Feed ONCE A day if working long hours? Ok? Or no?

Angela99

Angela99

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi ...I normally spoil my little ones with fresh veggies twice a day, but I may be working long hours once or twice a month and was wondering if it was ok if I left an extra plate of fresh veggies in a bowl so they can eat later on. They dont over eat. They tend to stop when full. Or if I fed them normal in AM and they would be ok if I didn't get home til 10pm... I could hire a person to come, but they get so terribly afraid. It's less stress to leave an extra bowl of food. What would suggest?
And since I'm here... what's best if I go away? They just are so fearful of anyone but me. Theres a boarder an hour away but I think of the drive there and how terrified they will feel. OR I could hire a feeder twice a day, but last person said they were so scared so she left cage dirty and it wasnt a good experience. I love my little ones so much and I worry about this all the time. Thoughts?
Thank you 🙏🙏
 

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It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job caring for your piggies, so please try not to worry.

They will be absolutely fine being fed fresh veggies once a day.
I actually think this is what most members do.
As long as they have a continual supply of unlimited hay (which should be 90% of their diet anyway) then they will be ok.

I only feed my piggies fresh once a day and just make sure they always have lots of hay and water.
 
I give my piggies veg once in the evening. I scatter feed it and they love this. As long as your piggies have plenty big hay to eat, I'm sure they will be fine. When I was away over Christmas, my lot went to the boarders for the first time and were spoilt rotten. Go and visit the boarder and ask questions to put your mind at rest. Christian needs a bit of extra care and he was looked after very well.
 
I feed fresh veggies in the evening.

Was feeding morning as well but then they got into that routine and were at the cage bars squeaking for their breakfast about 5.30am and waking the whole house up!
 
Feeding them in the morning and then again when you get home around 10 is absolutely fine. As long as they have hay available throughout the day, then they won’t go hungry,

I feed mine hay and pellets in the morning, and then they get their veg and more hay in the evening.
 
I always just feed their veggies in the morning before work. Once a day.
Feeding them veggies 1x a day is fine, as long as you give them enough, plus as long as they get plenty of hay/pellets/water.
 
Swissgreys said:
It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job caring for your piggies, so please try not to worry.

They will be absolutely fine being fed fresh veggies once a day.
I actually think this is what most members do.
As long as they have a continual supply of unlimited hay (which should be 90% of their diet anyway) then they will be ok.

I only feed my piggies fresh once a day and just make sure they always have lots of hay and water.
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Oh really? Once a day... am I over feeding? They get two large meals a day plus apple as a treat daily.
 
Betsy said:
I give my piggies veg once in the evening. I scatter feed it and they love this. As long as your piggies have plenty big hay to eat, I'm sure they will be fine. When I was away over Christmas, my lot went to the boarders for the first time and were spoilt rotten. Go and visit the boarder and ask questions to put your mind at rest. Christian needs a bit of extra care and he was looked after very well.
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Great to hear! I dont gace a car and this boarder drives over for pick up but she has her own Guinea pigs and said they'd be in a 15 ft cc cage. They look great but I just worry what my littles will feel during travel there being 45 mins away.
 
Angela99 said:
Oh really? Once a day... am I over feeding? They get two large meals a day plus apple as a treat daily.
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Hay should be available constantly throughout the day and night. You should then be feeding approximately 50g/1 cup per piggy of veggies per day. If you feed them veggies twice per day, split the amount in half and give half each feeding. Don’t get hung up on exact amounts - ie a little over 50g is fine though so don’t panic. Pellets should be kept limited to one tablespoon per pig per day.
My boys get one tablespoon of pellets each in the morning, then around one cup of veggies each in the evening. They have hay available constantly.
Apple is too high in sugar to be fed daily. Such sweet treats (carrot and fruit) should not be fed more than once per week.
 
Flutterby said:
I only feed veggies once a day when I get home from work, then they get nuggets for their supper before bed. Other than that it's unlimited hay on tap.
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They always have pellets. I have 2 bowls. I always make sure theres some... not over flowing but a small handful in each. They never over eat but I throw out next day and add fresh. And then they have 3 have corners and I add top up fresh 3 times a day and they have hay cubes too!
 
Angela99 said:
They always have pellets. I have 2 bowls. I always make sure theres some... not over flowing but a small handful in each. They never over eat but I throw out next day and add fresh. And then they have 3 have corners and I add top up fresh 3 times a day and they have hay cubes too!
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Mine only get a sprinkling of nuggets at bed time, they don't get them all the time.
 
Angela99 said:
They always have pellets. I have 2 bowls. I always make sure theres some... not over flowing but a small handful in each. They never over eat but I throw out next day and add fresh. And then they have 3 have corners and I add top up fresh 3 times a day and they have hay cubes too!
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Ideally pellets should be kept limited and not be allowed to have access to them constantly - no more than tablespoon per piggy per day. Pellets are basically junk food and not entirely good for them. They can also be the cause of too much calcium intake.
 
I absolutely agree with everyone regarding feeding. Veggies once a day is fine as long as they have plenty of hay and water.

