Are We Putting The Right Amount Of Food Down?

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Rosyautumn girl

Rosyautumn girl

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Me again, newbie GP owners with so many questions to ask! I fear I may start to get on everyone's nerves! Sorry :roll: Here goes anyway!

At the moment, after only having had our girlies since Saturday, we have pretty much fed them this each morning - a small selection of kale (which they grab hungrily and munch up straight away!), some broccoli, few chunks of carrots and a handful of 'Nuggets' which are what pets at home provided and has all the nutrients they need including vitamin c.

Is this all either too much, or not enough?! And if they eat all their veggies pretty much in the morning, do you top it up during the day/when we get home from school/work? Or is the general rule, once it's gone, it's gone?!

It's always a worry if you're over feeding or under feeding.

Thank you everyone, again!
 
The most important part of their diet is hay - they should always have an unlimited supply which they will munch throughout the day (and night).

Other tips for a balanced diet can be found here;

Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet

As your piggies are new you should start to weigh them once a week, as their weight will give yo a good idea if you are feeding them enough.
My 4 are 10 months old now, and their wight gain has slowed greatly, so I am in the process of slowly reducing the amount of pellets that they get.
Once they settle in guinea pigs are absolute horrors for pulling the 'we are starving - feed us treats right now' act. They can be hard to resist so once you find a diet and quantities that work for your girls you need to be tough and stick to it!
 
Oh yes I forgot to mention the hay, yes I put 2 nice big bunches down in the morning, and give more out if it's gone. Omg you are so right, ours already give it the we are starving act! That's why I sent this message. Worried I wasn't giving them enough. I think they would eat kale all day every day if we handed it out to them! That goes the instant we put it in.

Weighing is a great idea, but I think we need to master getting them out first I think? I will definitely do that as soon as I can.

Thanks again swissgreys!
 
Mine adore curly Kale but be careful feeding it too often as it's high in calcium I believe?

My two girls (between 2-3yrs old) get a bowl of nuggets (half their joint daily allowance) and 50g fresh food in the morning and then their remaining pellets allowance and another 50g fresh food in the evening too! They have a litter tray and a hay bag full of meadow hay and Timothy hay too! :nod:
 
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Thank you piggies4us, can I ask what the daily allowance is per piggy? And if you have any veggie suggestions, I'm thinking green cabbage, broccoli every day, maybe kale twice a week as a treat then? I think it may have been your photo but not sure, there was red pepper in their pen. I'm happy to vary it up abit but don't want to give them upset bellies. Thanks again.
 
I think each brand of piggy good is different so check the bag of whatever food you use. I'm feeding a mix of Asda/burgess with mint and cavy cuisine and I put 20g in morning and then night too so they get 20g each per day (based on 2 sharing).
I feed peppers everyday and then a mix of coriander, kale, broccoli, spring greens, mixed salad bags, cucumber, green beans, carrot, apple and anything else we have in that's suitable :tu:
 
Fabulous, thank you so much, I will defo vary it up a bit for them but maybe add things in gradually. X
 
I would just add to be careful feeding broccoli and cabbage together because they both have a tendency to cause gas, and too many gas-producing foods can result in your guinea pig developing bloat which is very dangerous.

Various types of lettuce (just not iceberg lettuce) can also be given often. And fresh grass if you have access to any. They also enjoy celery cut up.
 
We feed ours twice a day, they have quickly learnt that wheeking does not get them fed. We do 8am & 8pm for veggies & nuggets. Also fresh Timothy hay & meadow hay.
 
Ah thank you, good job you said because I've mainly been giving broccoli, kale and cabbage! At pets at home they just said lots of green veg! This has all been so helpful. And 2 feeds a day sounds good to me, I like that idea, gives them some sense of routine!? Thank you.
 
Rosyautumn girl said:
Thank you piggies4us, can I ask what the daily allowance is per piggy? And if you have any veggie suggestions, I'm thinking green cabbage, broccoli every day, maybe kale twice a week as a treat then? I think it may have been your photo but not sure, there was red pepper in their pen. I'm happy to vary it up abit but don't want to give them upset bellies. Thanks again.
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Cabbage and broccoli can be bloating so I wouldn't feed it daily. We always feed lettuce (not ice berg) and rotate the rest. Carrots a couple of times a week as they're high in sugar we've tried bell peppers, green beans, cellery, kale, tomatoes, cucumber, water melon, corn on the cob (very fattening I think) alsorts really. We try and vary it as much as possible. If you google Guinea pig diet there's loads on information and different food menus for ideas. Guinea lynx have a list of all okay fruit and veg and how many times a week it is okay to feed it :)
 
I agree with the above. cabbage/broccoli/kale should only be fed now and again.

Mine tend to get it once a week usually. Twice sometimes.

Daily I give pepper (this is high in vitamin C for them), cucumber, celery.

Carrots I use as bribery treat for nail trimming or a reward after taking meds ect. :)
 
Ah great thank you, I will check out Guinea Lynx I keep thinking I've got it sussed with the food but then hear I can't feed them this and that! Bit annoyed with the pet store really they just said plenty of green veg so thought things like cabbage, kale, broccoli would be fine.

Funnily enough they don't seem to touch their carrots, which is odd as it's supposed to be a treat?!

Anyway, hopefully I'll get it right eventually!

Thanks soooo much everyone X
 
Rosyautumn girl said:
Ah great thank you, I will check out Guinea Lynx I keep thinking I've got it sussed with the food but then hear I can't feed them this and that! Bit annoyed with the pet store really they just said plenty of green veg so thought things like cabbage, kale, broccoli would be fine.

Funnily enough they don't seem to touch their carrots, which is odd as it's supposed to be a treat?!

Anyway, hopefully I'll get it right eventually!

Thanks soooo much everyone X
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Ours don't really enjoy carrots too much, just every now and then
 
Same here - they're not overly taken by anything that isn't green really!
 
My girls don't seem to like fruit- is that normal? I've tried Apple, kiwi and satsuma. They've refused it all. They love spinach, Spring greens, pepper and carrot and cucumber.
 
Bigsize9fot said:
My girls don't seem to like fruit- is that normal? I've tried Apple, kiwi and satsuma. They've refused it all. They love spinach, Spring greens, pepper and carrot and cucumber.
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Yep seems normal one me. My pigs don't like fruit either, only apple, which is a rare treat.
 
Mine love spinach but I only give a little as it's high in calcium. The vet said not too much celery too but I only have one piggy at a time who likes it. Red peppers go down well. Broccoli goes smelly in the summer so I switched to rainbow chard. They like fine beans and romaine lettuce. Rusty gets sore lips so I have to be careful with acidic food but sometimes they have a grape or mini tomato. They know all the signs of food about to come and we feed them twice a day. They got into after school snack time too because my daughter would have fruit or something then. They love melon too. We get the poor starving guinea pig routine!
 
Thanks JenniferG, yes I get that we're starving thing too, they're such funny little things aren't they! Mine seem to eat red peppers but reluctantly, like its the last thing to get eaten, I've tried them on a little spinach today and it's been left, think I have a couple of fussy eaters on my hands! Forgot the romaine lettuce but I'll try that next. Thanks again.
 
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