Calcium:Phosphorus CONFUSION!

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I've just read the article on Calcium:Phosphorus ratio. It looks very good and very informative BUT I am very very stupid when it comes to understanding "science" and numbers! :{ I literally go BLANK and have a brain freeze.

[*]So please forgive me if I ask[/*]: can someone out there give me an idiot's guide to a guinea pig's healthy diet? Seriously - if any one has a daily or weekly menu, down to number of leaves, or grams of each veggie you give per feeding, I would be exceedingly grateful to you.

For your info: I have two boars --- Pork (1 year and 3 months old) and Beans (7 weeks old). They cannot get enough of parsley, chard, coriander, dill, red pepper and the pot of "Sainsburys living salads".
They eat RAVENOUSLY and I'm never sure how much of what veg to give them! So, I just tend to give them what they want.

I suspect that this is not good for them, but, as I said, I am very stupid when it comes to understanding numbers/science.

Many thanks for any advice you can give.

Pork and Bean's mum
 
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I can vouch for the ratewatchers diet Laura has recommended. It's very easy to follow, tells you exactly what to give so you can't go wrong
 
Pork said:
WOW! The ratewatchers diet looks dead easy to follow - even for a thick person like me rolleyes THANK YOU VERY MUCH for pointing me in the right direction.

I just hope that the way I've fed Pork in the last year and a half (and now Beans too) has not adversely affected their health...


Pork & Bean's mum x>>
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In my opinion, there is often a genetic disposition towards stones that needs to combine with either the fact that your piggy is not a good drinker or a very unbalanced diet. The ratewatcher's diet is a good diet to follow in any case! If you have fed a fairly varied diet, none of your piggies will have suffered; the key for good health is everything in moderation.
Laura has worked out a menu plan for British piggies in our reference section (which is always worth a look through).


Please do switch over gently and do not introduce more than one new food at a time.
 
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Wiebke said:
In my opinion, there is often a genetic disposition towards stones that needs to combine with either the fact that your piggy is not a good drinker or a very unbalanced diet. The ratewatcher's diet is a good diet to follow in any case! If you have fed a fairly varied diet, none of your piggies will have suffered; the key for good health is everything in moderation.
Click to expand...

:... Well... your last sentence is what worries me.... I've pandered to their whims, really. Pork has been with me for 1 year & 4 months and he's binged on parsley, chard, dill, dandelion leaves --- all of which are quite high in calcium and oxalic acid (?); and, on some occasions, he has binged on cucumber or red pepper. It all depended on what I had in the fridge and what he "communicated" that he loved --- and I gave it to him.

Now that I have the new young boar, Beans, I'm even more worried I'm doing the wrong thing has he, too, is developing the same tastes as Pork (parsley, chard, dill and cucumber/pepper).

ALSO: They eat FOUR TIMES A DAY!

1st meal at 8:30am (salad pack + parsley or dill;
2nd meal at noon (red pepper);
3rd meal at 6pm (chard/rocket/parsley/dandelion leaves);
4th meal at 10pm (cucumber)

Over-indulgent, I know... :(
I sooooo hope that I have not caused them, especially Pork, to develop serious illnesses !

Please do switch over gently and do not introduce more than one new food at a time.
Click to expand...

Glad you mentioned this. I was going to go to the supermarket early tomorrow morning and get a variety of veg based on the ratewatchers diet menus! So, how do you suggest I follow the menus WHILE slowly introducing food?

many thanks for your help... I hope no one here thinks I'm horrible :(
 
Of course no-one will think your horrible! I don't think I was feeding our piggies the right food and right amount of food until I started this diet either. Guinea pigs need around 50g of fresh food a day so you could start by making sure you aren't feeding more than this per day. It shouldn't be too long before you can get them fully on the diet. Just look through the sheet and work out what foods you've fed them in the past and see if you can do the diet with those veggies. You can still feed them 4 times a day if you want, just split the feeds across 4 sessions.
 
Follow up question:-

Using either Laura's diet OR the ratewatcher's diet, how do I treat salad bags ---

Specifically:
"Florette Crispy Salad" - Frisée, Lambs Lettuce, Radicchio

"Sainsbury's Cosmopolitan Salad" - Rocket (40%), Red Cos (30%), Green Batavia (20%), Mizuna (10%)

"Sainsbury's Baby Leaf Herb salad" - Lettuce (80%) (Baby Lollo Rosso, Baby Cos Lettuce), Herbs (20%) (Rocket, Coriander, Parsley)

1. how do I factor them into a healthy diet for my two boars?

2. how many grams at a time (good for two boars)?


THANK YOU AGAIN!
 
BUMP! I'm going vegetable-shopping soon so I need specific advice... Please see post above OR below:---

Pork said:
Follow up question:-

Using either Laura's diet OR the ratewatcher's diet, how do I treat salad bags ---

Specifically:
"Florette Crispy Salad" - Frisée, Lambs Lettuce, Radicchio

"Sainsbury's Cosmopolitan Salad" - Rocket (40%), Red Cos (30%), Green Batavia (20%), Mizuna (10%)

"Sainsbury's Baby Leaf Herb salad" - Lettuce (80%) (Baby Lollo Rosso, Baby Cos Lettuce), Herbs (20%) (Rocket, Coriander, Parsley)

1. how do I factor them into a healthy diet for my two boars?

2. how many grams at a time (good for two boars)?


THANK YOU AGAIN!
Click to expand...
 
Salad bags containing mixed lettuces, I usually put it in the same group as round lettuce, or lettuces like endive/frisee, radicchio etc. Basically, any other loose leaf type lettuce.

With regards to amount, I usually give a handful per pig, probably only comes to about 5g on the scales though.
 
Laura-CCC4 said:
Salad bags containing mixed lettuces, I usually put it in the same group as round lettuce, or lettuces like endive/frisee, radicchio etc. Basically, any other loose leaf type lettuce.

With regards to amount, I usually give a handful per pig, probably only comes to about 5g on the scales though.
Click to expand...

Laura, thanks for the response.
So, per handful of salad bag leaves, do I count them as 1 x mid-high? (NOTE: I'm referring to your guide to calcium:phosphorus sticky article).
 
Mid-high is good, yes.

I'm going to be asking a mod to pull down the stickies I've done and replace them with an alternative, as they need updating. Will save a lot of confusion.
 
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