Following up a discussion from another thread, I would like to know if people had any experience with this.
Alot of people where I come from dont feed their guinea pigs dry food. They basically say, it fattens them up too much, often has stuff in it that isnt good for them, and really, they dont need it.
If they have lots of fresh water, hay, and a really good variety of fresh fruit and veg they are happy and get all the nutrition they need. Now someone asked, where do they get their protein from, and I was told that they do actually get that from hay.
Everyone on the german guinea pig forum agreed, piggies that are kept outside need dry food, because it is colder than inside piggies would have it, so hence need more energy and more fattening up.
But they pretty much agreed that for a guinea pig that lives inside, and that has a diet of good quality hay and a big variety of fresh fruit and veg, it isnt necessary. Some give dry food out of their hand as an occasional treat, but in general, dry food isnt available, or only very little of it.
Now here I have seen people who just give them a measured amount each day, but also people who let their piggy have dry food available 24 / 7... Which leads me to another question, which is a bit off topic: I heard that because dry food gets soft in their mouth very quickly, it doesnt actually help grind their teeth down, so piggies who prefer dry food over hay are alot more likely to develop teeth problems when they have their favourite available all the time, as of course they would rarely nibble the hay, being full up with the other stuff already...
I would like to know your opinions on both subjects,
a) how necessary is dry food? Can piggies go without it?
and b) is that dry food versus hay an actual risk for piggies that one would need to take into account?
As in, should we really have dry food available at all times, or only a measured amount daily?
Its just that I am starting to feel like I am doing everything wrong, I moved country and all of a sudden I cant take rescue piggies in because I use shavings, or because I rarely feed dry food... its just weird, how different countries seem to have completely different cultures even when it comes to such a international thing like how to keep pets, I thought we would be all the same
Alot of people where I come from dont feed their guinea pigs dry food. They basically say, it fattens them up too much, often has stuff in it that isnt good for them, and really, they dont need it.
If they have lots of fresh water, hay, and a really good variety of fresh fruit and veg they are happy and get all the nutrition they need. Now someone asked, where do they get their protein from, and I was told that they do actually get that from hay.
Everyone on the german guinea pig forum agreed, piggies that are kept outside need dry food, because it is colder than inside piggies would have it, so hence need more energy and more fattening up.
But they pretty much agreed that for a guinea pig that lives inside, and that has a diet of good quality hay and a big variety of fresh fruit and veg, it isnt necessary. Some give dry food out of their hand as an occasional treat, but in general, dry food isnt available, or only very little of it.
Now here I have seen people who just give them a measured amount each day, but also people who let their piggy have dry food available 24 / 7... Which leads me to another question, which is a bit off topic: I heard that because dry food gets soft in their mouth very quickly, it doesnt actually help grind their teeth down, so piggies who prefer dry food over hay are alot more likely to develop teeth problems when they have their favourite available all the time, as of course they would rarely nibble the hay, being full up with the other stuff already...
I would like to know your opinions on both subjects,
a) how necessary is dry food? Can piggies go without it?
and b) is that dry food versus hay an actual risk for piggies that one would need to take into account?
As in, should we really have dry food available at all times, or only a measured amount daily?
Its just that I am starting to feel like I am doing everything wrong, I moved country and all of a sudden I cant take rescue piggies in because I use shavings, or because I rarely feed dry food... its just weird, how different countries seem to have completely different cultures even when it comes to such a international thing like how to keep pets, I thought we would be all the same