Are Pellets Really Necessary?

Guanchy

Guanchy

Junior Guinea Pig
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I've read online of people doing vegetable only diets and pellets being the least important thing in their diets since you only feed 1/8 of a cup a day. Is it necessary to feed them pellets daily? Can you supply whatever benefits the pellets have through veggies and hay?
 
Definitely necessary in my opinion ^_^ they make sure your piggy gets enough vitamin C and Calcium!
 
No it's not necessary, but you have to be quite precise when looking into feeding. Piggies who have had pellets will lose weight once they come off of them so you have to do it gradually.

I've thought about doing it myself but instead I switched to grain free nuggets and just reduced them even more and added more grass :)
 
Mine are on a couple of small handfuls of Harringtons a day for breakfast. I wouldn't take mine off nuggets cos I would worry that they wouldn't get the right balance of stuff. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I am just letting you know what I do in case it is of any help. I would never tell anyone how to look after their piggies that is very personal to every owner.
 
I used to have my lot on a pelletless diet, but we ended up with a smaller fridge and the variety of veggies I feed had to be reduced, plus I got a bit tired of having lots of different types of hay all over the place :xd: they were getting pure hay pellets and pure grass pellets after a while and I figured if they were going to be getting them, they may as well get pellets alongside them! I dont like relying on the 5% part of the diet to make sure they're getting their vitamins and minerals, but it's a good back up to have just in case. To me, veg is where the thought needs to go into :)
 
My three have a handful of harringtons between them every evening. They have unlimited hay and water, a few veg (bell peppers, corriander, occasional mixed salad leaves leaves, cucumber) but most of all they have loads of freshly picked grass which they adore above all else.
 
I give mine a mixture of pellets,harringtons,burgess,asda,tescos,science selective and rosewoods,but only the equivilant of an 1/8 th of a cup for each piggie.i do not like to have them fixated on one pellet.it is a personal decision as to wether you feed pellets or not.i like @flowerfairy idea of feeding fresh grass,but it is difficult to find enough for 23 piggies in the winter months !
 
Mine have very few pellets, and I do feed a mix of 2 different types (one is grain free).
I believe they choose to only eat a small amount because their basic diet is good.
They have multiple types of good quality hay daily, as well as a regular, balanced supply of fresh food.
To be honest I could probably stop pellets all together, and they would barely notice.

But I choose to continue to offer them, because I feel that they are my safety net.
Vitamin D is my biggest concern - my piggies live indoors, and due to our climate they only get outdoor lawn time for a few months of the year.
I could supplement with Vitamin D, but using pellets does that for me.

I also use a lot of fresh grass, but again this isn't a year round thing for us.
Plus if one of the piggies is ill or needs additional feeding I have 2 brands of pellet to fall back on.

So I think it is a personal choice.
I do believe that piggies can do fine without pellets, but my own choice is to continue to use them.
 
Pellets aren't strictly necessary. So many of them are full of rubbish anyway, essentially just junk food for piggies. But like @Cavy Kung-Fu said, You would really have to know what you're doing and make sure they're getting everything they need from their hay/veggies and lots of grass. Pellets are a small part of their diet anyway, I wouldn't be solely relying on pellets for vit c etc, they can get that from fresh veg.

I feed very small amounts, only about 5g a day per pig, they're more of a treat.

Definitely possible to go pellet free, but you'd really need to do your research first, and don't just come off them you'd have to wean them off.
 
I feed mine Alfalfa King Timothy Hay first veggies 2nd and a small amount of Haringtons pellet's 3rd
 
Betsy said:
Mine are on a couple of small handfuls of Harringtons a day for breakfast. I wouldn't take mine off nuggets cos I would worry that they wouldn't get the right balance of stuff. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I am just letting you know what I do in case it is of any help. I would never tell anyone how to look after their piggies that is very personal to every owner.
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Mine love Harringtons too :tu:
 
Lots of piggie goodies being delivered to your place huh .....hmmmmm could be worth considering a commando raid in Southampton:hmm:.. to replenish stocks up here for the boys in time for Christmas :woot:
 
FlyerTrev said:
Lots of piggie goodies being delivered to your place huh .....hmmmmm could be worth considering a commando raid in Southampton:hmm:.. to replenish stocks up here for the boys in time for Christmas :woot:
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You try and I'll set Velvet on you! :yikes::yikes::yikes:
 
I just wanted to second Swissgrey's opinion. I'm giving very few pellets daily, because I too have concerns about their vitamin D intake and because I want to make sure they're familiar with the taste, if I need to syringe-feed them pellet slurry with critical care. But pellets are by no means a significant part of their diet, I focus on good quality and variety of hay, plus daily veggies and grass (which in the winter I grow indoors).
 
RosieMaia said:
I just wanted to second Swissgrey's opinion. I'm giving very few pellets daily, because I too have concerns about their vitamin D intake and because I want to make sure they're familiar with the taste, if I need to syringe-feed them pellet slurry with critical care. But pellets are by no means a significant part of their diet, I focus on good quality and variety of hay, plus daily veggies and grass (which in the winter I grow indoors).
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I read somewhere that 80% of their diet should be a good quality Hay which I aim for ( after throwing copious amounts (of timothy rich) hay into their cage last night it was a pleasure to see them both really excited and popcorning / wheeking for the first time ). They get veggies too each morning and evening so I would personally only consider pellets as perhaps 10-15 % of their diet .
 
Mine always have piles of hay to eat and burrow in - it does make them excited every morning and evening! :)

I really like this food pyramid:
rabbitfoodpyramid1.jpg


Sadly, for indoor piggies in big cities, feeding as much grass, especially in the winter, is hardly achievable. So instead, I opt for the latter pyramid, which pellets really being the very tip, less than 5% of their food intake.

resizedimage200160-Rabbit-pyramid-1-bigger-version.jpg
 
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