Regarding the boarding. We board our piggies when we are away and they are very happy there. They wheek to all the other piggies and settle in very quickly. As long as you have checked out the boarders beforehand and are happy with the arrangements I'm sure your piggies will be fine.
 
I give my piggies salad/veg plus hay, twice a day, mainly because they're rubbish at drinking water otherwise, but if I was home late at 10pm I definitely wouldn't feel a need for a pet sitter or to board them. As long as they have plenty of hay and water. Maybe you could move their second veg feed to be mid evening rather than teatime, so that the 10pm feeds are a more similar time. Mine like routine. They get their bedtime treat at 10pm and by 9.30pm they're asking me where it is 😁
Your piggies are very fluffy and gorgeous!
 
Black piggies said:
I give my piggies salad/veg plus hay, twice a day, mainly because they're rubbish at drinking water otherwise, but if I was home late at 10pm I definitely wouldn't feel a need for a pet sitter or to board them. As long as they have plenty of hay and water. Maybe you could move their second veg feed to be mid evening rather than teatime, so that the 10pm feeds are a more similar time. Mine like routine. They get their bedtime treat at 10pm and by 9.30pm they're asking me where it is 😁
Your piggies are very fluffy and gorgeous!
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This is all great information! Thank you🤗 I was really worried... I always worry about them.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Ideally pellets should be kept limited and not be allowed to have access to them constantly - no more than tablespoon per piggy per day. Pellets are basically junk food and not entirely good for them. They can also be the cause of too much calcium intake.
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I have to disagree with the “pellets are junk food” part. Just like any other high-quality pellet with any other animal, they provide a fantastic source of base vitamins, minerals, and even probiotics with some pellets. In my opinion they’re necessary since I don’t trust myself with getting their mineral needs perfect.
They are too high in calcium to be fed in excess, I agree with that, but just because that’s an issue don’t makes pellets junk food in the slightest. By that logic collard greens would also be junk food.
 
Robin_ said:
I have to disagree with the “pellets are junk food” part. Just like any other high-quality pellet with any other animal, they provide a fantastic source of base vitamins, minerals, and even probiotics with some pellets. In my opinion they’re necessary since I don’t trust myself with getting their mineral needs perfect.
They are too high in calcium to be fed in excess, I agree with that, but just because that’s an issue don’t makes pellets junk food in the slightest. By that logic collard greens would also be junk food.
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You are right they do fill in the gaps in vitamins and minerals, but they are often filled with cereals and non nutritional fillers which aren’t entirely good for piggies and can be fattening hence the junk food part.
 
Piggies&buns said:
You are right they do fill in the gaps in vitamins and minerals, but they are often filled with cereals and non nutritional fillers which aren’t entirely good for piggies and can be fattening hence the junk food part.
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I often think piggy pellets are like kids breakfast cereals, true they are fortified with vitamins and minerals and can fill a gap in that part of the diet but they also have a lot of non essential high calorie components. I would always feed piggies pellets like you would feed kids breakfast cereals, a small portion, as part of a balanced meal, once a day, most days, but definitely not something to snack on all day everyday!
 
Hey just reading through the comments and I fed my guinea pigs once a day then I asked my Alexa and it said twice I absolutely had a breakdown thinking I was starving them but they haven’t been eating much of the veg through the day and night should I just change to the day time I always give them a priority of veg and pellets and there is always hay x
 
Abbie1258 said:
Hey just reading through the comments and I fed my guinea pigs once a day then I asked my Alexa and it said twice I absolutely had a breakdown thinking I was starving them but they haven’t been eating much of the veg through the day and night should I just change to the day time I always give them a priority of veg and pellets and there is always hay x
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The only food they must have at all times is hay.
Veg is one cup per pig per day.
Pellets are one tablespoon per pig per day.

It doesn’t matter whether you give them veg/pellets once or twice a day as long as you aren’t over feeding those items and that they are filling up on hay.

My piggies get their veg in the evening. Hay topped up several times a day.
They now only get pellets 2-3 times a week.
 
It all depends on your personal situation. As long as they have fresh hay in the morning to munch on during the day and may be pellets/veg if you have the time to chuck them in the general direction of your piggies before you go off to work they'll be fine. If not, then just feed the pellets/veg when you get home. It's quicker if you're working to give pellets in the morning as you don't need to prepare them like you do veg. Carry on as you have been doing. It's what works for you and your piggies that is best and not what Alexa says. Alexa doesn't know your what your situation is any more than I do.
 
Same - our pigs get hay, pellets/forage and water in the morning and veggies, hay and water in the evening. I am keeping an eye on the hay throughout the day because I can, but if I were going out for a while I'd just be adding more hay in the morning to compensate.
 
i feed hay and pellets in the morning,and veg in the evening.top hay up as needed.its really what ever suits you and your piggies.Somtimes I'm out till later in the evening,so i feed the veg anywhere between 6pm and 10pm,then i do not worry about giving veg at a specific time.
 
Is this enough food for two guinea pigs in the morning and do the same at night time or is it too much? I only do 1 tablespoon of pellets and then another at night
 

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Here’s another side of the bowl
 

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