Guinea pig diet

[Abi_grey]

I have a big huge tub of left over pumpkin and I've been given it to my guinea pigs, they love it! I was just wondering how often can they have it? Also they love kale, it's very good for them as it's high in vitamin C and it's really just leaf, how often can they have this? I've been putting some in the cage everyday scattered about but not loads. Is that ok?

I have a few other questions but not linked to there diets.

1. Floor time- I'm putting down tubes,screwed up paper, balls and food but they seem to just want to go back in there cage. Is there anything else I can use or do?

2. One of my piggies (I have 2 males) keeps making this noise, it sounds like someone knocking on desk or door sounds like he's chattering his teeth but it sounds louder then it should if you get me! What does this mean?

3. Can I bath my piggies? I've head it helps them bond but I just want to know if I really should bath them and if so, what to use?

 

[twiams]

Guinea pigs need '1 cup' of veg a day each, most people like to use a variety of veg in each serving, mixing things piggies really like with things that are high in vit c etc. If i remember rightly Kale shouldn’t be fed too often as it’s very high in vitamin A so should be used as a treat every now and then rather than a daily part of the diet.
Pumpkin again you don’t want to be feeding to regularly, maybe once or twice a week.

This link has a good chart of veggies, colour coded as to what can be fed regularly and what should be used more sparingly.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/food/Veggie-and-Fruit-Charts.pdf

For example my piggies will have a bowl of veg, with Romain lettuce, Cucumber, Yellow pepper, then either celery or carrots, and occasionally things like corn on the cob and like now near halloween they’ll get pumpkin as a treat.
I rarely feed my piggies fruit, as i stick to just veg when it comes to there dinner, as fruit is very sugary but some people like to regularly give fruit as part of the diet, although it’s important to be careful as it’s very sugary.

In answer to your other questions,

My pigs aren’t a big fan of floor time, my boar pair Bentley and Chester, will have a nose around and then just sit by there cage waiting to go back unless theres something new or interesting to explore, my other pig Marmite loves to just have a potter around by himself and i often take him out while i’m sat on my laptop or something. It’s a case of what your piggy enjoys doing and what they are used to doing, Bentley and Chester are used to more handling and cuddles than floor time, where as Marmite is quite independant.

Teeth chattering is a sign of aggression or anger, and is usually used by the more dominant pig of the pair to show dominance, and let the other one know he’s boss, it’s perfectly normal as long as it’s not extremely loud and as long as your piggies don’t look as if they are starting to fight, signs of which can be found through this link.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?28949-Boars!-Simple-Dominance-Displays-or-Fighting

Guinea pigs aren’t an animal that need regular bathing as they do a good job at keeping themselves clean, but as you say in bonding new pairs it can be useful to neutralise the smell. The only reason i bathe my guinea pigs is to keep on top of there grease glands, they can get a bit mucky, but this isn’t regularly only when i have to as it’s a stressful experience for them, in the 2 and a half years i’ve had my pigs i’ve only bathed them 4 or 5 times.

If you want to bathe your guinea pigs i can recommend gorgeous guineas shampoos as probably the best guinea pig products to buy.
http://gorgeousguineas.com/

Hope that helps

 

[Abi_grey]

Thank you! That's perfect! Everything I wanted to know

 

[Jerrybelly]

Kale is high in calcium and may contribute to the formation of bladder sludge/stones. It is not advisable to feed it to piggies every day.