How essential are pellets anyway?

HeatherW

HeatherW

Adult Guinea Pig
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I currently feed my three squeakies Science Selective Grain-Free pellets and need to order some more soon. This got me thinking: are pellets even necessary? They have unlimited hay and veggies twice a day, so do they need pellets? What are the actual benefits to feeding them?

When I adopted from the RSPCA a few months ago, I was told that they don't feed the guineas in their care any pellets because they're bad for their teeth, and it's really just a marketing ploy. What are your thoughts?
 
I have often wondered about this for both guinea pigs and rabbits.

Maybe loads of forage would make up for lack of pellets? Will be interested to see what people have to say.
 
I actually didn’t feed any pellets for at least a month or so until last week given that I forgot about them and didn’t buy more. (Oops.) The piggies were unaffected, don’t think they missed them. I’ve got some now and the only thing I’d think is important about them is that the pigs look forward to them in the morning. Other people can disagree but I haven’t noticed any big difference between feeding and not feeding them, especially as they are such a small piece of their diet.
 
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People used to keep rabbits for food more commonly and I'm sure I've heard that pellets were developed essentially to fatten them up quicker! Because if you're raising them to eat you don't want to be feeding them all the tasty veg you want to eat too. I would think things have moved on a bit but essentially they are a concentrated form of food with added nutrients. I get concerned about using them sometimes if I see calcium pee spots but I would also be concerned about getting the balance right if I left them out. Louise and Zara arrived from Blue Cross with a little bag of the nuggets they were on and they practice 'free feeding' there. I've been gradually reducing the amount I put in the bowls but I didn't want to do this at first as the two pairs were already a bit dicey with each other and I didn't want to trigger any raids into the other's territory! Currently the aim is to have one or two pellets left in the bowl each evening when I go in...

They really love their pellets though and they look dead happy eating them! George and Flora even share the bowl together now.
 
My guinea pigs were very keen on their pellets and munched them immediately. I recently switched to hay box hay and now they gobble hay and ignore the pellets.
 
HeatherW said:
I currently feed my three squeakies Science Selective Grain-Free pellets and need to order some more soon. This got me thinking: are pellets even necessary? They have unlimited hay and veggies twice a day, so do they need pellets? What are the actual benefits to feeding them?

When I adopted from the RSPCA a few months ago, I was told that they don't feed the guineas in their care any pellets because they're bad for their teeth, and it's really just a marketing ploy. What are your thoughts?
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My vets is very against pellets, so I've cut right down, but I do still give them some in their treat ball occasionally as enrichment rather than nourishment. One of the reasons is that what they're made up of isn't terribly healthy and that it's bad for their teeth as it stops them eating as much hay.
 
I basically just give them as treats. Half a tablespoon scattered round the cage in the morning and then a few hand fed throughout the day when they beg for them or as "leaving tax" or "coming home tax" whenever we pass by the cage. But they never get 2 tablespoons each in a given day. It's healthier than most other treats and they love them so I'd feel mean cutting them out but I don't think they are necessary if the pigs have a wide range of veg and forage and good quality hay.
 
Mine love pellets and get very excited when I tell them it's breakfast time. I scatter feed a tablespoon per piggy so they are also getting exercise by running around the run excitedly trying to find them and scoff them up. If they didn't get their daily fix of pellets I would have a riot on my hands and they would definitely be writing of letters and/or emails to the GPU! (Guinea Pig Union)
 
If i stopped pellets id have a riot on my hands. They love their morning pellets. They get Burgess oregano and blackcurrant
 
I'd have a riot here too if I stopped them all together. I did speak to my vet about giving them up after my third guinea pig with a bladder stone. The vet was horrified I was even contemplating giving them up, she said they contain vitamins and minerals they wouldn't get enough of from veg and hay alone (not sure I agree there). She did say to try to find a grain less soy less pellet as both contain a lot of oxelates which are as if not more important in the fight against stones than calcium. Mine get about a teaspoon each a day, one spoon between two twice a day.
 
