Feeding/ Grass/ etc..

[Mel105]

Well basically my girlfriend was looking on a forum she is a part of for rabbits and a lot of people were saying how little they need to feed their rabbits food wise, they just make sure they have lots of hay. So I was wondering is this the case with guinea pigs! The one thing I havent researched is how much I should be feeding them in the way of muesli I know how much fruit and veg to give them and also I make sure they have lots of hay throughout the day. Could someone please let me know how much muesli approx should be given to each 3 month old boar ? Also I am hopefully reintroducing my boys to one-another in a couple of weeks (It's taken this long to get some money together to buy a C&C) I was thinking of putting two tuppleware boxes filled with grass in there because sadly I live in a flat so obviously there is no lawn for them to frolick on, although my girlfriend lives in her parents house and brings fresh grass with her whenever she can! would this be a nice idea for them? They are going to go on her lawn some time in the next week because the three of us are staying at her house while her parents go away!

 

[Piggie Life]

I'd say around a small handful a day. Have you looked into pellets? They are more nutritious and prevent selective eating.

 

[Mel105]

I have heard of pellets but I have not yet had chance to use them should I switch to pellets and see how the boys go with them ?

 

[Jerrybelly]

Guinea pigs are very fussy eaters and will pick out the bits of muesli that they like and leave the rest (well, mine did!) Switching to pellets would prevent this. I feed mine on Cavy Cuisine, with each pig getting a small handful (approx 20g) each, per day.

I'm sure they'll love to be on the lawn, but if they are not used to eating that much grass then don't leave them out there for too long in one go. It's best to introduce them to it slowly to avoid upsetting their very sensitive stomachs.

 

[Mel105]

well so far i havent let them go on the lawn just yet, I have been putting small amounts of grass in their cages and they wolf it down! within minutes its all gone! so I have been putting more and more in over the last few days and still it goes in minutes so hopefully within the next week they will be introduced to the lawn and have some time out there (: thank you for the advice I will give pellets a go soon ! I think I will let them eat whats left of the muesli bags first mainly because it would be a waste of money and also because they are used to it (: would this be a good idea? to introduce them to pellets once the remaining muesli is gone ? I only want the best for my boys!

 

[Jerrybelly]

It sounds like you've got the grass situation sorted! Try them out on the lawn for around 30 minutes the first day, then a bit longer the next day etc. It's also a good idea to fill them up on lots of hay before they go outside so that they don't go too crazy on the grass! They do love it!

Introduce the new pellets slowly. Give a bit less muesli and a sprinkle of the new pellets for a few days. Then gradually decrease the amount of muesli and increase the pellets until they are fully changed over. It's best to do this over 7-10 days, rather than suddenly changing from one to the other. Unless you're very lucky then you'll probably find that for the first day or two they'll continue to pick out the muesli and leave the new pellets, but they usually give in in the end! Mine were really stubborn when I changed their food a few months ago. They refused to eat any of the new pellets so I crushed some of their old food and sprinkled it over the new one - they soon came round!