How much food do your piggies eat and how do you prepare it?

[Sprogmama]

I'm a little uncertain if I'm giving my girls the right amount of food and would appreciate a little advice from more experienced slaves.

There are two bowls in the hutch (the one that says "guinea pig" on it and the other with the carrots round the side), one is filled with muesli (Waggs) and the other has the veggies which vary daily depending what I have in the house. I give them fresh veg twice a day, once in the morning and again in the evening, plus I throw in a couple of large handfuls of grass/clover once or twice a day. Their hay rack is kept full and they have a large water bottle.

Typing all that, it sounds like quite a lot lol, but is this a good feeding schedule and do the amounts sound OK?

Also, how do you prepare your piggie veggies? Do you slice things up or leave them in their original state? For instance, should I be giving whole carrots, slices, or halves? ?/

Sorry for the daft questions, just want to make sure my girls are getting what they need. :red

 

[mikulinek]

I'm a little uncertain if I'm giving my girls the right amount of food and would appreciate a little advice from more experienced slaves.

There are two bowls in the hutch (the one that says "guinea pig" on it and the other with the carrots round the side), one is filled with muesli (Waggs) and the other has the veggies which vary daily depending what I have in the house. I give them fresh veg twice a day, once in the morning and again in the evening, plus I throw in a couple of large handfuls of grass/clover once or twice a day. Their hay rack is kept full and they have a large water bottle.

Typing all that, it sounds like quite a lot lol, but is this a good feeding schedule and do the amounts sound OK?

Also, how do you prepare your piggie veggies? Do you slice things up or leave them in their original state? For instance, should I be giving whole carrots, slices, or halves? ?/

Sorry for the daft questions, just want to make sure my girls are getting what they need. :red

Hi Sprogmamma,

It looks to me like your piggies are getting too much fresh food. Fresh food shouldn't be more than, say 10% of your piggies' diet. This includes grass, clover and veggies. Also, you shouldn't really feed carrot at all (slices or otherwise) as it contains too much sugar and vitamin A. Carrot tops (the green leaves) ar fine though and a good source of vitamin C. Too much fresh food can lead to all manner of problems.

Our piggies get fresh food once a day plus fresh food as treats during lap time or for positive reinforcement. Generally we give them one decent handful of grass or a lettuce leaf and a slice of cucumber. That's it.

 

[mikulinek]

Sorry, also meusli should be avoided in favour of pellets. Ours only get pellets as a treat but, if you are feeding dried food it should again only be 10% of their diet (hay must be at least 80%). The problem with meusli is that it can lead to selective eating - the piggy only eats the bits it likes. Pellets are better for this. I can recommend Supreme Science Selective Guinea Pig Pellets.

 

[Sprogmama]

Oh dear, looks like I've been giving them too much of the good stuff then. :red I will gradually lower the amounts as I understand they were used to lots of veggies before they came to live with me. Don't want to shock them by changing their diet too quickly.

I've always thought pellets looked rather dull and tasteless, though I do appreciate they ensure piggies get everything they need. I will pick up a bag next time I go shopping.

They do eat a lot of hay, Lucy in particular seems to spend half the evening stationed by the hay rack.

Thanks for your advice mikulinek.

 

[mikulinek]

We actually don't really feed dried food as I am unsure of its real dietry benefits. I know this is a controversial issue but we only feed pellets as treats.

A lot of piggies find good pellets really tasty. My issue with dried food in general is that it doesn't privide anything that a piggy can't get from hay and fresh food. A lot are advertised as providing added vitamin C but vitamin C degrades rapidly and, in the end, dried food just beomces empty calories.

Of the pellets we've used, I can recommend supreme science, as above, mainly because it's more nutiritious and, most important, comes in resealable bags which is great for keeping them fresh and keeping the vitamin C for longer