Hay & Veggies

[Jnusbaum817]

We have just adopted three female guinea pigs Sunday night. One is 5 months and the other two are 13 weeks. They have access to unlimited hay and pellets, and are in a 2x5 C& C cage with a 2X2 loft. I do see them eating the hay, but I filled a three hole hay bag that is 34 x 28 cm This one up with timothy hay Sunday night and its still half full now (tuesday night). I have that right next to a grid litter tray so that they are on the litter tray while they eat. They love the tray, and are on it a lot of the time, but I wonder if they are eating enough hay. I do also hand feed them hay when I take them out for training and when we lap time. I also just ordered this hanging hay feeder to hang over their litter tray for some hay fun. Does that sound like enough hay?

Before we got them they had not had any vegetables. The staff gave them an apple slice each for our 3.5 hours ride home sunday, and we gave them a small cut carrot stick (think french fry size) yesterday. Today I got some romaine lettuce and gave to them, but am worried to give them too much, I let them each eat about a 4x2 inch piece of lettuce today. I am really confused where to go from here. Since they never had any vegetables before what should i be giving them and how much, I have spent over two hours researching but I see so many mixed answers.

Any advice would be appreciated. These are our first pets after having kids and we have three kids so trying to get this right.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

We actually dont recommend hay is put in any bags or hay holders. Instead we recommend it is just thrown in loose piles directly on the cage floor or put into multiple flat trays (with absorbent bedding at the bottom) in several areas around the cage so the piggies can get into the hay. (As you have three piggies you would want three (if not four) hay areas in the cage).
You want the piggies to be able to get right into a pile of hay - to be able to lay in it, on it, hide in it and be able to forage freely through it. Hay is their main food but it is also enrichment (they would naturally spend hours foraging for food so recreating that by not restricting their methods of feeding) and any bag or holder restricts their ability to be in hay consequently removes a lot of enrichment, foraging ability and mental stimulation. It is also the reason we do not recommend food bowls be used - scatter their veg and one tablespoon of pellets each around the cage or hide in hay piles so they have to move and search for it.

Also remember that they are not going to finish every strand of hay - not all hay is created equal!
You are going to throw hay away each day (either because they don’t consider it a tasty strand of hay or because it has been soiled; they need to be right in the hay so they are going to pee and poop on it) but you must be refilling with fresh hay at least once a day (I always do morning and night and sometimes in the middle of the day as well) whether they’ve eaten it or not.
In fact if they are eating all the hay you put in then you possibly aren’t giving them enough.

This thread will show you what we mean!

Show us your hay nests

The only way to know the are eating enough hay is with the routine weekly weight checks. Hay intake cannot be gauged by eye. You weigh them at the same time each week and keep a log of their weights.
If you have any concerns about their health, any concerns that weight has been lost then you switch to daily weight checks.
The guide I will add in below details further but anything up to 50g is a normal fluctuation but anything more than 50g of loss (is when it is officially considered loss) becomes concerning and requires action to be taken (syringe feeding and seeing a vet). 100g loss in 24-48 hours is an emergency situation.

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/weight-monitoring-and-management.171577/

Grid litter tray - if you post a picture that would be good but if it is what I am picturing then anything with holes in is not suitable for piggies feet. They may get toes caught but also standing on a holed floor can cause bumble foot.
They just need to be standing on absorbent bedding on the cage the floor, and you then spot clean it (once or twice) daily.

Veggies.
New vegetables need to be introduced slowly, in small quantities and one at a time. Fresh veggies (or fresh grass) on unprepared tummies can cause digestive problems. We recommend herbs are the things you start with as they tend to be more mild on the digestion.

For example:
Day 1 you give them one sprig of cilantro each. Day 2 also just one sprig of cilantro each.
Day 3 if they’ve been ok with cilantro, then add in one small piece of another veggie (eg a thin slice of bell pepper).
Day 4 give the cilantro and bell pepper again. Day 5 if still ok, then add in a slice of lettuce.
Day 6 still cilantro, bell pepper and lettuce.
Day 7 if all ok, then add in a slice of cucumber. Day 8 of all ok with cilantro, bell pepper, lettuce and cucumber, then you can start to slowly increase the quantities over the coming days until they are up to the recommended one cup of veg per pig per day.
If at any time you notice soft poops then you must remove all veg from the diet for several days, feeding only hay and allowing the gut to resettle before going back to day 1 again.