Mine currently only get commercial guinea pig pellets once or twice a week and thats only for the vitamin D in them. Otherwise the only pellets they get regularly are soaked 100% grass pellets. To me, theyre more of a safety net, I give a good variety of veg in decent quantities, a good rotation of dry forage and a variety of good quality green and brown (sun dried) hays of different types of grass.
I, personally, dont see them as a necessary dietary component in a well rounded diet.
 
Mine are fed half a tablespoon each of cold pressed, grass only, Haybox pellets....they get their hay and half their veg portion in the morning and that is when I usually throw their pellets in but they tuck straight into the hay and veg and I often don’t bother with the pellets. They’re not had pellets for the last three days but they’ll probably get some this morning now this post has reminded me it’s been three days since they last had any!

@Free Ranger is right in that is the background of pellets - for fattening up meat rabbits
 
Thanks, everyone! Have you got a link to the grass pellets? Mine will eat their pellets, but they don't rush for them or popcorn like they do when I give them hay or veggies, so I guess that's a good sign! Jasmine is on grain-free due to excess calcium in her pee, so would the grass pellets be suitable for a pig on a low calcium diet?
 
My boys scream for their morning pellets as soon as they hear me move in my bed (they're in bedroom next door), can't even go to the toilet without feeding them first. All get just the tbs allowance of versele laga and all is eaten straight away. Then they have veg about 1hr later when I do morning clean and veg with their evening clean. And all pets get bedtime treat, pigs get herb mix. After that I am allowed to go to sleep and closely watched for in case I make mistake of waking up early 😂🤦‍♀️
 
Hath said:
My boys scream for their morning pellets as soon as they hear me move in my bed (they're in bedroom next door), can't even go to the toilet without feeding them first. All get just the tbs allowance of versele laga and all is eaten straight away. Then they have veg about 1hr later when I do morning clean and veg with their evening clean. And all pets get bedtime treat, pigs get herb mix. After that I am allowed to go to sleep and closely watched for in case I make mistake of waking up early 😂🤦‍♀️
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If you wake up for the loo in the middle of the night do they scream for food then?
 
Hath said:
My boys scream for their morning pellets as soon as they hear me move in my bed (they're in bedroom next door), can't even go to the toilet without feeding them first. All get just the tbs allowance of versele laga and all is eaten straight away. Then they have veg about 1hr later when I do morning clean and veg with their evening clean. And all pets get bedtime treat, pigs get herb mix. After that I am allowed to go to sleep and closely watched for in case I make mistake of waking up early 😂🤦‍♀️
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I understand this completely! My boys can see me when I’m asleep so the second I even roll over they fly to the bars and begin the chorus. Cue me flailing to get out of bed at 3am to give them a few nuggets before they wake the street :yikes:
 
I didn’t feed pellets religiously for quite a while due to an IC piggy and then a piggy who couldn’t pick them up due to dental stuff. When I did start feeding pellets again, the dental piggy developed bladder problems and sludge. I used to only feed them once a week at the minimum to him until the second week of November, then he had them daily. I was recently talking with Simon about pellets, specifically science selective ones. He said that he doesn’t rate the grain free version either, he still thinks they’re not great especially for a piggy dealing with bladder issues. We now have some hay box cold pressed pellets as Simon said grass based pellets are the best ones to feed, so got those as they were recommended to me on here
 
Little Ones said:
I didn’t feed pellets religiously for quite a while due to an IC piggy and then a piggy who couldn’t pick them up due to dental stuff. When I did start feeding pellets again, the dental piggy developed bladder problems and sludge. I used to only feed them once a week at the minimum to him until the second week of November, then he had them daily. I was recently talking with Simon about pellets, specifically science selective ones. He said that he doesn’t rate the grain free version either, he still thinks they’re not great especially for a piggy dealing with bladder issues. We now have some hay box cold pressed pellets as Simon said grass based pellets are the best ones to feed, so got those as they were recommended to me on here
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My boys weren't as keen on the Haybox pellets. They are them for couple of days, then stopped.
 
