Dry Food

[wind1]

Do guinea pigs need dry food or can they just have a selection of veggies, hay and grass? My guineas all seem to be eating less and less of their dry food. They are fed on Supa Guinea excel. When I first had guineas I fed them on Gerty but they used to just pick out the bits they liked and left the rest so I put them on Supa Guinea. They have all been eating it for a long time but now most of them seem to have gone off it. I am only putting a small amount in thier bowls now as feeding 17 of them is quite expensive and I am throwing so much away. It could be because they are having more grass at the moment and filling up on that. So, do they really need the dry food?

 

[grommit]

I'm no expert but i think its quite important they have dry food too. They do tend to eat less dry in the summer anyway. Supa guinea seems like a really good food to me, I recently swapped to the pets at home nuggets and will be going back to supa guinea soon.

 

[moonie8404]

no guinea pigs need their dried food, it is where they get most of their nutrients from and also helps with their teeth knawing.

mine is on excel and i have noticed that some days he doesnt really eat much of it at all. he used to empty the box. he started on gerty too! Maybe they just having a time away from it, or maybe get a small bag od something else, they may not like it anymore - hard one to say.

 

[louiser]

I'm no expert but i think its quite important they have dry food too. They do tend to eat less dry in the summer anyway. Supa guinea seems like a really good food to me, I recently swapped to the pets at home nuggets and will be going back to supa guinea soon.

I give mine pets at home nuggets at the moment, why are you changing back? Is Supa much better?

 

[grommit]

I give mine pets at home nuggets at the moment, why are you changing back? Is Supa much better?

To be honest the piggies just dont seem as interested in it and it seems very dusty compared to excel but i might have just got a bad bag. I got it because they do it in larger bags than excel so more cost effective.
The rescue i got the boys from give it to there piggies so i dont think its a bad food, i'm probably just being picky!

 

[piggiesforever]

All of mine alternate between p&h nuggets or excel dependant on 3 for 2 offers etc but i've noticed they eat less in this heat maybe they're drinking a lot more and the grass is lusher

 

[Jane]

I think a guinea pigs diet is 80% hay, 15% vegetables and 5% dry food - I may be a bit out there but it's like that. So really, dry food isn't all that important. It's more important that they get lots of hay constantly and lots of veggies.

 

[sally]

super excel is supposed to be better as it has more vitamins in it and no artificial colours that could give them infections. They do eat less of it in the summer as it is hot and they like wet food to keep them cool

 

[spudnik]

My guineas wouldn't touch supa Excel when i got some for them, mine have pets at home nuggets and they like them.

 

[jane28]

Mine dont like P at H nuggets much... I got a Science Selective taster pack(enough for a week) and they prefer that... It is flower shaped and has alfalfa wheat, soya, flaked peas, linseed, sugar beet pulp, herbs, and vit and minerals in it... and no additves or added sugar

People i know feed their rabbis the SS rabbit food and they all like it so i changed from Excel to SS and the buns love it...
My piggies dont eat much dried food so it is always there to pick on... They prefer hay to be honest...

 

[Zofia]

I'm by no means a piggie expert - I had 4 pigs when I was younger and I've just acquired 2 more, 6 years later! But guinea pigs don't get guinea pig food in the wild, I guess in the wild they just ate grass and any other plants they could get hold of. I have rabbits and I know that they live best on hay & veg. I know guinea pigs need Vit C but at the end of the day, they do indulge in coprophagy, a practice indulged in by animals that are designed to eat poor quality food so they get the most from it.

Anyone, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. As I said, I'm no expert, but I would have thought that hay and a bit of veg is the most important.

 

[CharlottiesPiggies]

They need a good variety, hay, grass fuit veggies and hard feed is good.

I tend to steer clear of feed with colourings in as they can lead to urinary infections.

I find the best stuff is Mr Johnsons Supreme Guinea Pig.

 

[stargrrlclaire]

Mine dont like P at H nuggets much... I got a Science Selective taster pack(enough for a week) and they prefer that... It is flower shaped and has alfalfa wheat, soya, flaked peas, linseed, sugar beet pulp, herbs, and vit and minerals in it... and no additves or added sugar

People i know feed their rabbis the SS rabbit food and they all like it so i changed from Excel to SS and the buns love it...
My piggies dont eat much dried food so it is always there to pick on... They prefer hay to be honest...

I've tried the science sleective too! But mine got bored after a couple of mouthfuls. I started on gerty, but we're trying to get them onto excel as it's not got the different brightly coloured bits and higher quality

 

[jane28]

I've tried the science sleective too! But mine got bored after a couple of mouthfuls. I started on gerty, but we're trying to get them onto excel as it's not got the different brightly coloured bits and higher quality

I have come to the conclusion that as long as my pigs have lots of hay they are fine with that and veg! They all tucked intothe SS at first but it is 3 days later and i still havent toppe the bowl up!

Thing is i have changed the buns food to SS now and they went through a bit of dodgy tummies doing it (even though i mixed it in with their excel) so i am reluctant to put them back on it but it would be much easier to have all the animals on the same brand of food...
How are yours going on excel?

 

[stargrrlclaire]

It's still 50/50 mixed with gertie, so it's difficult to say! the younger ones will eat only a little anyway, but Pheobe "digs" it out to get to the gertie! very clever little lady!