The four safe daily veggies are lettuce, bell pepper, cilantro and cucumber.
Anything else is in moderation and rotation.
Fruit and carrots should not be in the diet regularly due to the sugars.
Kale, spinach and parsley are high calcium veggies so need to be once a week only. Calcium and oxalates can increase the risk of bladder stones with most calcium coming into the diet via pellets and drinking water (in hard water areas)

They can have just one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[Truffolo]

Welcome to the forum lovely piggies Congratulations on becoming a piggy parent

 

[Jnusbaum817]

Welcome to the forum

We actually dont recommend hay is put in any bags or hay holders. Instead we recommend it is just thrown in loose piles directly on the cage floor or put into multiple flat trays (with absorbent bedding at the bottom) in several areas around the cage so the piggies can get into the hay. (As you have three piggies you would want three (if not four) hay areas in the cage).
You want the piggies to be able to get right into a pile of hay - to be able to lay in it, on it, hide in it and be able to forage freely through it. Hay is their main food but it is also enrichment (they would naturally spend hours foraging for food so recreating that by not restricting their methods of feeding) and any bag or holder restricts their ability to be in hay consequently removes a lot of enrichment, foraging ability and mental stimulation. It is also the reason we do not recommend food bowls be used - scatter their veg and one tablespoon of pellets each around the cage or hide in hay piles so they have to move and search for it.

Also remember that they are not going to finish every strand of hay - not all hay is created equal!
You are going to throw hay away each day (either because they don’t consider it a tasty strand of hay or because it has been soiled; they need to be right in the hay so they are going to pee and poop on it) but you must be refilling with fresh hay at least once a day (I always do morning and night and sometimes in the middle of the day as well) whether they’ve eaten it or not.
In fact if they are eating all the hay you put in then you possibly aren’t giving them enough.

This thread will show you what we mean!

Show us your hay nests

The only way to know the are eating enough hay is with the routine weekly weight checks. Hay intake cannot be gauged by eye. You weigh them at the same time each week and keep a log of their weights.
If you have any concerns about their health, any concerns that weight has been lost then you switch to daily weight checks.
The guide I will add in below details further but anything up to 50g is a normal fluctuation but anything more than 50g of loss (is when it is officially considered loss) becomes concerning and requires action to be taken (syringe feeding and seeing a vet). 100g loss in 24-48 hours is an emergency situation.

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/weight-monitoring-and-management.171577/

Grid litter tray - if you post a picture that would be good but if it is what I am picturing then anything with holes in is not suitable for piggies feet. They may get toes caught but also standing on a holed floor can cause bumble foot.
They just need to be standing on absorbent bedding on the cage the floor, and you then spot clean it (once or twice) daily.

Veggies.
New vegetables need to be introduced slowly, in small quantities and one at a time. Fresh veggies (or fresh grass) on unprepared tummies can cause digestive problems. We recommend herbs are the things you start with as they tend to be more mild on the digestion.

For example:
Day 1 you give them one sprig of cilantro each. Day 2 also just one sprig of cilantro each.
Day 3 if they’ve been ok with cilantro, then add in one small piece of another veggie (eg a thin slice of bell pepper).
Day 4 give the cilantro and bell pepper again. Day 5 if still ok, then add in a slice of lettuce.
Day 6 still cilantro, bell pepper and lettuce.
Day 7 if all ok, then add in a slice of cucumber. Day 8 of all ok with cilantro, bell pepper, lettuce and cucumber, then you can start to slowly increase the quantities over the coming days until they are up to the recommended one cup of veg per pig per day.
If at any time you notice soft poops then you must remove all veg from the diet for several days, feeding only hay and allowing the gut to resettle before going back to day 1 again.

