Keeping Guinea-Pigs Cheaply but Healthly

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Cute_Guineapigs

Cute_Guineapigs

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Hiya

I want the best for my future piggies and I want them to eat healthly, however I do have a budget which I must keep to.

Food: I wanted to feed them on Oxbow Cavy Cuisine but looking at the price (£11 for a 2kg bag) compared to Burgress Excel (£4.89 for a 2kg bag) or Science Selective (£6.04 for a 2kg bag), Oxbow looks hugely expensive. I know it's got a great calcium: phosphorus ratio and it's great for urinary function, however is it worth the price? How many of you feed Excel or SS with success?

Hay: I want to feed a variety of Orchard Grass, Timothy, Excel Herbage and Excel Forage and change these every month. Is this a good idea to have this variety? Is the Timothy hay and Orchard Grass worth the price (£9 for a 1.1kg bag), whereas Herbage is £4.39 per 1kg bag and Forage is £3.69 per 1kg bag? Do they benefit from the fancier hay?

I'm planning on growing some of the veg and greens I feed so that should lower the fresh food bill. :)

By the way, I want the best for my piggies, I'm not looking to keep them cheaply and in poor health, I will only cut corners by buying cheaper stuff which is still good for them. :)
 
I buy 22kg of Orchard grass hay, costs about £70 but that lasts my 6 piggies about 4 months maybe more. Although I do buy treat hays but that isn't really necessary its just what I do.

I buy and feed Cavy Cuisine, although my pigs don't get pellets every day. They get them once a week depending, and even at that they don't get much so a bag lasts me a very long time.

What they do get daily is veggies, and a variety at that. Although in the summer I save money as I also grow my own vegetables, and pick grass, dandelions etc for them.
 
I was told that a 2kg bag would last 2 piggies one month as you fill the bowl up daily. Is this correct advice or should they have only a small amount of pellets?
 
I think it depends on the owner, I have 3 piggies which I feed P@H nuggets, they have a bowl which always has pellets in the cage for them. I then give them veggies as treats, they will have some lettuce in the morning maybe, some carrot in the afternoon and some cucumber in the evening. Or whatever I am cooking with that evening. As they live in my living room and wheek for food everytime I go in the kitchen I find that giving veggies a few times a day works best for me as I cant resist their little voices.

As for hay I buy P@H timothy hay which they always have plenty of in their cage.
 
I just did a quick calculation of how much it would cost to keep them cheaply, with Excel and just giving Herbage, and it would cost me £20 less a month, excluding postage and packaging costs. :o
 
Cute_Guineapigs said:
I was told that a 2kg bag would last 2 piggies one month as you fill the bowl up daily. Is this correct advice or should they have only a small amount of pellets?
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It seems to be everyone elses preference. My vet discourages giving pellets atall says its the equivalent to giving chocolate to children. I do give some not much atall, but only in the winter. As I am unable to source Vitamin D3 in vegetables. I make sure they have peppers everyday for Vitamin C and then a mixture of veggies and herbs twice daily.

Unlimited hay ofcourse.

There seems to be a dispute about if pellets are good or not I know it is believed there is a link between pellets and stones. I personally just find the way I do things works for me.

If you are feeding pellets they are ment to be given 1/8 per day, per pig.

I wouldn't feed excel, as they make it on the same line as there dog food. SS make theres separate from there dog food line so if you were going to feed anything other than Cavy Cuisine I would recommend SS. I have heard of Dog food appearing in Excels bags on more than one occasion. Pigs are vegans so this naturally isn't a good thing IMO.
 
flintstones said:
It seems to be everyone elses preference. My vet discourages giving pellets atall says its the equivalent to giving chocolate to children. I do give some not much atall, but only in the winter. As I am unable to source Vitamin D3 in vegetables. I make sure they have peppers everyday for Vitamin C and then a mixture of veggies and herbs twice daily.

Unlimited hay ofcourse.

There seems to be a dispute about if pellets are good or not I know it is believed there is a link between pellets and stones. I personally just find the way I do things works for me.

If you are feeding pellets they are ment to be given 1/8 per day, per pig.

I wouldn't feed excel, as they make it on the same line as there dog food. SS make theres separate from there dog food line so if you were going to feed anything other than Cavy Cuisine I would recommend SS. I have heard of Dog food appearing in Excels bags on more than one occasion. Pigs are vegans so this naturally isn't a good thing IMO.
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thank your for your post. It's very informative and given me lots of think about.

Did the 1/8 per day per pig mean 1/8 of a cup per day per pig?

I feed SS Rabbit to my rabbits and I love it, so I may use it for my piggies as it's not that much more expensive than Excel. :)
 
DIET
A good quality diet is thought to help prevent the formation and reformation of bladder stones. Poor diets consisting primarily of alfalfa pellets but low in hay and vegetables may contribute to stone formation. "Guinea pigs should be fed hay and fresh greens to minimize the risk of urolith formation...with the benefit of preventing [obesity]" [R. Jolankai, et al.; Urolithiasis in Guinea Pigs--Nutritional Aspects; 2006]

A good diet will include:

Unlimited high quality grass hay
A variety of vegetables (mostly leafy greens)
Limited (or no) low-calcium guinea pig timothy pellets
Increased fluids

Pellets
Use a lower calcium timothy pellet and consider limiting or using no pellets at all. Some timothy guinea pig pellets have added calcium. Some owners report better management of bladder sludge by feeding Kleenmama's Hayloft pellets, which are lower in calcium and sodium than most commercial brands. If you severely limit or remove pellets, extra care must be paid diet by offering a wide variety of appropriate vegetables (with a few fruits) for their added vitamin and mineral content.

