Are My Trio Eating Too Much?

[ZiggyStarPig]

From everything I've read on all the food threads I am learning Guinea Pigs LOVE to eat. I've had my trio for almost 2 days now and I'm amazed at how much they enjoy their grub. They have cleared 2 full large ceramic bowls of Wagg Guinea Pig mix, most of a bag of Kale, red pepper, yellow pepper, half a cucumber, 3 carrots, and a huge amount of Timothy Hay. I've been feeding the veg in small amounts throughout the day. I'm worried I might be overfeeding them but they have started to wheek every time they hear the fridge open & whenever I'm anywhere near the shelf I keep the bag of hay on. Last night me & husband couldn't believe how much hay Teddy in particular ate, my husband was watching a football match on TV & the full 90 plus minutes Teddy sat munching on the hay. We ended up watching him rather than the game! Ziggy and Duke ate their fair share too. I'm going to get in a routine of set veg times, it'll be hard because it's so hard to ignore those pleading wheeks! Can they ever eat too much hay? Do they stop eating when they are full up? I'm more than happy to provide however much they need, I'm just stunned at how much of it those little bodies can put away!

Also thought I'd say I keep referring to them as 'he's' on here & when I speak about them but they are definitely all sows. All my previous pets since childhood have been male and I seem to be in the habit of saying him instead of her

 

[Swissgreys]

I think the general consensus is that unlimited hay is fine. It isn't particularly nutritionally dense, so they can't really overeat it, plus it is essential for their gut function.
They should average an egg cup of complete food / pellets per day, and 1 cup of veggies.
As for veggies it is best to introduce them slowly until you build up what they will tolerate without getting an upset stomach. Based on your story I think it is probably unlikely they were getting a lot of fresh veg at their previous home.

I am also astonished at how much hay my lot get through, but I think they are quite wasteful, and a lot gets trampled or thrown all over the floor, so they probably don't eat as much as i think they do!

And as for wheeking, I think that just shows how comfortable they are feeling, and how quickly they are working to train you as their life long slaves

 

[ZiggyStarPig]

I think the general consensus is that unlimited hay is fine. It isn't particularly nutritionally dense, so they can't really overeat it, plus it is essential for their gut function.
They should average an egg cup of complete food / pellets per day, and 1 cup of veggies.
As for veggies it is best to introduce them slowly until you build up what they will tolerate without getting an upset stomach. Based on your story I think it is probably unlikely they were getting a lot of fresh veg at their previous home.

I am also astonished at how much hay my lot get through, but I think they are quite wasteful, and a lot gets trampled or thrown all over the floor, so they probably don't eat as much as i think they do!

And as for wheeking, I think that just shows how comfortable they are feeling, and how quickly they are working to train you as their life long slaves

Thank you for reassuring me about the hay, I'm so surprised at how much they are munching their way through! I only saw them once in their old home and they were in a hutch with shavings, no hay to be seen. They are enjoying it so much, great to see. I'm going to be more careful with the veg. Yesterday I just gave them lots of everything to see them happy but I should have introduced it more slowly. Thankfully there's no diarrhoea today & I'm just giving them a small amount of kale and yellow pepper. Each day I'll add a little of different types of veg. I'll need to get ear plugs for when I'm working from home because those wheeks are really hard to ignore! Thanks again for your help