Hath said:
My boys weren't as keen on the Haybox pellets. They are them for couple of days, then stopped.
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I’ve found it’s taken some adjusting for them. One piggy went crazy for them, the other three are interested but not sure. I’ll have to see how they get on as the days progress. If they only eat a few here and there then the piggies will still get some of the benefits, better they fill up on their hay anyway
 
Hath said:
My boys weren't as keen on the Haybox pellets. They are them for couple of days, then stopped.
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Mine did the same, maybe lasted a week though! I thought they looked nice but I’m not the boss round here! :doh::))
It’s been very quiet the last couple of mornings without my noisy pair, they hear me move in bed too and demand I get my butt out at full volume! 🙉
 
Mine have a few scattered mostly for treats and enrichment as they get very excited and love foraging for them. I also feed the grain free selective ones.
My vet also agreed that they are bad for their teeth.
I have found they have their use for poorly piggies as a mash, to get fibre in; alongside recovery feed.
 
All our bladder problems started when I switched to the SS grain free pellets. My vet is convinced it's the soy that causes problems, I've heard that elsewhere as well. 3 out of my 6 piggies will eat the Hay Box pellets. It's so hard to know what to do for the best. In the old days in all my years keeping guineas I only took 3 to the vet. 2 for mites and one with a URI, they were so much healthier, all lived to 5 plus years (one almost 9). It makes me wonder if it's the different diet or poor genetics, probably a mix of both.
 
I use them like treats (to forage) or if they look particularly cute or have tolerated something like health checks/weighing/medicine/nebulising.

They get rationed, 1 tablespoon a day which is difficult because their father (my husband) was not realising this and chucked in a few more. 😫

So now I use little fairy cake wrappers to portion them out every day and leave them where my husband can see them. My husband even wrote their initials on them. (He's adorable. 😍) So they only get that certain amount each day. I'm going to see if that works for the little white wees I've been getting every so often. (Now that my husband isn't chucking nuggets in when I'm not looking) Mr I didn't want guinea pigs but I'm in love with them now.
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My pigs LOVE their pellets. If I took them away I would not have some happy pigs on my hand. Pellets are not necessary but can be beneficial to your pig. I feed my two boys about a little over 1/8 a cup a day. They are a good source of vitamin C and other nutrients. The type of pellets you buy matters too pellets need to be very low in molasses, low in calcium, and uniform. Pellets left out for more that a day get stale and lose nutrients so only feed what they will eat in a day.
 
I stopped feeding pellets to my guinea pigs following advice from the vet when one of them had a bladder stone and the other developed IC. They are happy with a different type of hay/veg as a treat and don’t miss the pellets at all now.
 
Sunnyandbutch said:
My pigs LOVE their pellets. If I took them away I would not have some happy pigs on my hand. Pellets are not necessary but can be beneficial to your pig. I feed my two boys about a little over 1/8 a cup a day. They are a good source of vitamin C and other nutrients. The type of pellets you buy matters too pellets need to be very low in molasses, low in calcium, and uniform. Pellets left out for more that a day get stale and lose nutrients so only feed what they will eat in a day.
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1/8 of a cup is still more than the recommended tablespoon. Vitamin c is also contained in hay, grass, pepper and coriander. The latter are veg that can form part of their staple diet - fed daily.

I have a no-pellet Sunday now. They expect them because they’re part of the routine, but they generally forget once I’ve put the hay in. The begging eyes 😭
 
Mine don’t notice when they aren’t given their pellets, they have their veg (half in morning, half in evening) and then go straight to their hay. They are having pellets so infrequently now that it’s getting to the point where they are more surprised when they do get a few pellets each!
 
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