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Do you give your guinea pigs pellets?

Do You Give Your Guinea Pigs Pellets?

  • No, I don’t think it’s necessary or healthy/ I don’t give it to them for other reasons

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Yes, I give my guinea pig pellets.

    Votes: 17 100.0%
  • Total voters
    17
MimiCreamie18

MimiCreamie18

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 4, 2019
Messages
266
Reaction score
270
Points
350
Location
Australia
Hi, guinea pig slave here,
Do you give your guinea pigs pellets? I do give my 3 piggies a small amount of pellets a day and there are a lot of different opinions on pellets in the guinea pig community and I wanted to see what your opinions are!
Cheers,
Leena
 
My lot get Harringtons pellets and they love them. But they are very high in calcium and since Velvet has had a bladder stone (which she passed) and she still has loads of sludge in her bladder, I am slowly changing over to Science Selective grain free as that has low calcium. Trouble is I have just openned a 10kg bag of Harringtons. So Betsy and Dennis will still be on Harringtons and Velvet, Christian and Meg will have a mixture of Harringtons and Science Selective grain free until I have finished the Harringtons then they will all be on the Science Selective. I only give 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy.
 
Betsy said:
My lot get Harringtons pellets and they love them. But they are very high in calcium and since Velvet has had a bladder stone (which she passed) and she still has loads of sludge in her bladder, I am slowly changing over to Science Selective grain free as that has low calcium. Trouble is I have just openned a 10kg bag of Harringtons. So Betsy and Dennis will still be on Harringtons and Velvet, Christian and Meg will have a mixture of Harringtons and Science Selective grain free until I have finished the Harringtons then they will all be on the Science Selective. I only give 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy.
Click to expand...
Ok, do you think I should still be giving my piggies 1/8 cup each? Or one tablespoon?
 
I usually used a mix of Burgess Mint and Harringtons. I let them pick at a bowl between them and I always filled the bowl, but they also took several days to empty it, so I never changed that routine.
 
I chop and change what I do an awful lot.. sometimes I don't do pellets, sometimes mine get pure grass pellets, other times they get commercial ones, usually Harringtons, science selective grainfree, Rosewoods meadow menu or versele laga ones. At the moment they're on Harringtons and about to start a new bag of science selective.
Whatever they get, at most I give 1/8 of a cup although I am slowly reducing it as some of my more dominant herd members are hogging them and getting a little chunky!
 
There’s no way I could put nuggets in a bowl for the gruesome twosome and have any left after a few seconds! I give JR Farm but they are given as a treat so they get pieces given at multiple points during the day. They are huge but break when the kids rattle the jar to get attention.
 
Betsy said:
My lot get Harringtons pellets and they love them. But they are very high in calcium and since Velvet has had a bladder stone (which she passed) and she still has loads of sludge in her bladder, I am slowly changing over to Science Selective grain free as that has low calcium. Trouble is I have just openned a 10kg bag of Harringtons. So Betsy and Dennis will still be on Harringtons and Velvet, Christian and Meg will have a mixture of Harringtons and Science Selective grain free until I have finished the Harringtons then they will all be on the Science Selective. I only give 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy.
Click to expand...

I had this issue when Donald had his stone. By the time he passed away they were all switched over to grain free so I just donated the remainder of the 10kg bag to Neville's Nest (normal science selective) as I couldn't be doing with switching them back and then back to grain free again just to use it up
 
MimiCreamie18 said:
Hi, guinea pig slave here,
Do you give your guinea pigs pellets? I do give my 3 piggies a small amount of pellets a day and there are a lot of different opinions on pellets in the guinea pig community and I wanted to see what your opinions are!
Cheers,
Leena
Click to expand...

I give my piggies about 1 tablespoon of pellets a day. After a spate of bladder stones, I have reduced the amount I have fed drastically.
That is currently the recommendation from leading UK welfare charities and exotics vets.

The issue is that pellets are high on filler products but they have a bigger than expected effect on the crucial hay intake - a piggy on a higher pellet diet will eat noticeably less hay. that can have a long term negative influence on general health and life span. My piggies have started to live on average 1-2 years longer after I drastically reduced the amount of veg and pellets in their diet. Suddenly I have much more guinea pigs that live to 6-8 years old rather than 4-6 years.

PS: The pellet brands mentioned are UK brands.

I use Harringtons; not because they are the best but they are the best that are available in 10 kg bags which I need for the number of piggies I have. Should I have another bladder stone piggy at some point, I would switch to grain-free pellets for them.
 
Betsy said:
That's a good idea! I have https://wheekandsqueak.webs.com/not far from me. I could donate it to them. I have poured it into my piggie feed bin though, I hope they believe me!
Click to expand...
I've just contacted them by email and they would love the Harringtons pellets :D I'll pop over next week and donate them.:)
 
Hi there,

We feed about two small handfuls a day in a small bowl now a mixture of burgess excel and harringtons, so it probably equates to two tablespoons a day between the three piggies..not sure that's the recommended for three, however we have well balanced veggies, fresh grass, bit of forage, unlimited hay..great poo production..fresh water at all times we are in (always someone about to top up hay and water at the moment) Freya is about 1400g (big pig can feel the heft) Twitch is about 1000g Roz is only 6-7 months but about 800g hard to weigh the wrigglies but been consistent! They appear lovely coats and healthy, muscular and very active and everyone popcorns about the place, they have the run of the dining room/kitchen..wire free..! 😀
 
I give each of mine a tablespoon of pellets each morning, although they'd probably love a lot more from the way they start wheeking the moment I touch the bag!

