The ideal diet is:
- up to 80% of the daily food intake should be hay
- unlimited pellets (rather than muesli) until the growth rate slows down between 6-9 months old. Then reduce the amount very, very gradually until you reach the 1/2 -1 handful that fully grown mature piggies after 12-15 months of age need.
- about 1 cupful (ca. 50g) of mixed veg per piggy per day in as many servings as you like. Please include at least one high vitamin C veg daily, like a slice of pepper of any colour, a bit of broccoli or a sprig of parsley (the latter two should ideally not be given every day).
- fresh water daily; no additives - piggies will drink less with them in and you end up with a green bottle in no time flat!
Here are more links about which veg you can feed. Please never introduce more than one new veg at a time; especially if your piggies haven't had any in their lives before; shop piggies usually haven't. Persist in serving up veg even if they don't like it straight away. The more you get to eat them now, the less picky they will become later on! Please don't feed spinach and kale (very high in calcium) and lettuce and carrots (very high in vitamin A) daily. Cabbages can be fed if introduced carefully in small quantities as part of a mix; they are actually not a bad source of vitamin C.
In the end, you will have to find your own balance between availability, your piggies' taste buds and your purse.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=42
http://www.guinealynx.info/diet.html
Please weigh your piggies weekly; it is an important tool to monitor their health. Guinea pigs are prey animals and very good at hiding problems, so any major loss of weight needs to be seen by a vet asap.
http://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html
