How Long Do You Keep Opened Pellets For?

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biscandmatt

biscandmatt

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i've read quite alot of times that the vitamin c in pellets starts to decrease after about three months so you should replace the bag around then.

mollie and benjie are on vitakraft which don't come in bags any smaller than 4kg i think. the pellets are nearly at three months since being opened but there are loads left. nearly all because they only have one or two pieces each per day - mollie usually has the smaller bits so maybe 1/4 of a pellet twice a day and benjie usually has 1/2 - 1 full pellet twice a day. so i imagine the 4kg would last years if i let it :))

of course, i don't mind buying a new bag for them and throwing all these away if it's better for them. but just wondered what others do and what you've been told about when to replace them. i know it's generally recommended to buy the smallest bags at a time anyway for freshness.

thanks :)

oh, and i transfer them into a plastic cereal container and store them in a cupboard :)
 
hope you don't mind me asking…but why do they only have 1-2 pellets each per day?
This doesn't seem a lot at all….thats all
 
lawz said:
hope you don't mind me asking…but why do they only have 1-2 pellets each per day?
This doesn't seem a lot at all….thats all
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well mollie has a bladder condition so is on a low calcium diet and so can only have a tiny amount of pellets. started off with none but now i let her have the 1/4 pellet twice a day after her meds and she is fine with that.

benjie is prone to weight gain and so i use the pellets as more of a treat whilst he is waiting for mollie to have her meds.

but i just feel that most are unhealthy in general and our vet is a no pellets/very limited pellets kind aswell so i've never fed many - mollie and benjie have been even better hay eaters since having less and look healthier for it to be honest with shinier hair and brighter eyes, more energy etc :)

eta: pellets aren't essential if the rest of the diet is as it should be :)

eta again: the vitakraft are big so even if you fed the amount equivalent to other pellets, you'd still only feed five each per day. but even the 1/4 and 1/2 pellets take them ages to eat because they really work the teeth :)
 
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I give 1/8th a cup a day per guinea pig. 1/4th a cup is standard for me when I have more than one pig in a cage which currently is not right now. Those seem like the averages and recommended amount. I can normally finish a bag off in about a month depending on how many I'm housing at the moment. I only use standard Oxbow food and the bag's about five pounds. I'm more concerned about their vegetables and timothy hay. We try to perserve our pellets as best as we can and pellets should not be the only way you rely on vitamin C for your pig, of course! I never really paid much to expiriry dates for my pet's food. I'm sure there's nothing to stress about but having food longer than three months itself kind of sets me the wrong way.
 
Seven said:
I give 1/8th a cup a day per guinea pig. 1/4th a cup is standard for me when I have more than one pig in a cage which currently is not right now. Those seem like the averages and recommended amount. I can normally finish a bag off in about a month depending on how many I'm housing at the moment. I only use standard Oxbow food and the bag's about five pounds. I'm more concerned about their vegetables and timothy hay. We try to perserve our pellets as best as we can and pellets should not be the only way you rely on vitamin C for your pig, of course! I never really paid much to expiriry dates for my pet's food. I'm sure there's nothing to stress about but having food longer than three months itself kind of sets me the wrong way.
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thank you. i have been advised to feed the least amount possible or none at all for my two which is why i only let them have small bits as more of a treat reward. vet said the newer concept ones, like bunny or vitakraft, would be the better choice for my two if i did want to feed small bits so that's why we switched them from oxbow. unfortunately the vitakraft bag is double the oxbow one i used to get, and even with the oxbow i'd end up throwing alot. i wish vitakraft did smaller bags.

i think i'll end up throwing alot whatever i use as i only have the two and they don't have very many. i just wanted to double check it wasn't me being over the top as usual :))

three months seems about right to me aswell when it comes to pellets but i might ask the vet next time we see him, see what he thinks :)

eta: vitamin c and other vitamins and minerals i probably should have said originally. as you say, the rest of a healthy diet will cover vitamin c anyway aswell as everything else :)
 
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As you're only feeding the pellets as treats rather than a vital source of vit C, I would have thought it was fine to carry on using them after the 3 months is up. They're getting a very well balanced diet otherwise, and they wouldn't get much vit c from just 2 pellets anyway, so if it was me, I'd keep the pellets well sealed and carry on using them.
 
Sue G said:
As you're only feeding the pellets as treats rather than a vital source of vit C, I would have thought it was fine to carry on using them after the 3 months is up. They're getting a very well balanced diet otherwise, and they wouldn't get much vit c from just 2 pellets anyway, so if it was me, I'd keep the pellets well sealed and carry on using them.
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thank you. that does make sense actually, never thought of it like that. :)
 
i've got to four months since opened and have ordered more today. just me being over the top probably but i think keeping them four months is my limit :))

means i'll end up throwing loads from the current bag but oh well .. :))
 
Instead of throwing them, could you donate them to your local sanctuary or rescue? :-) x
 
Definitely worth asking :-)
Also another thought that came to me in a moment of clarity (rare!) could you go in with someone who feeds the same as you and split the packet? So that you don't waste food and money? OR buy a new bag,take out what you think you will need/use, and then sell the rest? x
 
Rosehip said:
Definitely worth asking :-)
Also another thought that came to me in a moment of clarity (rare!) could you go in with someone who feeds the same as you and split the packet? So that you don't waste food and money? OR buy a new bag,take out what you think you will need/use, and then sell the rest? x
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sounds like a good idea actually. i could buy them and offer people samples if they wanted to try them but not buy a whole bag. postage shouldn't be too much. i've sent a couple of people a sample and think it was about £2.80 for a cup full :)
 
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