I use Harringtons as that's the one they will all eat so I'm not having to switch and swap and try and stop one from eating them all (Arthur is extremely fussy, and has already turned his nose up at Burgess and Science Selective, whereas his companion Merlin will swoop in and eat anything). I also don't use a bowl, and alternate between hand-feeding them (I get them to do little tricks for it, or just come up to me) or giving it in separate piles at opposite ends of the cage so they each get a chance to eat their share and I know they're getting an equal amount (again, Merlin would hoover up everything before Arthur had a chance). My two youngest girls (inherited from my niece) are still less than four months so they get a little bit extra. Of course, they have unlimited hay (meadow, because I'm sadly allergic to Timothy), and a small amount of veg each day (always a slice of pepper, and I then vary the greens, throw in a green bean each, and maybe a bit of courgette (they won't touch cucumber)).
 
Wiebke said:
I give my piggies about 1 tablespoon of pellets a day. After a spate of bladder stones, I have reduced the amount I have fed drastically.
That is currently the recommendation from leading UK welfare charities and exotics vets.

The issue is that pellets are high on filler products but they have a bigger than expected effect on the crucial hay intake - a piggy on a higher pellet diet will eat noticeably less hay. that can have a long term negative influence on general health and life span. My piggies have started to live on average 1-2 years longer after I drastically reduced the amount of veg and pellets in their diet. Suddenly I have much more guinea pigs that live to 6-8 years old rather than 4-6 years.

PS: The pellet brands mentioned are UK brands.

I use Harringtons; not because they are the best but they are the best that are available in 10 kg bags which I need for the number of piggies I have. Should I have another bladder stone piggy at some point, I would switch to grain-free pellets for them.
Click to expand...
Ok, I think I will start trying this.
 
Betsy said:
1/8 cup each is the maximum you should be given. The recommended amount now is 1 tablespoon per piggy. They should fill up with hay. Hay should be 80-90% of the diet.
Click to expand...
Ok, I will definitely start giving them one tablespoon. Here in Australia, the recommended amount is 1/8 of a cup for smaller pigs and 1/4 of a cup for larger pigs! (It’s a lot, right?!)
 
MimiCreamie18 said:
Ok, I will definitely start giving them one tablespoon. Here in Australia, the recommended amount is 1/8 of a cup for smaller pigs and 1/4 of a cup for larger pigs! (It’s a lot, right?!)
Click to expand...

Yes, that the old and now outdated recommendation. :(

Feeding less pellets and less fresh veg (which should both be seen more as a daily treat than as the mainstay of the diet) really makes a difference for digestive and dental health, which in turn increases the chances for a good life span. Meaning well in this case is unfortunately meaning too well!

Pellet recommendations (and please opt for all the same pellets and not a dry mix) are always too high. They were invented in the 50ies as a cheap food replacement. Believe me, feeding the real stuff (hay and a careful selection of mainly green veg - less but quality instead of quantity there, too) is much better!
We have included a sample diet picture for veg in our detailed diet guide, which is looking at all food groups.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Pellets Or Muesli / Dry Mix?
 
On the bag of Science Selective Grain Free pellets that I have just bought and are slowly switching my piggies over to it says that up to 10 months to "Allow unlimited amounts of Selective Guinea Pig + Hay" and from 10 months onwards "Feed Selective Guinea Pig 40-50g per day + Hay" then it goes on to say "Hay - as a general guide a guinea pig should be provided with a portion of fresh hay that matches its body size every day".

So going by that there is far too many pellets going in and far too little hay!
 
Wiebke said:
Yes, that the old and now outdated recommendation. :(

Feeding less pellets and less fresh veg (which should both be seen more as a daily treat than as the mainstay of the diet) really makes a difference for digestive and dental health, which in turn increases the chances for a good life span. Meaning well in this case is unfortunately meaning too well!

Pellet recommendations (and please opt for all the same pellets and not a dry mix) are always too high. They were invented in the 50ies as a cheap food replacement. Believe me, feeding the real stuff (hay and a careful selection of mainly green veg - less but quality instead of quantity there, too) is much better!
We have included a sample diet picture for veg in our detailed diet guide, which is looking at all food groups.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Pellets Or Muesli / Dry Mix?
Click to expand...
Than you SO much for telling me, Wiebke.
 
One tablespoon a day tops, per Bill and Ted. They are not that bothered by pellets to be honest because they where weaned on muesli and have never really forgiven me for the gradual change I made when I got them. they get Harrington’s, not keen on large pellets, love dried forage though, so often have that in place of pellets.
The vet (Simon) says pellets just end up as mush and no good for their teeth so prefer to get them out eating grass instead
 
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