli that I cut out.

The problem is I dont have that many nuggets for Willow so I have a feeling I'm going to run out, I need to put a delivery in for tomorrow really and get her changed over ASAP! I'm thinking I might go with Harringtons, although I know you said they're high in sugar, I'm not sure that the difference between selective and harringtons in terms of sugar is that different? i'm not sure though. I can always change them onto something else. I'm just really undecided, I dont know whether to try the selective as i can get a small 350g bag from fetch or just buy a big bag of harringtons and risk it?! What would you do?! i'm so rubbish at decisions.
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i don't know much about the selective ones to be honest. the harringtons are small and they must taste good as so many piggies love them. i wouldn't have had an issue with mine being on them if benjie wasn't so over the top obsessed with them! :)) you might prefer to choose those because of the size. that was one thing i liked about them.

it's just trial and error sometimes. i have ours sorted now but i'm still tempted to try them on some others aswell :roll: so maybe a small amount of mixed oxbow and something else. don't know why... probably a disaster waiting to happen if benjie loves them too much! :))

harringtons are fairly cheap aswell so maybe go with those and then ask on here if someone can send you a sample of the selective? saves you buying a whole bag. i have oxbow here (the adult one) and bunny aswell so if you ever want to try those then let me know and i'll send you some. :)
 
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Okay so, Harrington's said they wouldn't send me a sample but would send me some vouchers off my first purchase, sooo that's better than nothing.

Anyway, i bought a small bag of selective, but they said theyll send me a bag but i couldn't wait till end of the week which is likey when ill get them from them.

My problem is Amber loves them of course she would... Think she would eat anything over vitakraft! But willow isn't so keen, i put 19 in last night and shes eaten 4 over night, if she's even eaten them and not just taken them into her home. Shes only a bub and i know they need unlimated pellets so i don't know if i should top her up with pets at home nuggets or just leave those in till the evening so she doesn't have a choice?

*EDIT just checked she's eaten 6
 
i'd probably let her have some pets at home mixed in aswell for now if you're worried she isn't eating enough :)
 
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