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Getting More Fiber Into My Guinean Pig

beckyxxx

beckyxxx

Junior Guinea Pig
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hi, my guinea pigs having smaller poops and apparently this can be caused by not enough fiber in the diet. I was wondering how to get more fiber into him? I'm cutting back on the amount of veggies I give him. I’ll post a picture below x

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beckyxxx said:
hi, my guinea pigs having smaller poops and apparently this can be caused by not enough fiber in the diet. I was wondering how to get more fiber into him? I'm cutting back on the amount of veggies I give him. I’ll post a picture below x

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Is your piggy eating enough hay? Hay is always the best fibre for them.
Any other signs or symptoms you’ve noticed?
 
No, he’s fine in himself, eating and drinking. His weight is 1772g is that a healthy weight? His poos are slightly softer and smaller but that’s about it. I’m cutting down on the amount of veggies I’m giving him as currently I give him 1 handful three times a day, so cutting back 1 handful twice a day. He has Alfa Timothy hay all the time, and excel feeding hay, he just doesn’t take much interest in hay so I’m hoping back cutting back on veggies he will eat it more
 
beckyxxx said:
No, he’s fine in himself, eating and drinking. His weight is 1772g is that a healthy weight? His poos are slightly softer and smaller but that’s about it. I’m cutting down on the amount of veggies I’m giving him as currently I give him 1 handful three times a day, so cutting back 1 handful twice a day. He has Alfa Timothy hay all the time, and excel feeding hay, he just doesn’t take much interest in hay so I’m hoping back cutting back on veggies he will eat it more
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How old is he?
Adult piggies are better with less Alfalfa hay but plentyTimothy and Meadow hay. He sounds like quite a large piggy by his weight! If you are worried weigh him daily about the same time to see if his weight remains stable.
Post a photo! We all love piggy photos!
 
Yeah I got the weight wrong he’s 1172g it’s Alfa brand but it’s timothy hay and ok will post a pic now, so should I not be worried by his smaller poos?
 
It might be worth trying a few different hays. I've found my pigs to be particularly fussy! They wouldn't eat much hay til I found one they adored. The one that they've had for well over a year (and still love!) is from Timothyhay.co.uk.

It's a tricky time of year for hay as it's a little while since it was harvested so it's not as it's best but my lot still love theirs. Plenty of seed heads which apparently is the best! Still lovely, green and fairly thick so good for teeth too :)
 
They have three different hays in their cage at the moment and they aren’t interested lol. I’ll try from the place you said. Do you reckon it could also be due to having 1 handful each 3 times a day of veggies?
 
beckyxxx said:
They have three different hays in their cage at the moment and they aren’t interested lol. I’ll try from the place you said. Do you reckon it could also be due to having 1 handful each 3 times a day of veggies?
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Potentially, the recommended is 1 cup per day per pig :) They'll always prefer veggies to hay! :))

I went through the same thing as you, lots of online hay suppliers offer free samples. The one I mentioned does so it may be worth emailing them. I contacted loads for samples before settling on one 'cause I wasn't sure if they'd like it :))

You could try to include some washed fresh grass in the veggies, that would help too! What kind of veg do you feed? :)
 
I’ve just ordered 9kg of the Timothy hay from the website you suggested as the reviews was very good! So hopefully they will like it! I give them a piece of either spring greens or a lettuce leaf each with a few slices of cucumber in the AM, then lunch time they have a slice of pepper each and a handful of bagged mixed leaves and then at PM I’ll either give them some a handful of baby leaf, or a large piece of cabbage leaf each
 
Ah okay all good stuff then! I've found herbs to be very good for them too like coriander and basil, mint here and there as well as dill :)

Maybe cut down on the veggie feeds a little too and see if that helps? My pigs would love you, their mean mummy only gives veg once a day! :))
 
Lol! I really should I work from home so every time I walk to the kitchen they wheek at me so it’s hard to give into temptation lol! Maybe I’ll cut out the lunch time meal and give them grass then instead, I have dried 100% grass is this ok to feed them instead of the veggies at lunch time?:)
 
beckyxxx said:
Lol! I really should I work from home so every time I walk to the kitchen they wheek at me so it’s hard to give into temptation lol! Maybe I’ll cut out the lunch time meal and give them grass then instead, I have dried 100% grass is this ok to feed them instead of the veggies at lunch time?:)
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Haha oh I know! I'm glad I don't work from home as the nagging of 5 "starving" little monsters all day would be deafening! :))

I hope they enjoy the timothy hay!

Is it Readigrass? It's a lovely little treat for them but is quite high in calcium, I tend to give my lot a handful once a week :) They do a Oat Grass one which I believe you can feed more regularly, I mix some in with their hay about 2-3 times a week I think for a foraging session! :D

On thehayexperts.com they have some fab dried products I always get for little treats like dried plantain. Otherwise freshly harvested grass, dandelion or plantain is a great little midday snack. On my days off I often bring them a little something from the garden at lunch :)
 
My lot get fed twice a day @Cavy Kung-Fu. They have a breakfast of pellets at around 8am then a dinner of veg at around 5ish at the mo when the clocks go forward tomorrow it'll be more like 6 or 7 ish.
 
The package just says dried natural spring grass, I think I’ll start feeding them twice a day, AM And PM and making sure they have plenty of feeding hay and Timothy hay, I put their pellets in their cage in the morning but to be honest they don’t ever finish the bowl and normally eat them through out the day , but never an empty bowl lol x
 
Hopefully this will help with his soft smaller poos, and he will hopefully eat more of his hay
 
Betsy said:
My lot get fed twice a day @Cavy Kung-Fu. They have a breakfast of pellets at around 8am then a dinner of veg at around 5ish at the mo when the clocks go forward tomorrow it'll be more like 6 or 7 ish.
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Yea I meant veggies, I only given them veg once a day in the evening :D

beckyxxx said:
The package just says dried natural spring grass, I think I’ll start feeding them twice a day, AM And PM and making sure they have plenty of feeding hay and Timothy hay, I put their pellets in their cage in the morning but to be honest they don’t ever finish the bowl and normally eat them through out the day , but never an empty bowl lol x
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Ah okay then I'm not sure I'm afraid! Mine aren't massive fan of pellets either, take it or leave it for them!

Yes hopefully it'll all help! :)
 
Just thought I'd share a pic of the hay as I've just opened a new bag! :D

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The pigs have just gone mad trying to get to the seed heads first :))
 
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