Vitamin D is required for proper absorption of calcium. For a guinea pig lacking regular exposure to sunlight, removing pellets may result in a diet devoid of vitamin D. Vitamin D is not present in hays and greens but is added to most guinea pig pellets. If you will be going pellet-free, consider a vitamin D supplement. Your vet can recommend a specific dose.

Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals, Fourth Revised Edition, 1995 reports that a vitamin D requirement for guinea pigs has not been established "but currently used natural-ingredient and purified diets contain between 20 and 180 nmol/kg diet... seem to promote growth at rates that were average for the colony. The requirement for growth is set at 1,000 IU vitamin D/kg diet (65 nmol/kg diet; 0.025 mg/kg diet)." Note that their recommendations refer to the amount of vitamin D per kilo of food, not per day per animal. A guinea pig does not eat a kilo of food per day.

Source: http://www.guinealynx.info/stones.html

*Kleenmama's Hayloft pellets are american, I don't believe they can be purchased in the uk.
 
flintstones said:
DIET
A good quality diet is thought to help prevent the formation and reformation of bladder stones. Poor diets consisting primarily of alfalfa pellets but low in hay and vegetables may contribute to stone formation. "Guinea pigs should be fed hay and fresh greens to minimize the risk of urolith formation...with the benefit of preventing [obesity]" [R. Jolankai, et al.; Urolithiasis in Guinea Pigs--Nutritional Aspects; 2006]

A good diet will include:

Unlimited high quality grass hay
A variety of vegetables (mostly leafy greens)
Limited (or no) low-calcium guinea pig timothy pellets
Increased fluids

Pellets
Use a lower calcium timothy pellet and consider limiting or using no pellets at all. Some timothy guinea pig pellets have added calcium. Some owners report better management of bladder sludge by feeding Kleenmama's Hayloft pellets, which are lower in calcium and sodium than most commercial brands. If you severely limit or remove pellets, extra care must be paid diet by offering a wide variety of appropriate vegetables (with a few fruits) for their added vitamin and mineral content.

Vitamin D is required for proper absorption of calcium. For a guinea pig lacking regular exposure to sunlight, removing pellets may result in a diet devoid of vitamin D. Vitamin D is not present in hays and greens but is added to most guinea pig pellets. If you will be going pellet-free, consider a vitamin D supplement. Your vet can recommend a specific dose.

Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals, Fourth Revised Edition, 1995 reports that a vitamin D requirement for guinea pigs has not been established "but currently used natural-ingredient and purified diets contain between 20 and 180 nmol/kg diet... seem to promote growth at rates that were average for the colony. The requirement for growth is set at 1,000 IU vitamin D/kg diet (65 nmol/kg diet; 0.025 mg/kg diet)." Note that their recommendations refer to the amount of vitamin D per kilo of food, not per day per animal. A guinea pig does not eat a kilo of food per day.

Source: http://www.guinealynx.info/stones.html

*Kleenmama's Hayloft pellets are american, I don't believe they can be purchased in the uk.
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thank you for that post. My piggies are going to be indoors in quite a darkish place, so I think I'll still need to feed pellets for them to get Vitamin D. I plan to have them run around outside on grass in the summer though, so maybe limit the pellets then.

Are SS pellets alfalfa based? I know the Oxbow pellets are timothy based.
 
flintstones said:
I must say I do like Cavy Cuisine, and I don't imagine 2 will go though that much! rolleyes

All in the name of piggies.. :))
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Yep. :)) I feed my two rabbits on Oxbow Bunny Basics so I know how fantastic this food is. :) My rabbits go through a bag very slowly though because they only get a pinch of it daily. I'm expecting my piggies to eat a lot more of it though.
 
Cute_Guineapigs said:
Yep. :)) I feed my two rabbits on Oxbow Bunny Basics so I know how fantastic this food is. :) My rabbits go through a bag very slowly though because they only get a pinch of it daily. I'm expecting my piggies to eat a lot more of it though.
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If your supplementing with veggies, I imagine you can limit the piggies like I do in the winter they don't get outside so get limited pellets.

Once summer comes I'm *hoping* to get them out in the sun as much as possible!
 
Just done some more calculations and found that if I buy the Orchard Grass/Timothy hay in bulk and the Cavy Cuisine in bulk, I would only save £8 if I fed only herbage and Excel. Shows that buying in bulk really does save you money. :)
 
Cute_Guineapigs said:
Just done some more calculations and found that if I buy the Orchard Grass/Timothy hay in bulk and the Cavy Cuisine in bulk, I would only save £8 if I fed only herbage and Excel. Shows that buying in bulk really does save you money. :)
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What did I tell you ;)! My 6 take ages to go though 22kg, I'm very generous with the servings, with just 2 pigs you would save a fortune.

