Feeding new guniea pigs and other advice needed please

Gadzy

Gadzy

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Hello, please read full post and advise me in the best way possible :) I am also new to the forum!

I recently purchased two new guniea pigs which were 10 weeks old after my last two sadly passed away before ChrisTomas. I have been feeding them their greens twice daily. Once at 10/11am and once at 7pm. I give them spinach, curly kale, cucumber, coriander or parsley. I’m seeking some advice on how much I should be giving them and how often. I have noticed their wee is smelling very strong even after a fresh clean and I’m not sure if it’s their diet or if this is normal?

I am feeding them meadow hay also, but I haven’t actually seen them eat the hay much which is also worrying me. I think they tend to eat the hay and forage around their cage more when I and others have gone to bed. I have been trying to work on taming them which is taking a while and they seem to run off when I go into their room where the cage is. I have only had them a couple of weeks. How should I be feeding them the hay? I have a hay rack which I’m not sure their using and I also put some into a bowl where I put their greens. they really enjoy having some in their huts but it really does start to smell very bad and very quick if they were on it or whatever they do, so I have been putting some in their rack and bowl. I constantly Keep topping up the hay to make them eat it.

Please advise. Thank you very much
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. We have a great resource of guides written by some very knowledgeable members. These can be access from the main menu (along the top bar under the banner on a computer or my selecting the drop down menu which is 3 lines in the top left on mobile devices).

Our diet guides are probably where you want to start. Hay makes up 80% of the diet so the fact that you need to keep topping it up is good. Mine get a huge pile in their bedding area and they burrow into it and eat and sleep in there but they are outdoors pigs so definitely need the pile as even more insulation. Veggies need to be given more sparingly and certainly both kale and spinach should only be fed occasionally due to the high calcium content. We have a long term balanced diet guide which gives an example of the daily veggies. Lastly pellets make up a very small portion of their diet so make sure these are limited (they will eat more hay to make up for the loss in filling but not particularly beneficial pellets).
Diet Guides
 
Lady Kelly said:
Hi and welcome to the forum. We have a great resource of guides written by some very knowledgeable members. These can be access from the main menu (along the top bar under the banner on a computer or my selecting the drop down menu which is 3 lines in the top left on mobile devices).

Our diet guides are probably where you want to start. Hay makes up 80% of the diet so the fact that you need to keep topping it up is good. Mine get a huge pile in their bedding area and they burrow into it and eat and sleep in there but they are outdoors pigs so definitely need the pile as even more insulation. Veggies need to be given more sparingly and certainly both kale and spinach should only be fed occasionally due to the high calcium content. We have a long term balanced diet guide which gives an example of the daily veggies. Lastly pellets make up a very small portion of their diet so make sure these are limited (they will eat more hay to make up for the loss in filling but not particularly beneficial pellets).
Diet Guides
Click to expand...

Many thanks for the reply!

Regarding the hay, I put some in a hay rack and a couple of handfuls on the floor by the rack. I also put some in their houses. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right? I know pets at home have these tubes in which they stuff hay into and they also put some hay in their houses. I'm guessing it doesn't matter as long as there is hay situated in areas of their cage? I don't like to put it all over the he cage due to the smell after a couple of days when they have been to loo on it!

I just read the hay guide which was interesting. I'm rather paranoid about the hay routine at the moment! Sorry I didn't make myself clear. I only refresh the hay to make them notice! I haven't noticed the hay go down that much. Maybe I should leave it instead of constantly changing it?
 
IzzyGad said:
Many thanks for the reply!

Regarding the hay, I put some in a hay rack and a couple of handfuls on the floor by the rack. I also put some in their houses. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right? I know pets at home have these tubes in which they stuff hay into and they also put some hay in their houses. I'm guessing it doesn't matter as long as there is hay situated in areas of their cage? I don't like to put it all over the he cage due to the smell after a couple of days when they have been to loo on it!

I just read the hay guide which was interesting. I'm rather paranoid about the hay routine at the moment! Sorry I didn't make myself clear. I only refresh the hay to make them notice! I haven't noticed the hay go down that much. Maybe I should leave it instead of constantly changing it?
Click to expand...

It's hard to notice the hay going down to be honest and they will prefer fresh hay so try not to worry too much about it. Offer it as and where you can, piggies generally like to play in hay too so offering some at floor level and changing it daily will suit them and you.
Best way to check they are eating enough is to weigh them weekly as part of a health check. As long as they are steadily gaining weight while they grow into adults you know that they are getting enough
 
Lady Kelly said:
It's hard to notice the hay going down to be honest and they will prefer fresh hay so try not to worry too much about it. Offer it as and where you can, piggies generally like to play in hay too so offering some at floor level and changing it daily will suit them and you.
Best way to check they are eating enough is to weigh them weekly as part of a health check. As long as they are steadily gaining weight while they grow into adults you know that they are getting enough
Click to expand...

As you said it's hard to see if the hay has gone down so if I put a couple of handfuls on their floor, the next day it has hardly gone so is there any need to refresh it and what do I do with the hay already there? Just bin it and put some fresh down? I'm really worrying about it and I dunno how to go about it. I'm sure I saw Pets at home just put some in their houses and in the corners of the cage but if I do that with mine there is quite alot still left the next day and should I just wait until it's gone until I refresh?
 
To be honest, I don't think the hay quality I currently have is the best so I'm going to look for a good quality one. I know the Burges Timothy Hay with dandilion and Marigold has good ratings, but I'm worried they would just pick out the dandilion etc. I think my local garden center does so good quality hay
 
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