How much do I feed them?

dixxiee.toffeee

dixxiee.toffeee

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Hi everyone,

I did a bit of research to find out how much to feed my guinea pigs and it said to feed them twice a day and 1/2 a cup full each. But I tried that and they left most if their food so I went back to how I did it before. I now give them some carrots or cucumbers or any food every 30min - 1hr.

I'm not sure weather to go on with how I am feeding them now or just do what the internet says. I'm just looking for a bit of advice so it would be very helpful!
 
You do what works for you and your piggies! There’s no right way, provided they always have hay, then they aren’t going to be hungry as hay needs to be the main bulk of their diet.

The way I feed mine is:
First thing in the morning - hay top up, half their veg portion. I don’t give mine pellets every day but if they do get pellets then it will be in the morning
mid morning - hay top up (as required)
mid afternoon - hay top up (as required)
Evening - hay top up, the other half of their veg portion and dried forage.

Mine normally eat all their veg within about half an hour of being given it.

Ensuring they have plenty of time to eat hay is the most important part. Their veg is more of a snack than a meal (hay is the meal) so you don’t want to let it become more important than it really is and you don’t definitely don’t want to overfeed veg.
 
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With veg they each get a cup a day. How you feed that is up to you - either all in one go or split into two feeds - but make sure it’s still their daily portion only. Every 30mins to 1 hour seems hard and could end in then getting too much veg 😉

Carrots and fruits are high in sugar so should only be an occasional treat. Daily veg can be a lettuce leaf (not iceberg), a couple sprigs of coriander, bell pepper and cucumber. You can then swap in/out other veg. It may also depend what they were eating before.

Have a read of the guide below for suggestions of other veg and how often you can feed them.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
 
80% of what they eat should be hay (or hay and grass in the summer)
Mine get 2 pieces of veggie each in the morning (bell pepper and perhaps cucumber or lettuce or brassicas) and a handful of fresh hay.
Later morning they get grass - when we go for our walk we bring some home (very careful not to get dog pee grass - toxic!)
At some point they might have a few more teeny bits of veg if I'm chopping to make lunch or for dinner and they come begging for titbits.
That's usually it till tea-time when they get cleaned and settled for the night - they get more fresh hay and pellets in the bowl.

There is hay there all the time - that's the most important thing. My boar gets impaction with squishy poops if he has too much veg so I monitor him closely. Funnily enough he manages it himself a lot of the time because they also have a cardboard box in there as a hidey and they all like to eat that... it might seem weird but you can buy these things from Pets at Home and such... there's 'carrot cottage' and this 'hay box' thing - here's a pic of Louise enjoying her fibre!
box of fluff.jpg
 
My 3 girls get a tablespoon each of pellets (so 3 tablespoons) a day scatterfed in the run (except for the days when I have to clean the run then they getbreakfast in bed) and there are always huge piles of hay in the run so they can eat that whenever they want. They get a bowl of forage with a sprinkling of Pro-C on the top about an hour or two after their pellets. Then that is pretty much it foodwise until the evening when it's veg time which get scatterfed in the hutch. If they don't get veg as soon as they are in the hutch they start asking for it and looking around then they look at me accusingly! There are also big piles of hay in the hutch so they can have a munch at night time too.
 
Hi everyone,

Having my guinea pigs for 1 and 1/2 years I have learnt a lot about what they need to eat. So after I found this app I thought that I would help new owners. So guinea pigs eat a big range of foods. Your guinea pig might not have the same taste as another guinea pig but do not worry!

You have to make sure you have a lot of hay as it takes up 80% of a guinea pigs diet. 15% is taken up by vegetable. And finally 5% is taken up by fruits. Make sure not to feed your guinea pigs to much fruit as it has a lot of sugar in it and to much to lead to your guinea pigs getting diabetes. Down below is food that your guinea pigs can eat. There will be many more but these are the main fruits and veggies that are common for guinea pig.

Vegetables Fruit Deadly food
- spinach - strawberries - onions
- carrots - apples - garlic
- cucumbers - blueberries - potatoes
- cabbage - pineapple - nuts
- broccoli - orange - avocados
- celery - watermelon - mushrooms
- romaine lettuce - pear - ice burg lettuce
- kale - banana - chocolate
- tomato - gooseberries - seeds
- sweet potato - honeydew melon - dairy products
 
It's hard to make sure you're not giving too much if you're feeding them that often. Maybe try dishing it up in the morning and give them a bit at a time until it's all gone if they won't eat it all at once.
 
@dixxiee.toffeee I have merged your threads as they both relate to the same issue of feeding your piggies.

The forum has a comprehensive set of guides that address what you should feed your piggies and the quantities. I will link them here for you, Diet Guides

Please do have a read of them - they set out examples of a well balanced guinea pig diet. The majority of what piggies eat should be hay (about 80%) with the remainder being pellets and fresh veggies.
 
Sweet Potato said:
Fruit is an occasional treat. I rarely give my boys more than a little bit of fruit once a fortnight. It doesn't feature in these sorts of percentage breakdowns because it's not part of their daily diet.
Click to expand...
:agr: Fruit is high in sugar and acids that aren’t good for piggies. So it is only given as an occasional treat.
 
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