Bell pepper and veggie help.

[obsessedwithanimals]

My new female pigs ( they're about 7-8 wks old now) are getting romaine lettuce hearts , cucumber and some bell pepper most days. They have carrots or tomatoes thrown in every now and then aswell. I've only had them for a about 2 weeks so I'm wondering what veggies I should feed them? I've only ever given them green bell pepper but as my dad bought yellow and red bell peppers I was wondering if that'd be okay too or are they different? Also how much should I feed them? How many leaves of lettuce etc. ?

 

[tabelmabel]

Red pepper is a good one as I believe it has the most vitamin C (more than the green anyway) and the yellow is fine too (and rich in C) They do like the leaves from cauliflowers and mine are very fond of green beans. With any new food, introduce it on its own and not too much just to check your piggy is ok with it. You can also feed cabbage and broccoli, although too much can cause bloating and discomfort and I think broccoli is rich in calcium so not too much (it's also very expensive atm!)

Mine LOVE parsley (again this shouldn't be given in quantity as it's high in oxalic acid - it is a good one for vit C though)

You can also give small amounts of fruit like melon (you can eat the flesh and give them the rest) and grapes (high sugar so just occasional)


I am not sure about amounts - best let someone else advise on that! I try to adjust the amounts so that my piggies are getting the 80% hay they need - I give large amounts of hay each day and as long as that is going down well, I am quite generous with the veg!

 

[tabelmabel]

Ps cucumber is fine but shouldn't be given often as it is very low nutritional value - it is mainly water so great for pigs that don't drink enough and as a treat - not as a main veg

 

[SpinningNickel]

Mine love berries, which aren't nearly as high in sugar as many other fruits so ok a couple times a week. They also love coriander/cilantro, which they can have regularly. The outer leaves from corn on the cob always go down well with mine as well. They wouldn't touch these at first but once they tried them they became a firm favourite!

 

[sport_billy]

Here's a list of foods that you can and can't feed piggies www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=42 try to get lots of variety in to keep their interest up and around about a cup full of veg per pig per day split into Breakfast and Tea.

As said above piggies should have access to unlimited hay at all times and a small amount of dried food a day like pellets or nuggets.