Alfalfa/baby diet questions

[AnnaHeartsGuineaPigs]

Hello

So I am currently waiting to adopt a guinea pig and her babies which she will be having soon and I just had some questions about the diet I should be feeding them.

#1 If I do not have access to alfalfa based pellets, can I just use alfalfa hay? Or do they have to be in the form of pellets?
#2 !Worst case! If I cannot find alfalfa hay, what can I use that has the same benefits for them (good vegetables, fruits, herbs etc. etc.) ? Will they die without alfalfa hay?
#3 Is the food Bunny GuineaPigDream NATURE SHUTTLE a good food? I am planning to switch them over to Bunny GuineaPigDream BASIC after they have finished the nature shuttle bag, but is it an okay food for a just-gave-birth mother and newborn babies?

Thank you so much and if you need any more info/elaboration just tell me

 

[Piggies&buns]

Are you bringing them home as newborn pups then? If not, how old will the babies be when you get them?
The babies if under three weeks of age, do not need alfalfa, It can be given , one small handful per day, but it isn’t essential if you can’t get it. Once they are post weaning, then they don’t need it at all. They can be fed a normal adult diet which is unlimited hay, 50 grams of veg per day and one tablespoon of a plain pellet. They don’t need to be fed a pellet designed for babies at all, a normal adult pellet is fine.

the bunny nature shuttle food you mention appears to be a muesli which should not be fed to piggies. They should have a plain pellet, not a muesli.

the dream food looks to be fine though

more information on feeding is below

Pellets Or Muesli / Dry Mix?
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/pregnancy-and-nursing-diet.109377/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/after-birth-mother-and-baby-care.109389/

 

[AnnaHeartsGuineaPigs]

Are you bringing them home as newborn pups then? If not, how old will the babies be when you get them?
The babies if under three weeks of age, do not need alfalfa, It can be given , one small handful per day, but it isn’t essential if you can’t get it. Once they are post weaning, then they don’t need it at all. They can be fed a normal adult diet which is unlimited hay, 50 grams of veg per day and one tablespoon of a plain pellet. They don’t need to be fed a pellet designed for babies at all, a normal adult pellet is fine.

the bunny nature shuttle food you mention appears to be a muesli which should not be fed to piggies. They should have a plain pellet, not a muesli.

the dream food looks to be fine though

more information on feeding is below

Pellets Or Muesli / Dry Mix?
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/pregnancy-and-nursing-diet.109377/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/after-birth-mother-and-baby-care.109389/

thank you so much! I will be bringing them home when the rescue are comfortable that both the babies/baby and mom are healthy enough and are safe to go home. this is because the mom really came from a bad place before she was at the rescue (she has a broken leg from being thrown, she had ringworm, her nails growing into her paws from under her foot, basically just really bad condition) so they want to make sure they give her and her babies to me completely health checked and with no underlying illnesses. If I had to guess though, maybe 3 weeks or so after we need to take any boars away, but it isn't completely decided yet. I'm super happy alfalfa isn't necessary, but would you still advise I buy it if I come across it? About the food/pellet, the nature shuttle and the basic both contain the same formula of pellets, but the nature shuttle just added other ingredients instead of the basic where it is only pellets. Do you think I could take out the muesli elements and just feed the pellets of the nature shuttle one as it is the same as the basic?

 

[Piggies&buns]

So they are likely to be weaned before you get them then? if so, then don’t worry about the alfalfa at all. After that age, they will be on a normal adult diet. If you get them younger than three weeks then you can give one small handful of alfalfa per day - I’d make sure to only get a small amount of it so you don’t end up wasting loads of it.

It’s the other ingredients in the shuttle which aren’t good for them and will cause selective feeding. when given the choice, like us, piggies will choose the sweet tasting, high sugar, nice bits which is why mueslies aren’t good. this is also why foods likes carrots and fruit should be kept strictly limited.
If you want to sit and pick out all the other bits of the shuttle food out and just leave them with the pellets, then that is your choice but you will find it quite tedious!