Currently had a calcium issue in most my piggies as i found out we have super hard water so I'm upping the amount of watery food and minimalising high calcium foods as told by the vet in order to flush out everyone. I was looking at cutting pellets however some are a bit underweight so that wont help. Whats some high fibre foods (vedge/fruit) that i can feed to make sure their poos stay fine, also need the high fibre suggestions for my boars to keep their poos proper. Ive been slowly upping sugary food for the underweight issue and was looking into giving a small amount of oats which need the fibre to counter. Also ive been giving them filtered water since finding out about the water.
High fibre diet
- Thread starter Lloyd
- Start date
The only high fibre food piggies need to keep poops normal and for weight gain (along with maintaining good gut and dental health) is hay, and lots of it.
You can also give some fresh grass (but only in small amounts to begin with if their digestive system isn’t used to it) as that also provides the nutrition their bodies need for health and weight maintenance. Of course at this time of year nutrition in grass is less and you must be careful not to feed any grass which is frozen.
Fresh Grass and Lawn Time - Tips for Avoiding Spring Time Deaths
Giving an extra piece of cucumber will help with the additional water intake.
The four safe daily veg they can have is lettuce (not iceberg), bell pepper, cucumber and a little coriander. These provide a good mix of nutrients while not introducing too much calcium.
This is the recommended diet.
Water and pellets introduce more calcium than veg does. So filtering and keeping pellets limited (as well as checking the type of pellets you are feeding/ their ingredients) can help. However there is a balance to be struck. Cutting calcium down too low can be just as bad as a diet which is too high. By not feeding pellets (or not feeding often) you then have more leeway in other areas of the diet.
You should not make them gain weight by giving extra or sugary veg and fruit.
Giving sugary food or too much veg will cause dysbiosis and yellow fat formation (from sugary foods). That means that as well as risking upset tummies, as soon as you stop giving sugary food, all the weight will fall off of them again.
It’s like a human choosing to eat chocolate bars to gain weight, it’ll work, you would gain weight but it would be unhealthy weight gain which risks other health issues. You then lose the weight again when you go back to a lower calorie/lower sugar intake diet.
How were they diagnosed as being underweight?
If it was just by the number on the scales then that is not the right way to do it as there is a huge range of healthy weights for piggies.
You have to check their heft, by putting your hands around their ribs (weight management guide below).
If you do need weight gain in some of them then try giving a few top up feeds of critical care for the additional fibre and calories. You can also give a small amount of plain oats each day.
Pellets should only be one tablespoon per pig per day. They do contain more calcium than the highest calcium veg so making sure you feed only the recommended amount or less will help.
As pellets only make 5% of the diet and hay is 75-80% then cutting pellets down (even if not out completely) shouldn’t make a huge difference to causing weight loss (it may make some) but their hay intake should increase as a result which then has good health implications all round.
I don’t feed mine pellets at all and there was never any weight loss from being fed them to not being fed them as they just increased their hay intake.
(I actually went from feeding pellets daily, to only feeding them twice a week, to not feeding them at all)
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You can also give some fresh grass (but only in small amounts to begin with if their digestive system isn’t used to it) as that also provides the nutrition their bodies need for health and weight maintenance. Of course at this time of year nutrition in grass is less and you must be careful not to feed any grass which is frozen.
Fresh Grass and Lawn Time - Tips for Avoiding Spring Time Deaths
Giving an extra piece of cucumber will help with the additional water intake.
The four safe daily veg they can have is lettuce (not iceberg), bell pepper, cucumber and a little coriander. These provide a good mix of nutrients while not introducing too much calcium.
This is the recommended diet.
Water and pellets introduce more calcium than veg does. So filtering and keeping pellets limited (as well as checking the type of pellets you are feeding/ their ingredients) can help. However there is a balance to be struck. Cutting calcium down too low can be just as bad as a diet which is too high. By not feeding pellets (or not feeding often) you then have more leeway in other areas of the diet.
You should not make them gain weight by giving extra or sugary veg and fruit.
Giving sugary food or too much veg will cause dysbiosis and yellow fat formation (from sugary foods). That means that as well as risking upset tummies, as soon as you stop giving sugary food, all the weight will fall off of them again.
It’s like a human choosing to eat chocolate bars to gain weight, it’ll work, you would gain weight but it would be unhealthy weight gain which risks other health issues. You then lose the weight again when you go back to a lower calorie/lower sugar intake diet.
How were they diagnosed as being underweight?
If it was just by the number on the scales then that is not the right way to do it as there is a huge range of healthy weights for piggies.
You have to check their heft, by putting your hands around their ribs (weight management guide below).
If you do need weight gain in some of them then try giving a few top up feeds of critical care for the additional fibre and calories. You can also give a small amount of plain oats each day.
Pellets should only be one tablespoon per pig per day. They do contain more calcium than the highest calcium veg so making sure you feed only the recommended amount or less will help.
As pellets only make 5% of the diet and hay is 75-80% then cutting pellets down (even if not out completely) shouldn’t make a huge difference to causing weight loss (it may make some) but their hay intake should increase as a result which then has good health implications all round.
I don’t feed mine pellets at all and there was never any weight loss from being fed them to not being fed them as they just increased their hay intake.
(I actually went from feeding pellets daily, to only feeding them twice a week, to not feeding them at all)
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Ah that helps a lot thank you, i might try slowly cutting pellets cause i feed a big range of food including herbs. The vet did diagnose them by feeling rather than scales since one of my lads is around 1300g but then he is skinny to touch. They all get unlimited hay and grass at least once a week granted its not frozen. Ill try lessening nuggets and get some more critical care, i had been sprinkling it on their food but ran out.
