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how many times? feeding query

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Craig David

Teenage Guinea Pig
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hello people

i used to feed mine one in the morning and once in the evening.

However, i have noticed this does have its disadvantages because iv noticed they dont eat as much hay because of this.

whats your feeding routines and what would people recommend? xx
 
Mine is similar to yours -

Nuggets and hay top up in the morning then veggies in the evening and another hay top up just before bed :)
 
Between my wife and I, we're around quite a bit so they get constant hay top-ups. When we're not, they get a big hay feed in the morning and then one as soon as we get home.

They only get pellets once a day and the same with fresh food. Usually in the evening. This way they eat plenty of hay :)
 
Veggies morning and evening. Hay all the time. Bowl full of nuggets once a day. Apple cores as I eat the apples. x
 
Mine get Veggies first thing, before I leave hay top up.

When I get home, they get veggies. Then after veggies, they get more hay.

Before bed they get more hay.
 
mine get pellets and hay in the morning then when i get home they have veg, then later on they get more hay and a bit more pellets
 
Mine get greens first thing, hay top up during the day, nuggets after 3pm, then veggies in the evening. If the hay is low I'll put more in first thing, with the greens, so there's always hay.

If they weeble at me then there's a treat given - but the treat is often part of their usual veggies anyhow! (Or grape stems, banana skin, lettuce I got cheaply and put to one side for them etc) I've been trying to get them to weeble more for food, they've recently gone quiet with the little ginger one gone from the herd, she was the youngest and the loudest. I miss the weebles.
 
greens in the morning and greens in the evening with a constant supply of hay and dry food. But in the summer when my piggy is in her run, me and my family notice that she will eat in the after noon and the go and 'doze' in her hut the as the sun goes down (4.30 ish) she will come out and have a finally nibble before she goes into her hut! :))
 
Mine are usually fed twice a day. I usually give them hay and pellets when they run out, and veggies once a day.

Because I have 4 together and 2 are young and Sukie has babies, I free feed pellets so I know they all have enough. But they still eat loads of hay cos they loev it, so I don't mind. They're getting chubby though :)) but only as much as they're meant to!
 
Mine get vegetables in the morning, and hay and pellets in the evening. I only give my guinea-pigs hay once a day because they eat it really slowly.
 
In the morning they get hay and nuggets. Then in the evening they get their veggies, more hay and their nuggets topped up if needed.
 
I suppose it also depends where you stand on pellets/other dry food.

I know a lot of people like to give unlimited amounts of pellets which is fine but I'm a believer in not overfeeding them pellets. They get a certain amount per day and if they eat it all, they don't get a top-up - they just get the same amount the next day. That way, if they are hungry they'll just eat hay which should be around 80% of their daily diet.

A lot of commercial pellets also lose their nutritional value quite quickly - especially vitamin C enriched pellets. Vitamin C breaks down very quickly in both pellets and powder for water bottles. That's why I think it's important for the veggies to be mostly vitamin C rich (carrot tops are great for this).

Honestly speaking, I personally think that, if anything, piggies can even do without pellets after a while because really they can get all they need nutritionally from hay and veggies, they'll be more inclined to eat plenty of hay and they'll be less likely to become overweight. Then again, I'm no expert.
 
Mine get Veggies first thing, before I leave hay top up.

When I get home, they get veggies. Then after veggies, they get more hay.

Before bed they get more hay.

Hello Flintstones :)

Do you not give any pellets then? I'm considering not feeding pellets any more. I had a long chat with my vet who is very good and she's not a big fan of pellets and thinks that piggies can do without them once they reach around 1kg.

I'm still undecided though...
 
i feed greens in the morning, a variety of veg at dinnner time, and then greens in the evening before bed when they get hay and nuggets topped up.
 
Veggies in the morning and when I get home from work, big piles of hay at bed time and hay top-up in the morning, and pellet bowls topped up at night (unlimited pellets for J as he tends to eat more pellet food than veg). They get more veg at teatime as they seem to eat more in the evenings.

At weekends I am guilty of giving them extra snacks between meals as I always think they look hungry!
 
i've recently changed the way i feed my piggies, they all have veggies in the morning and hay, then in the evening they get more hay, Rose is on a restricted amount of pellets because she recently had a bladder stone removed so gets a handful every 2-3 days, the others have unlimited supply of pellets just topped up when needed, and they have fresh water morning and evening too :)
 
I didn't say, but like Mikulinek I do give limited pellets. Then, when it's gone, that's it and no more until the next day. I want to encourage them to eat hay and veggies too. (On the other hand, mine are all over 9 months old now, I feed a younger piggy unlimited pellets and then the whole herd gets fatter!)
 
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