Kale and peppers

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Funkyfelinefiona

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Hi, I’m a New Guinea pig parent and I’ve been trying to figure out a suitable diet for my pigs. I have 2 young females, one seems younger because she is smaller and more active (unsure of age bc of adoption). I’ve been feeding them kale, green bell peppers, and occasionally romaine lettuce, with parsley as a treat occasionally. After looking through some posts, I’ve learned that I should add in a salad mix instead of straight kale daily. Still unsure of what a proper vegetable mix is good for a daily basis and I was wondering if someone could help me out? My younger guinea pig was peeing bright orange so I dialed back on the kale. I also switched them off of their old hartz bonanza pellets to the oxbow ones and they refuse to eat them. I’ve run out of the bonanza ones and I’m now fearing that they won’t eat pellets at all, any suggestions? I’ve tried putting pieces of parsley in the pellets and also squishing them into a mush to put onto greens but they won’t touch them.
 
Kale, parsley and spinach are all high in calcium and should not be fed daily. They should be given as a small amount no more than once per week.
Daily my piggies get lettuce, cucumber, peppers (any colour) and coriander/cilantro. Anything else is given in rotation and sparingly.

Their main part of their diet needs to be hay, it should be fed in unlimited amounts. Veg is 50g per day and pellets is just one tablespoon per pig per day (they should never have constant access to pellets).

Pellets and unfiltered drinking water contain more calcium than high calcium veg so keeping pellets limited and water filtered will keep the calcium intake lower. Too much calcium in the diet can contribute to the formation of bladder stones

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading
 
Mine love kale too (and the little munch noises when they’re eating the curly bits is brilliant!) recently, mine have started to prefer cavalo nero (black kale) so yours might like that as well 🙂
 
I wouldn’t suggest you feed them any other veg that is high in calcium. I would only feed one of the veg mentioned above a week. My piggies actually rarely get them. I bought some kale for us and gave them a few leaves at the weekend. They won’t be getting any more now. Fruits and carrots are another food that should be kept to no more than once a week due to the high sugar content.

As said, lettuce, coriander and pepper can be fed daily. My piggies will always have either a slice of pepper or a sprig of coriander. They then get a lettuce leaf in the morning along with a hay top up.
 
Funkyfelinefiona said:
Hi, I’m a New Guinea pig parent and I’ve been trying to figure out a suitable diet for my pigs. I have 2 young females, one seems younger because she is smaller and more active (unsure of age bc of adoption). I’ve been feeding them kale, green bell peppers, and occasionally romaine lettuce, with parsley as a treat occasionally. After looking through some posts, I’ve learned that I should add in a salad mix instead of straight kale daily. Still unsure of what a proper vegetable mix is good for a daily basis and I was wondering if someone could help me out? My younger guinea pig was peeing bright orange so I dialed back on the kale. I also switched them off of their old hartz bonanza pellets to the oxbow ones and they refuse to eat them. I’ve run out of the bonanza ones and I’m now fearing that they won’t eat pellets at all, any suggestions? I’ve tried putting pieces of parsley in the pellets and also squishing them into a mush to put onto greens but they won’t touch them.
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Hi! Kale, Parsley, and Spinach are very high in calcium, I only feed them 3 times a week to my pigs. And yes, I’d recommend giving them a daily salad mix, vegetables that I use for their •Daily• veg mix are: Romaine Lettuce, Bell Pepper, Green Leaf Lettuce, Butterhead Lettuce, and Red Leaf Lettuce. As for their pellets, I’d personally try and mix the pellets in with their veg to see if they would eat them, or maybe mix some forage in the pellet bowl? You could also buy a different kind of Oxbow Guinea Pig pellets, as they have other kinds. Small Pet Select Guinea Pig pellets are also really high quality! Hope this helped a bit! Goodluck❤️
 
Siikibam said:
3 times a week is still quite a lot. But it’s up to you.
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I usually only do small amounts when I do feed them, as they aren’t their favorite veg, but they will eat them. I may cut down to 2 times a week, thank you for letting me know!
 
BoredBellaaa said:
I usually only do small amounts when I do feed them, as they aren’t their favorite veg, but they will eat them. I may cut down to 2 times a week, thank you for letting me know!
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High calcium veg is recommended to only be given once per week, but actually most calcium comes from pellets and unfiltered drinking water, so ensuring pellets are limited and water filtered reduces calcium intake by quite a bit
 
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