Another bonus, is the pigs are getting the best of the best. xx>>>
 
Carrots

I have been giving my piggies a lot of carrots since most the reading said good source of vit c with no downside but the RSPCA website said not to give a lot of.root veggies.I also give greens but you have to be selective as so many have stuff that can give piggies troubles what mix of veg do people suggest.8:)
 
I feed my piggies mostly greens (spring greens) and the outer leaves of cabbages. I have never had a problem with them being gassy and bloatly. For my four pigs I would give a large leaf of cabbage each plus something different such as half a pepper between them and scraps such as strawberry tops, carrot tops, outer leaves of lettuce etc.
 
To keep costs down I buy a bale of meadow hay £4.50 lasts my four piggies a month. Its smells lovely and is nice and green I use it on top of the megazorb and stuff the bedroom area full. In the Hay racks I use excell herbage or one of the other ones they do. The odd occasion the farm has no bales of hay, I buy Norfolk pastures dust free hay which is very nice hay indeed the bales are ok in size and cost £5.99 for the biggest ones they do.
Dry food is a mix of excell and ss with a spoonful of Wag crunch every other day to spice it up. Veggies they get a wide selection twice daily I cook from scratch useing fresh foods for everything. I also manage to pick up reduced veggies at work the four evenings I work.
 
i buy bales of hay from a local farm shop for around the £5 mark...
by bale of hay i mean like the huge ones that are like 4ft long... :))
as for fresh food.... if you go in to a fruit and veg shop i get a bag of off cuts on my skint weeks.... its like tops of celery and the leafs... tops of carrots outside of cabbage leafs and other bits and pieces.... just be careful theres not any veggies that are dangerous in there...
i get some lovely bits in there like whole apples and other fruit and veggies just because there bruised or a bit minging looking or just a retarded shape...

well worth doing...

as for dry food... my lot are on p@h pellets at the moment... not my normal ones but when my lot was a bit poorly and i needed to pick up some pellets for them they were the only place open and didnt have what i wanted and i must say they do gobble up those pellets... i normal use SS pellets... and ive never had any problems with them...

I'm forever going to asda and shops like that just before closing times...(especially on a sunday) and pick up all the reduced fruit and veg... i got like a pack of 2 romaine lettuces for 10p on sunday... just becuase of short dates...

this is what i do... :))
x
 
Great ideas, Claire! I buy reduced stuff too and also supplement with dandelions from my yard. Someone on another forum cut the tops off carrots and 'grew' them in saucers of water so that they grew leaves. I bet they were very tasty and nutritious for the the piggies.
 
Spinach

I also give spinach leaves once a week I don't currently grow spring greens or cabbage but later in the year will have greens from swede, and celeriac will start off some cabbage today in pots for home if the rain stops in the interim am off to sainsbury later.:))
I am also planning to grow a tray of grass, as I do not have much of a lawn, the small area I a
Have has been cropped very well by the boys when they go out.
They aren't keen on peppers, I do give them fresh apple leaves and twigs from my apple tree but only once or twice a week they also enjoyed cuttings from my beech and when I prune the apple trees and willow I will be drying the twigs and cutting them down as chews I may even make them into houses or toys anyone know if sisal is safe for piggies as I can use that to twine things together.
 
threelittlepigs said:
Great ideas, Claire! I buy reduced stuff too and also supplement with dandelions from my yard. Someone on another forum cut the tops off carrots and 'grew' them in saucers of water so that they grew leaves. I bet they were very tasty and nutritious for the the piggies.
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oooohhhh..... I'm so so so.... giving that a try...!
i also buy the lettuces that still have the roots on them... and judt grow them again... :) got a windowsil FULL of them at the moment...!
:))
x
 
If you're interested in growing things then lettuces are really easy to grow from seed and you can get packets of seeds very easily on ebay. Swiss chard (like spinach) is also very easy to grow and the leaves can be picked over a long period of time. Leaf celery is like celery but very leafy and definitely worth a try!
 
Hi i also buy the Wag optimum at about £12 per bag. I buy hay by the bale from local farms and the pigs love it, it costs about £5.00 a bale at the mo and it so much better then all this dust extracted rubbish you get from the shops. I am always on the look out for reduced veg at our local super market, but if we eat veg we always give the ends and left over to the pigs. I have 17 pigs and its not too expensive if you know where to shop. Bales of hay are normally only £3 a bale but its in short supply at the mo cause last years season was so bad xx
 
You people are real lucky.

We do not have hays in bulks here, the cheapest I could find was SGD 9 / KG, and they can't sell more now because someone complained about them to Oxbow and Oxbow told their supplier, and it went all downhill from there! :(
 
Mine have tesco cereal, i always buy lots when it's on offer. Hay just normal hay from the range. Veg whatever is on offer in tesco. Then lots of grass dandelions etc from garden. Reckon i spend about thirty pounds or so a month in total for seven piggies. We grow our own veg too. Spinach, carrot tops, always a favorite
 
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