The four safe daily veggies are lettuce, bell pepper, cilantro and cucumber.
Anything else is in moderation and rotation.
Fruit and carrots should not be in the diet regularly due to the sugars.
Kale, spinach and parsley are high calcium veggies so need to be once a week only. Calcium and oxalates can increase the risk of bladder stones with most calcium coming into the diet via pellets and drinking water (in hard water areas)

They can have just one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Thank you! This is so helpful! I have attached pictures of the set up we have now. Are these litter trays not good for them? They seem to like them and have been on them/using them a lot. I put my finger and AirPod on them for size reference. The smaller one is up in the loft. After I posted yesterday, I also decided to start putting a little pile of hay in front of the hay bag and a pile of hay inside of that tree Heidi on top of the litter box they seemed to like that.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I would definitely not use that litter tray. Anything with holes is a risk.

The green hay rack in the loft is just far too small also

I would just get rid of all bags and racks and just use loose piles of hay

 

[Truffolo]

Piggies have long toes and long nails and rather sensitive bare feet, unlike rabbits with their furry, wide feet that are useful for digging. Piggies feet are more a sort of trail show, for fast sprints and possibly a bit of rock jumping. The grid style litter tray that is so popular for bunnies is hard on piggy style feet and they are better off on fleece or wood shavings to prevent foot problems. They love to tunnel through hay and hide in it, so you can give them enough to cover themselves in it. You can get cheaper bedding hay and use better feeding hay, or just buy in bulk from Nature's Own and fill part of the cage. They will enjoy it. Keep the hay circulating and bin damp hay as it can go mouldy.

 

[Truffolo]

Your cage looks nice with nice comfy hides and lovely fleece Unfortunately there is no real way of keeping the poops in a corner with piggies, they poop everywhere and need a daily or twice daily poop pick, but their poops are usually very nice and neat, so not too bad there. Lovely to see your piggy set up

 

[Jnusbaum817]

Piggies have long toes and long nails and rather sensitive bare feet, unlike rabbits with their furry, wide feet that are useful for digging. Piggies feet are more a sort of trail show, for fast sprints and possibly a bit of rock jumping. The grid style litter tray that is so popular for bunnies is hard on piggy style feet and they are better off on fleece or wood shavings to prevent foot problems. They love to tunnel through hay and hide in it, so you can give them enough to cover themselves in it. You can get cheaper bedding hay and use better feeding hay, or just buy in bulk from Nature's Own and fill part of the cage. They will enjoy it. Keep the hay circulating and bin damp hay as it can go mouldy.

Would this be good to put newspaper and potty hay in and eating hay on top? or is something like this better?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Would this be good to put newspaper and potty hay in and eating hay on top? or is something like this better?

Yes, either of those would be perfect

 

[Roselina]

Would this be good to put newspaper and potty hay in and eating hay on top? or is something like this better?

I use one of those and another triangle type one - my piggies love them and love to burrow in especially if their veggies or a little forage is added to the hay
Welcome to the forum
I found the forum so good for info and help when I first got my piggies ( 5 yrs ago) - the internet has many myths and wrong advice whereas the forum guinea pig info is totally trustworthy
We love seeing and hearing about piggies so any photos would be welcome

 

[Merab]

Welcome to the forum.
Mine love a paper bag full of hay to play in. I just dump a pile of hay on the cage floor for them.
It makes a mess but the piggies have fun

We look forward to getting to know you.
Pictures welcome

 

[Jnusbaum817]

Thank you all for your help. Muffin, Biscuit, and Coco already seem happier.

 

[thewheakybeans]

They are gorgeous!

 

[fluffysal]

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of piggies. I have a pair of short haired boys so the floof envy is kicking in!
Not that I would ever swap Sir George.......

 

[flowerfairy]

My two sows love their hay area. I do half a cage of hay and the rest is newspaper and fleece.

The hay area has a wooden magazine rack full of hay and two cat litter trays with low openings lined with newspaper and soft timothy hay.