How old is the piggy who weighs 1300g?
Are their weights consistent at each weekly check?
Have you checked the heft yourself? It would be a good idea to do so so that you know what you are feeling.
Making up a bowl of critical care and giving the piggies you are concerned about time with the bowl could be a good idea.
Perhaps you could tell us what their diet is and quantities ?
Are their weights consistent at each weekly check?
Have you checked the heft yourself? It would be a good idea to do so so that you know what you are feeling.
Making up a bowl of critical care and giving the piggies you are concerned about time with the bowl could be a good idea.
Perhaps you could tell us what their diet is and quantities ?
The one thats 1300g is a couple months off of becoming 3 years old which isnt at all old and hes possibly the skinniest, he has had some calcium/ball issues which are getting sorted as hes gettijg castrated soon but id rather him be fatter before that.
I havent weighed them in a bit cause ive been super busy and had to have one put down (old age) so ive not been massivly in there but theie weights usually stayed within 50g of each check
Yeah i check how they all feel often, and paul (1300g guy) gets checked daily to clean his balls
For their food theyre fed twice a day so these are split in half. Also theres 4 girls and 2 lads so bear in mind the lads get 1/4 of these foods. They get a romaine and a half, whole green pepper most days and sonetimes red (no one likes yellow), decent handful of a herb which is switched up morning and night (coriander, parsley, basil, ect). The rest of their food varies week to week but they sometimes get in smaller quantities cabbage, bistro or lettuce salads, different lettuce types, curly kale, pinapple, blueberries, fennel, carrots with tops, apple, iceberg (vet reccomended and no ones had diarhea), cucumber. In summer they get more weeds and safe tree branches
I'm not sure the actual quanitites i give of these since i figured out portion sizes ages ago and just go off that and theyre varying ages and sizes so that too.
I am always worried I'm not feeding them right but i look at feeding guides everyweek when getting food so if you have any suggestions thatd be great.
It would be best if you can check portion sizes, at least for a while if there are health concerns and do weigh any piggies that have health concerns every morning. It’s too easy for portion sizes to slip and find veg is being over fed and hay intake can suffer unknowingly.
They can have one cup of veg per pig per day.
Using the four veg which can be given every day- romaine lettuce, cucumber, pepper and coriander, it That comes to roughly: one lettuce leaf, one thin slice of pepper, 1-2 sprigs of coriander, one small chunk of cucumber per pig.
The sample plate in the diet guide details.
Parsley and kale (and I think basil) are high calcium so that should not be fed regularly (no more than once a week, and if you give kale in a week then don’t give parsley (or any other high calcium veg in that same week etc).
Personally I would not feed any fruit (including carrot) at all - not only are the sugars not good for them, feeding acidic fruit like pineapple is a cheilitis risk.
I’m assuming your vet has said to feed iceberg due to the high water content to flush out their systems.
There is very little nutrition and low vit c in iceberg so it is not something that should ordinarily be given.
So he’s having issues with his testicles? What sort of issues?
I assume that’s why he is being neutered?
They can have one cup of veg per pig per day.
Using the four veg which can be given every day- romaine lettuce, cucumber, pepper and coriander, it That comes to roughly: one lettuce leaf, one thin slice of pepper, 1-2 sprigs of coriander, one small chunk of cucumber per pig.
The sample plate in the diet guide details.
Parsley and kale (and I think basil) are high calcium so that should not be fed regularly (no more than once a week, and if you give kale in a week then don’t give parsley (or any other high calcium veg in that same week etc).
Personally I would not feed any fruit (including carrot) at all - not only are the sugars not good for them, feeding acidic fruit like pineapple is a cheilitis risk.
I’m assuming your vet has said to feed iceberg due to the high water content to flush out their systems.
There is very little nutrition and low vit c in iceberg so it is not something that should ordinarily be given.
So he’s having issues with his testicles? What sort of issues?
I assume that’s why he is being neutered?
Yeah ill try figure out portion sizes today, they. I do tend to feed with one higher calcium food, a mid calcium and low low calcium/watery food each meal but i have been slowly decreasing their morning meals to trry start feeding once a day. The fruit they get rarely and small amounts, the pinapple is mostly for my rabbits since onces super hairy (cause impactions with the other from grooming) and so ive been giving it mostly to my lads for the same reasons and its helped their poos. Whenever they get iceberg i give things with other good stuff and i dont giev them a lot. I either give that or celery with the leaves or dandelion
Paul for the past year and a bit has had issues keeping his sac clean cause his cage mate it cery longhaired and so shed a lot so his sac gets full of his hair which catches hay which then makes him struggle to poo. I clean them often but the build up and then calcium issue led to him getting rhumocam which ive been told to give him he shows pain whilr peeing. He was xrayed to check for stones and doesnt have sny so uts still a case of flushing his system. Sounds odd but part of the issue is that he has huge balls so I'm getting him castrated to see if that helps. I was wondering to help the lads with weight gain if making their cage smaller. I made a post not long ago about my single male, shawn, being lonley (hes new, castrated and will soon go with the girls, hes also perfect weight idk how), in the post it shows their cage. Shawn is going to live with the girls soon so the main lads will have more space but idk if to limit their space a bit since theyre very active. I find having a bigger cage helps keep pauls balls clean but if it helps them gain weight then ill try it. Also small cage for them would be a 4 by 5 cnc cage since their current is techincally 7 by 8.