I’m Confused

DylanTaylor12

DylanTaylor12

Junior Guinea Pig
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Are pellets and food the same thing? I normally just feed my guinea pigs some normal guinea pig food, but I’ve heard that you need to give them 1/8 cup of pellets so I’m confused. Shall I carry on feeding what I normally feed or shall I give them pellets as well?
 
Piggies need to eat a diet of about 80%hay, 10% pellets and 10% veggies. People often refer to pellets & food interchangeably. Pellets should ideally be low in calcium and high in fibre. And a complete pellet as opposed to muesli is best so that it prevents selective feeding.
 
So
VickiA said:
Piggies need to eat a diet of about 80%hay, 10% pellets and 10% veggies. People often refer to pellets & food interchangeably. Pellets should ideally be low in calcium and high in fibre. And a complete pellet as opposed to muesli is best so that it prevents selective feeding.
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i normally give my two guinea pigs a bowl full of food which lasts them all day. I’ve never used pellets and I’ve had them for two months. Does it matter if it’s pellets or can it be nuggets? And also do I need to be giving them food and pellets or just pellets? I know it says give them 1/8 cup each, every day but Is that all they need for one day? The bowl needs refilling normally every two days so shall I carry on what I’m doing or shall I give them pellets as well?
 
DylanTaylor12 said:
So

i normally give my two guinea pigs a bowl full of food which lasts them all day. I’ve never used pellets and I’ve had them for two months. Does it matter if it’s pellets or can it be nuggets? And also do I need to be giving them food and pellets or just pellets? I know it says give them 1/8 cup each, every day but Is that all they need for one day? The bowl needs refilling normally every two days so shall I carry on what I’m doing or shall I give them pellets as well?
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When you say you've been giving them "food" what exactly do you mean? As @VickiA said, you need to provide hay, pellets and vegetables
 
Please can you confirm what you mean by food. Do you mean guinea pig nuggets? Nuggets are a complete guinea pig pellet. But in addition to pellets/ nuggets they need fresh veg and hay (loads of hay) to eat every day.
 
Kallasia said:
When you say you've been giving them "food" what exactly do you mean? As @VickiA said, you need to provide hay, pellets and vegetables
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VickiA said:
Please can you confirm what you mean by food. Do you mean guinea pig nuggets? Nuggets are a complete guinea pig pellet. But in addition to pellets/ nuggets they need fresh veg and hay (loads of hay) to eat every day.
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(This is a reply to both of you who asked) I use golden guinea pig food mix.
 
DylanTaylor12 said:
(This is a reply to both of you who asked) I use golden guinea pig food mix.
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@VickiA do you know it? I believe it's a muesli.
@DylanTaylor12 what does it look like? Muesli looks like this and shouldn't be used:
bearts-golden-guinea-pig-food-15kg-523-p.jpg
 
Just because I'm aware of your other threads too, I thought I'd list it here for you:

Guinea pigs should be fed vegetables twice daily.
sport_billy said:
Good to see you doing some research. Here is a thread worth having a read of Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet

Important is unlimited hay in piggies diet.

We feed ours this roughly
Morning:
Cucumber (1.5cm slice x 1.5cm slice) x 2 pieces
Celery half a stick
1/6th of Red/Green/Yellow Bell Pepper (de-seeded)

Evening:
Cucumber (1.5cm slice x 1.5cm slice) x 2 pieces
Two Little Gem Lettuce leaves or 10 sprigs Coriander. Twice a week we will swap in cabbage or parsley

We also add in to the above diet carrot, sweet potato, celery leaves and a few other things occasionally
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You should fill their bowl with pellets once a day.

You should supply unlimited amounts of good quality hay (they can't eat too much of it).
Sweet Green… Hay - Nature's Own Pets
 
Kallasia said:
You should use pellets like these that are identical to prevent selective eating. It's like giving a kid a plate of chocolate and broccoli. They need the broccoli but they'll eat the chocolate.
lifestages-rabbit-pet-formula-268-r1.49x.jpg
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Do they specifically need 1/8 cup of pellets or can I continue giving them a full bowl everyday
 
VickiA said:
Piggies need to eat a diet of about 80%hay, 10% pellets and 10% veggies. People often refer to pellets & food interchangeably. Pellets should ideally be low in calcium and high in fibre. And a complete pellet as opposed to muesli is best so that it prevents selective feeding.
Click to expand...

Vicki A gave you the right advice! "food" should be a mix of mostly hay, veggies and some pellets! A bowl is pretty subjective... but is probably gonna be a little too much
 
Betsy said:
What they need ideally need is good quality hay, hay and more hay and lots more hay! They need limitless amounts of hay! They need it to aid digestion and to live a long and healthy life. When introducing pellet/nuggets with the muesli they have been eating you need to do it gradually so that they get used to the taste.

www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/diet-guides.152903/
www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/forums/wannabe-new-owners-childrens-pets-guides.84/

Have a read of these they will help.
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I don’t know what type of hay it is because my uncle buys me some hay from a farm shop and it just comes in a clear bag with no writing. So I don’t know if it’s some rich hay which they shouldn’t be eating daily
 
I would suggest a reasonable guide is a small handful of pellets per piggy. I think you are referring to alfalfa hay as the rich stuff which you shouldn't give every day. It is very high in calories and not essential. I think that Timothy hay is best (more fibre), but meadow hay is ok. I suspect if your uncle gets it from a farm, it is likely to be meadow hay, but you should check if you can.
 
Mine eat Meadow hay from my local farm. I can get a big bale like you see in the field for a fiver. They can't get enough if the stuff!
 
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