Do they *need* greens every day?

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NocturnalRapport

I told my friend earlier that I needed to go to the shop as the piggies had ran out of salad. She suggested I just leave it until Monday.

I knew she had a GP so I asked her if she left hers so long without salad and she said its rare that hers gets greens at all, just now and again as a treat otherwise all it eats is the GP pellet food.

Isn't this harmful? My piggies would throw a major strop if they didn't get their 'breakfast' and 'dinner' salads everyday!
 
Now you mention it, i have no idea.
sorry I'm not much help!

i'd say it would otherwise they wouldnt want it all the time! what about natural vits and mins etc?
 
You know....I haven't a clue! Mine never go without except one week when it was really tight for money and they just had hay and dried and some green pepper! But I don't know if it is damaging.

Would be interesting to find out.
 
In the wild they'd not have access to veggies (or dry food) but would imagine they'd forage on a variety of green stuff, they don't make their own Vit C like us hence we feed them scources of vit C. I personally wouldn't not give my piggies daily veg tho' hay is more important for their teeth & digestion. I am assuming this piggy does get unlimited amounts of hay?

A "domestic" balanced diet supposedly consists of dry food, hay & veggies or grass/es, which are nearer their natural diet. :)
 
BeckyP said:
good question because say Wagg for example call their food 'complete' diet :)
Click to expand...

not so complete for my two, i thought they would never speak to me again when this went in their bowls! oops.
 
Veggies are very very important. I wouldnt leave ours without veg. They get a bowl full every night without fail.
 
Mine get their veg nearly every day (some days it'a a small bowl and other days a bigger one). Though, I was a bad Mummy last night - I forgot to give them their veg as I rushing about too much and totally forgot. So this morning I got shouted at by the two of them......I wondered at first what I was getting yelled at for and then I remembered. Oops.

I wouldn't think it was absolutely essential that they got veg every day but certainly for the vitamin c I would at the very least be giving them it every other day.
 
Mine all have mixed veg in a morning and mixed veg in the evening. Would probably work out about a cup ful a day each. x
 
Pigs can go better without pellets for a few days than they can without fresh fruit and veg. Vegetables provide the widest variety and a greater amount of vitamins than hay and pellets do.
 
I did try that Laura. I laid off the pellets and mine had drastic weight loss even though I was giving them extra veg to replace it.

Is it the pellets that bump the weight up. Makes me laugh when people say corn is fattening! Haha! :))
 
Yep,the dry food is what tends to effect the weight side of things, hence why, if piggie is overweight, the thing to do is cut down on pellets.

A pellet-free diet is possible, the HAFF (Hay And Fresh Foods) diet, but it's rare as a) most pigs like dry feed well enough, and b) the science involved in balancing the nutrients can be complicated.
 
Thanks Laura. Yeah it was over Christmas I had loads of veg and thought it will go to waste if not given so laid of pellets and some lost 50g! I won't do that again mine aren't obese I have round pigs and then slender pigs but they eat the same! Sunshine is 2lb 11oz seems to be putting more weight on now he is older...2 years 28 in guinea pig year! :(|)

Just like us they are all different shapes and sizes. :)
 
Whoo that is big Becky! Twinkle used to be bigger like that I laid off the dried and now he is 2lb 5oz he is only a short pig though but very solid!

Asbo pig! He is such a nark he needs a Tag on his paw to be in by 7pm! :))
 
i think its cruel to deny piggies veg! its the hightlight of their day and they get so excited! since the day i got my pigs they have had breckfast and dinner everyday without fail, and its not like i can forget with the excited squeals at breckfast and dinner time! lol
 
My lot just wouldn't let me get away without feeding them their veg/fruit each and every day at tea time.

I can go out early in the morning to top up their food bowls with nuggets, even go in and out of the shed during the afternoon but if by 4 - 5pm they haven't seen me for their veggies, then I am in trouble ... big time! :))

I feed veg every day and mine look forward to it.
 
Haha mine get excited by Hay! I think I have an odd lot! They love it! Veggies they wheek for but hay drives them mad! :))
 
Actually the only thing I was told (from a forum I used before), that its somewhat bad if you give them alot of fresh food, that it may even give them diahrea (sp?). But if you ask me, I give my piggies greens everyday, once a day. Usually in the mornings or mid afternoons, other than that they do have their pellets and hay. Hope this was a help to you. You may also want to check this website out. http://www.guinealynx.info/ This should come in handy to ALL guinea pig owners. :D
 
My two get a selection of fresh veg and herbs once a day and have a constant supply of super guinea nuggets and hay the rest of the time - they especially love Basil and Parsley!
 
I don't think my girls would ever speak to me again if they didn't get their fresh veggies every day. I think I might be giving them a little too much, actually (about three cups total per day, divided into breakfast, supper and snack). I've been trying to cut down a little lately, though, to encourage them to eat more dry food (as near as I can tell, they might eat a tablespoon between the two of them in a day). Fresh food is cheaper, though...
 
I give ours a small bowl of mixed veg every morning and evening, plus a bowl of Gerty Guinea carrot and cranberry and a couple of handfuls of hay. Am I giving them too much food and too little hay?!

K.
 
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