I fed my guinea pigs ice burg lettuce.

i<3piggys

i<3piggys

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Oct 13, 2018
Messages
238
Reaction score
285
Points
295
Location
Washington USA
Hello. I just got my beautiful guinea pigs a week and a half ago and i thought I did all the research on what they can and cant eat. Obviously i didn't see the no iceberg lettuce, for the first week I was feeding them guinea pig food and some carrots apples, and zuchini . Then like 2 days ago i went into town and grabbed a bag of lettuce ( I thought I heard they could have it) And they seemed to love it, Now today while cleaning out the cage I noticed diarrhea. I was freeking out and googled what it could be and i read ICEBERG LETTUCE causes diarrhea. My piggys seem to be acting normal. Does anyone know If it would be ok if i stopped with the lettuce and just gave solid food if they would be fine or is there something i could give them to help? please help me and my 3 kids absolutely love them and would be torn apart if something happend to them.
 
They will be fine! I would put them on a hay and pellet only diet for a few days- good quality hay should be available 24/7
Don’t worry!
 
Beemz said:
They will be fine! I would put them on a hay and pellet only diet for a few days- good quality hay should be available 24/7
Don’t worry!
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for your reply .I will switch them to hay and pellets till the diarrhea goes away. I had guinea pigs when I was younger and I absolutely loved them. Now my kids are at the same age I was and I got them 3 sister piggys. And I was so scared I had done something that could harm them.
 
It will just have been all the water from the lettuce and maybe they ate a lot of it. I guess I would reintroduce safe veg slowly as well when you do restart it.
Look forward to hearing more about them :)
 
This is a great photo in the link that Vicki posted-
This amount for one pig per day.
 

Attachments

  • A6D3C2DC-0420-45DB-ACD1-FBE421D9D95E.webp
    A6D3C2DC-0420-45DB-ACD1-FBE421D9D95E.webp
    71.1 KB · Views: 9
Beemz said:
This is a great photo in the link that Vicki posted-
This amount for one pig per day.
Click to expand...
Thank you and how much pellet food? I Have just been making sure they always have food in there cage but i noticed that 1 of my babys {chubs} is getting pretty chubby lol.
 
i<3piggys said:
Thank you and how much pellet food? I Have just been making sure they always have food in there cage but i noticed that 1 of my babys {chubs} is getting pretty chubby lol.
Click to expand...
I just found it in that link vicki posted thank you. :}
 
i<3piggys said:
Thank you and how much pellet food? I Have just been making sure they always have food in there cage but i noticed that 1 of my babys {chubs} is getting pretty chubby lol.
Click to expand...
I give my babies about 60g a day each but they’re growing. I know people used to feed pellets ad-lib but I think it’s better to go with rations now- should have amounts on packet. Ideally the diet wants to be around 80% hay so if they’re filling up on pellets not so good- for their waistlines either haha!
 
Beemz said:
I give my babies about 60g a day each but they’re growing. I know people used to feed pellets ad-lib but I think it’s better to go with rations now- should have amounts on packet. Ideally the diet wants to be around 80% hay so if they’re filling up on pellets not so good- for their waistlines either haha!
Click to expand...
ok will do lol I had another question maybe you could answer. I was wondering what the best bedding is I was using pine bedding but i noticed they had some getting stuck in them so I switched to fleece. I just was wondering what good options are out there.
 
i<3piggys said:
ok will do lol I had another question maybe you could answer. I was wondering what the best bedding is I was using pine bedding but i noticed they had some getting stuck in them so I switched to fleece. I just was wondering what good options are out there.
Click to expand...
Lots of people use fleece- I use Chipsi shavings- like little nuggets of wood so zero dust and hay. I compost all my “stuff”. I think it’s personal choice but should definitely be as low dust as possible.
 
Beemz said:
Lots of people use fleece- I used Chipsi shavings- like little nuggets of wood so zero dust and hay. I compost all my “stuff”. I think it’s personal choice but should definitely be as low dust as possible.
Click to expand...

Have you ever had the shavings go were they shouldn't I felt so bad when I saw that on them It had to of hurt so thats why I switched .
 
i<3piggys said:
Have you ever had the shavings go were they shouldn't I felt so bad when I saw that on them It had to of hurt so thats why I switched .
Click to expand...
Not with these as they are tiny chips of wood and don’t seem to stick to their fur. When they’re zooming about it does get kicked out of cage but never mind! Lol I’ve got a photo of the stuff somewhere.
 
Looks like it should be dusty but it’s practically dust free- popular with horse people. Very very absorbent.
 

Attachments

  • BF8FC2CD-10B5-4862-97B8-D82B7F767FD1.webp
    BF8FC2CD-10B5-4862-97B8-D82B7F767FD1.webp
    205.3 KB · Views: 9
i<3piggys said:
yah that looks different then what i bought lol
Click to expand...
Some of the bits are really small but still too big to be inhaled the way dust can if that makes sense. I love it because I’m into composting and use it in my hen coops as well. Others might prefer a less messy option or reusable option like fleece.
 
You could also give them some fruits as treats. Small amount of treats are allowed in their diet, and I like fruits as their treats instead of store bought treats for guinea pigs.
 
So it is 3 days later they still have diarrhea. They are still eating drinking and acting normal, (running around and talking to each other lol ) I have just been feeding them pellets and hay as advised, should i be worried?
 
i<3piggys said:
So it is 3 days later they still have diarrhea. They are still eating drinking and acting normal, (running around and talking to each other lol ) I have just been feeding them pellets and hay as advised, should i be worried?
Click to expand...
Is it the same pellets they have always had? Do you feed a measured ration of them?
 
I would possibly want to take a stool sample to a vet to rule out Giardiasis or other internal nasties.
 
yes I have fed it to them since i have had them its called "" wild harvest advanced nutrition" ( it says it has a lot of vitamins in it for them) I put about a cup and a half in there a day and they always eat it so i make sure they have enough to lat them through the night. then i just keep hay in the corner of the cage for them.
They didn't have diarrhea until i fed them that dang lettuce.
 
They are still extremely active and playful and are eating and drinking plenty thats why i haven't been to extremely worried. it just bugs me because i was hoping the diarrhea would go away.
 
Someone more knowledgable will maybe advise but I have heard of hay only diets for a few days to kind of re-start their digestive systems. I would have thought things would be back to normal by now :(
 
I had a kitten once with giardia- 100% fine in every way but had disgusting smelling diareah that wouldn’t go away. His poo tested positive for guardia and he responded to antibiotics in a few days.
Wait and see what others think 🤔
 
I may try that .I was hoping it would get back to normal. but i am going to keep watching them and if they start acting funny there is a 24 hr vet where i live so thats where i'll head. I'm just so confused because other than their poop they are completely normal and happy. You would think if they were sick there would be other symptoms weather it was physical or their behavior.
 
Beemz said:
I had a kitten once with giardia- 100% fine in every way but had disgusting smelling diareah that wouldn’t go away. His poo tested positive for guardia and he responded to antibiotics in a few days.
Wait and see what others think 🤔
Click to expand...

I was looking up guardia and it was talking about humans also. Can it be past to people? i have 3 kids that hold them so i just want to be sure.
 
Just make sure they wash their hands straight after.

Thinking about pellets- pellets were only first used to fatten up rabbits and guinea pigs for meat. A lot of people don’t use them and the emphasis should definitely be on good quality hay over anything else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top