Feeding Routines And Veggie Questions

Eriathwen said:
I get them these ones (you might have to scroll down the options to find them, theyre 'pure grass pellets') the pigs absolutely love them!
https://galensgarden.co.uk/shop/forage-pellets-cobs/
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I've ordered some and am very excited to see how the piggies like them. I don't have access to fresh grass often because we have lots of foxes around the area (my piggies are indoor don't worry) but they love it when I manage to get some from elsewhere! xx
 
Just one thing came to mind scrolling this thread from the beginning , although it's not directly about veggies I think it is something you can keep in mind if you aren't doing so already: water ...
First few posts were mentioning low calcium veggies .... best way to keep calcium down is through water .
I found 2 types which are very low in calcium and minerals in general , in U.K. : volvic and ashbeck .
They are close to useless for humans ( you're better off drinking rain ...) but gold for guinea pigs .
 
CriLondon said:
Just one thing came to mind scrolling this thread from the beginning , although it's not directly about veggies I think it is something you can keep in mind if you aren't doing so already: water ...
First few posts were mentioning low calcium veggies .... best way to keep calcium down is through water .
I found 2 types which are very low in calcium and minerals in general , in you.K. : volvic and ashbeck .
They are close to useless for humans ( you're better off drinking rain ...) but gold for guinea pigs .
Click to expand...
Do you give your piggies bottled water?
 
Jennybug89 said:
Do you give your piggies bottled water?
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Personally , I do.
The water in my area is very hard and i can smell way too much chlorine.
To be totally honest , i don't even drink it myself , i only use it for teas/infusions and to boil things in general.

It might not be the case in your area (lucky you!) but it's something you just may want to give a bit of thought.
After all , the 2 brands i've mentioned are among the cheapest in the country.
Ironically , there is some cheaper water being sold at Lidl supermarkets but it's actually better for humans than either volvic or ashbeck.
 
CriLondon said:
Personally , I do.
The water in my area is very hard and i can smell way too much chlorine.
To be totally honest , i don't even drink it myself , i only use it for teas/infusions and to boil things in general.

It might not be the case in your area (lucky you!) but it's something you just may want to give a bit of thought.
After all , the 2 brands i've mentioned are among the cheapest in the country.
Ironically , there is some cheaper water being sold at Lidl supermarkets but it's actually better for humans than either volvic or ashbeck.
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I actually drink ashbeck myself as I don't like the taste of tap water. I never think to read the labels though! The water is a little hard in our area but doesn't smell bad. I use it if I'm drinking something dilutable. I must really pay better attention in fire to what I'm buying!
 
Jennybug89 said:
I actually drink ashbeck myself as I don't like the taste of tap water. I never think to read the labels though! The water is a little hard in our area but doesn't smell bad. I use it if I'm drinking something dilutable. I must really pay better attention in fire to what I'm buying!
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I'm not saying this water is bad for humans , it just doesn't have much nutritional value ...or rather less than others.
You'd need to drink more water to satisfy your body's needs , whilst still having a high dry residue intake.

Just for info , I'm posting some of the most common water in UK :

Ashbeck -

ashbeck.webp

Volvic:

volvic.webp

Evian:

evian.webp

Highlands springs water:

high spr.webp

Buxton:

buxton.webp
 
I went out and bought a filter the other day, our tap water has been fine so far but after seeing someone losing their piggies to chlorine poisoning on facebook I decided not to risk it anymore :( I'm not a fan of the taste of filtered but I'm hoping the pigs dont mind it as much! They dont seem too keen so far but theyre still drinking it. Maybe bottled is the way to go!
 
I'm in a soft water area, being in South Wales.

I was thinking of going to bottled water but I don't know if that is better than tap water. I am also ordering some grainless nuggets from Zooplus to add to the Burgess nuggets the herd adores, with the plan to gradually move them to grainless as this will help to reduce their calcium and sugar intake. Not that my herd gets nuggets every day but still.
 
about water:
what counts more, when you want a light water, is checking the dry residue. The water for newborns' formula is what I use for my kettle and for my piggies. It is very cheap here and its dry residue is 22mg/L (2,8mg calcium, etc). This is not a bad water for adults, it is only the proper water for those kidneys which require a certain care (newborns and some pets...). Many filters for water can only filter chlorine and some minerals, but they have no action on other substances.
Anyway, a piggie does not drink that much... especially when he can take the water from the vegs and from the grass. Your Ashbeck water seems to be very light.
My routine: in the morning one teaspoon of pellets; at 11a.m. they want some grass; at luch time again some grass; at tea time they have floor time and I give them some grass again... plus some pieces of pellets hidden on the corners of my kitchen. Sometimes I give them some salad... but they mostly eat hay and grass (hay is always available). In the evening they are still on the floor and I give again some grass...
at midnight when I put them into the cage I give them a huge amount of new grass and a piece of bell pepper, plus some slices of cucumber. They spend the night eating all the grass, the hay and the peel of the cucumber...
Now I am finding different kinds of grass... dandelion leaves, other green leaves, different strings of grass. This new grass, wild and born after the rain, is even more nutritious of the summer one (grown in private gardens) and both piggies have gained 30-40grams (since the start of the rain).
 
My boys actually get really excited in the evening when I give them their fresh water and run to a bottle each to drink so I think they like our tap water which is lucky!
 
RingoandOlly said:
My boys actually get really excited in the evening when I give them their fresh water and run to a bottle each to drink so I think they like our tap water which is lucky!
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:D my piggies did not drink for 5 months; then they finally learnt to use the bottle, but only for building a private pool...:roll: In these last days the temperature is fine and they don't need the pool any longer, I see...:))
Anyway I spray the grass with some water, even for keeping it fresh...
 
I'm pretty sure my piggy doesn't drink at all! She eats lots of cucumber and watery veg though so she must be getting enough!
 
My three piggies get empty a water bottle per day. I have three in there because their c@c has two different shelves and one main compartment. They only seem to drink out of one.
 
Mine is usually full by morning time, I change it every morning. Only a little ever seems to be gone!
 
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