Alfalfa in Pellets...

[Storm1974]

Ok so the boys have been having a small amount of their Versele-Laga pellets since we got them in August as babies and now they are 6 months old, but I noticed last night (For the first time!) that their bag actually says on the front 'with Alfalfa'! So now we are worried because we are know that Alfalfa is very high in calcium, but we cannot afford to throw away half of this huge (we bought 15kgs because it was a lot cheaper to buy in bulk...Bit of a mistake there!) bag!

Will it be detrimental to keep giving the boys these pellets? I can't believe we didn't notice that it had 'with Alfalfa' written on the bag, until last night!

We do want to stick to the Versele-Laga brand as they are very good quality and don't contain any soy, plus the boys love them! But as I said, we can't afford to throw half a bag away, and buy another one right now.

I do realise that some members on here don't feed any pellets, but the boys so look forward to them each day and they do contain their Vit D requirements, plus other micronutrients that they may not get from their diet, so don't really want to stop feeding them completely.

 

[Storm1974]

....Sorry meant 8 kg bag, not 15!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Finish the bag making sure you stick to one tablespoon per day. I would ensure not to feed too much other high calcium veg while you still have those pellets

 

[piggieminder]

You will still be able to feed Verselle-Laga the junior one has alfalfa, you need Cavia Complete which is timothy based. It's a bit confusing since they changed the packaging because they use the same pictures on the sacks for Junior, Cavia and Chinchilla. My heart sank when I saw Chinchilla, I thought I'd been sent the wrong sack.

 

[Storm1974]

You will still be able to feed Verselle-Laga the junior one has alfalfa, you need Cavia Complete which is timothy based. It's a bit confusing since they changed the packaging because they use the same pictures on the sacks for Junior, Cavia and Chinchilla. My heart sank when I saw Chinchilla, I thought I'd been sent the wrong sack.

Yes we actually bought the bag from ebay when we first got the piggies and didn't know too much about the calcium thing, so didn't really notice any difference until yesterday. When, as I said, I was getting some pellets out for them, from the tub, which is next to the bag, then I suddenly noticed the words 'with alfalfa'!

 

[Minnou]

(Sorry to waddle in here but it saves opening multiple threads on the same topic)

My guinea pig's pellets are 17.5% alfalfa, is that too high? Should I be feeding them pellets with 0% alfalfa in them?

My piggies are just over 3 months old and they absolutely love the pellets I give them at present; I give them 1 tbsp each and they gobble them.

If I change their food to something else, I see sad piggle eyes and hunger strikes coming my way.

I've been giving them this one: https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/pets-at-home-guinea-pig-nuggets-2kg#

I never read the reviews before buying it and they're far from great but, as I said, my two love them.

Can someone recommend something else they'll hopefully like just as much?

 

[fluffysal]

I use the p@h nuggets. George was on science selective but when we got Boris he was on p@h. I followed the pellets weaning advice by mixing the two and the result was that George stopped eating the science selective and Boris would never touch them! I have read on here that they shouldn't have alfalfa so maybe the normal p@h? You know by now that you can NOT predict what they will like!

 

[Piggies&buns]

(Sorry to waddle in here but it saves opening multiple threads on the same topic)

My guinea pig's pellets are 17.5% alfalfa, is that too high? Should I be feeding them pellets with 0% alfalfa in them?

My piggies are just over 3 months old and they absolutely love the pellets I give them at present; I give them 1 tbsp each and they gobble them.

If I change their food to something else, I see sad piggle eyes and hunger strikes coming my way.

I've been giving them this one: https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/pets-at-home-guinea-pig-nuggets-2kg#

I never read the reviews before buying it and they're far from great but, as I said, my two love them.

Can someone recommend something else they'll hopefully like just as much?

They don’t need or should they really have alfalfa in their diet at all. It is high in calcium.
You can give alfalfa containing pellets to youngsters if you wish (most of us will never feed the young piggy pellets which tend to contain them though - they’re a gimmick and not necessary) but they are ideally off if alfalfa containing products by four months of age.

 

[Minnou]

I use the p@h nuggets. George was on science selective but when we got Boris he was on p@h. I followed the pellets weaning advice by mixing the two and the result was that George stopped eating the science selective and Boris would never touch them! I have read on here that they shouldn't have alfalfa so maybe the normal p@h? You know by now that you can NOT predict what they will like!

Good idea; I'll try mixing their old food in with new food too.... and watch them just pick out their old favourite food and ignore the new stuff, probably.

They don’t need or should they really have alfalfa in their diet at all. It is high in calcium.
You can give alfalfa containing pellets to youngsters if you wish (most of us will never feed the young piggy pellets which tend to contain them though - they’re a gimmick and not necessary) but they are ideally off if alfalfa containing products by four months of age.

When I'm just about finished the bag I've got, I'll try what fluffysal did and hopefully switch them over to a new food without a hitch... x3

 

[eileen]

The guinea pig science selective pellets,may have alfalfa/lucern.....but the phosphate is 0.5 and the calcium is 0.6.
Therefore even the grainfree,and normal guinea pig science selective have exactly the same value.
Pellets are only a small part of the diet.1 tablespoon of any grass based pellet will not cause a big problem.if you have a piggie with bladder problems,then maybe go for a grainfree.