Is this really 2 tablespoons of nuggets?

Yep that’s right - one tablespoon per piggy per day. Pellets really are the least important part of the diet. Fed in excess they can cause weight gain and excess calcium in the diet.
Mine often get less than that even!
 
Piggies&buns said:
Yep that’s right - one tablespoon per piggy per day. Pellets really are the least important part of the diet. Fed in excess they can cause weight gain and excess calcium in the diet.
Mine often get less than that even!
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Great thanks! This might explain things! Thought I was following the guides. My boar was 1.6kg most of his life. Glad the nuggets will last longer too 😀
 
At first I thought, wow this is not alot atall, and it isn't and that's good. To be honest I only give one tablespoon now, because one of my pigs won't eat any brand of nuggets and I've tried many, so I don't want my other pig eating 2 tablespoons to herself.
 
the grain free pellets still contain calcium - they just don’t contain grains, but don’t worry about it as there is much more to it than that.
 
As part of a few things I did to reduce calcium in their diet I switched to grain free science selective, as it has relatively the lowest calcium level, 0.6%
 
Black piggies said:
As part of a few things I did to reduce calcium in their diet I switched to grain free science selective, as it has relatively the lowest calcium level, 0.6%
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Yes absolutely, they do have the lowest calcium so switching is the right thing to do and ensuring they are fed in low amounts
 
Black piggies said:
So in my never ending mission to make my slim wallet fatter and my fat guinea pigs slimmer (sorry piggies).. I used a tablespoon for the first time with the nuggets and 2 spoonfuls looked like this. It's waaay less than I thought. Is this good to give daily:

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That looks right for 2 piggies, I think I feed mine a bit less than that actually! I give 12 pellets per piggy twice a day with veggies, the rest of the day, let them eat hay!
 
PigglePuggle said:
That looks right for 2 piggies, I think I feed mine a bit less than that actually! I give 12 pellets per piggy twice a day with veggies, the rest of the day, let them eat hay!
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And no breakfast pellets for mine on Wednesday and Saturday cage clean days, they get extra scatterfed veg and some readigrass or a hay cookie each in the playpen instead. I can make a 1.5kg bag of pellets last 6 weeks for 8 piggies :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
And no breakfast pellets for mine on Wednesday and Saturday cage clean days, they get extra scatterfed veg and some readigrass or a hay cookie each in the playpen instead. I can make a 1.5kg bag of pellets last 6 weeks for 8 piggies :)
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Very impressive! Sounds a good plan. This could sort out the piggy plumpness problem. Just need to work on my waistline then 😂
 
Black piggies said:
So in my never ending mission to make my slim wallet fatter and my fat guinea pigs slimmer (sorry piggies).. I used a tablespoon for the first time with the nuggets and 2 spoonfuls looked like this. It's waaay less than I thought. Is this good to give daily:

View attachment 131446View attachment 131447
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Yes, this is it!

The amount of pellets is generally grossly overestimated but all they do is replace high fibre hay that should be eaten for long term dental and gut health with lots of mainly cheap low fibre fillers - and incidentally shorten the life span.
People unfortunately don't think of hay as the staple food on which guinea pigs have evolved; they think that that are veg and pellets.

If you want to treat your piggies healthily, consider offering different varieties of hay or forage from time to time for enrichment purposes. And by feeding less pellets, you can also consider opting for a better quality healthy brand, too!
I sprinkle feed my pellets to encourage natural foraging behaviour. ;)
Nugget Comparison Chart

PS: Saving up for a vet fund as a regular part of maintenance cost is of course also a very important part of your piggy budget...
 
Thanks Wiebke. I've just spent over a grand on vet bills on top of insurance so there is back up and I feed grain free science selective 😥

I'm still absolutely reeling from losing my dental boar last month and have been interested in your posts about your piggies living longer when you fed them less veg and I had in mind then that less veg = more hay = less chance of another dental piggy loss.

I didn't realise nuggets also don't help teeth and could contribute to less hay and more dental pigs. It's very helpful you saying that because it had crossed my mind and maybe why Atticus became dental. I'm really keen when I next lose a piggy that I feel I've done all I can.

Many thanks for sharing your knowledge!
 
Black piggies said:
Thanks Wiebke. I've just spent over a grand on vet bills on top of insurance so there is back up and I feed grain free science selective 😥

I'm still absolutely reeling from losing my dental boar last month and have been interested in your posts about your piggies living longer when you fed them less veg and I had in mind then that less veg = more hay = less chance of another dental piggy loss.

I didn't realise nuggets also don't help teeth and could contribute to less hay and more dental pigs. It's very helpful you saying that because it had crossed my mind and maybe why Atticus became dental. I'm really keen when I next lose a piggy that I feel I've done all I can.

Many thanks for sharing your knowledge!
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Too much soft food in the diet can contribute to the development of dental problems. Just pour some water over a few pellets and watch how quickly they soften - the same happens in the mouth with the constant flow of saliva! The little experiment tends to be quite an eye opener!

All I can say is that my piggies have on average lived 1-2 years longer towards the upper end of the average life span rather than the lower end and that - touch wood - the only dental problems I have had have to deal with have been caused incisor root or jaw abscesses but not by back teeth issues in the 6-7 years since I have changed my diet. I have also not had any new bladder stones since then although it has taken over a year to get on top of existing problems. I am still losing younger piggies to unforeseeable medical problems, but the vast majority of that is our of my control.

And I feel the pain for your purse - my Hywel racked up a similar bill with his recurring jaw abscess. :(
I have added the reminder only in case your thread turns up in google searches (which we haven't got any control over) and could give people the wrong impression as the wording is a bit ambivalent without them knowing the background you are posting in. ;)
 
Yes I understand. Poor Hywel. Yes I thought getting Atticus to 3.5 years that I'd have him for so much longer but that's music to my ears that maybe I can keep my other two healthy this way 😄
 
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