Lawn Grass South Africa

[Bubble&Spark]

Hi I'm South African and our summers are beautiful so I have an outdoors garden with plenyy grass. My new babies, Bubble and Sparkle are 11 weeks old and crazy anout it...although I'm slowly introducing them to it. Aside from all the precautions I've read about and abide by, how much grass can I let them eat? (For how long each day?)

 

[rome_italy]

the more they eat the better! My three piggies are fed almost exclusively with huge amounts of fresh grass, available also in winter (great difficulty in finding grass during summer months, though); various and different fresh grass, expecially the one made of "strings" can substitute all the vegs. In fact I give them only a little slice of bell pepper and sometimes few leaves of other vegs (only for getting their belly used to the vegs, not for other reasons; usually they eat only grass and no vegs at all).
I don't even give them a normal amount of pellets... just few pieces as a treat. Hence no doubt that the grass is the best food for herbivores (in fact my piggies are healthy and quite chubby...)




welcome to this forum!

 

[eileen]

i forage for grass and weeds daily,but i do give a teaspoon of grainfree pellets everyday to each piggie,i feed bell peppers, cucumber and spring greens daily.your piggies will love fresh grass as had vitc in it.you must still feed hay along side this !

 

[Wiebke]

the more they eat the better! My three piggies are fed almost exclusively with huge amounts of fresh grass, available also in winter (great difficulty in finding grass during summer months, though); various and different fresh grass, expecially the one made of "strings" can substitute all the vegs. In fact I give them only a little slice of bell pepper and sometimes few leaves of other vegs (only for getting their belly used to the vegs, not for other reasons; usually they eat only grass and no vegs at all).
I don't even give them a normal amount of pellets... just few pieces as a treat. Hence no doubt that the grass is the best food for herbivores (in fact my piggies are healthy and quite chubby...)
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welcome to this forum!

Once they are accustomed to digesting grass, they can spend a whole day on the lawn in moderate conditions between 20-25 C, provided that they have a predator-safe run (including birds of prey, snakes, rats, cats, dogs etc) that is at least partially shaded at all time and access to hay and a dry area in shade where they are out of damp ground, any wind or sudden rain showers.

I would recommend to start with half an hour and then a couple of hours. Check their poos - they should not be too soft. If that is the case, do not feed any veg on the day to prevent tummy upsets.

On hot days, please bring your guinea pigs into the house during the worst heat and keep them in a cool place.
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
Hot Weather Management And Heat Strokes

 

[Janice C]

the more they eat the better! My three piggies are fed almost exclusively with huge amounts of fresh grass, available also in winter (great difficulty in finding grass during summer months, though); various and different fresh grass, expecially the one made of "strings" can substitute all the vegs. In fact I give them only a little slice of bell pepper and sometimes few leaves of other vegs (only for getting their belly used to the vegs, not for other reasons; usually they eat only grass and no vegs at all).
I don't even give them a normal amount of pellets... just few pieces as a treat. Hence no doubt that the grass is the best food for herbivores (in fact my piggies are healthy and quite chubby...)
View attachment 80753

View attachment 80754

welcome to this forum!

I'm coming over!
Too too cold here in Scotland so all grass if frosty!
Love to piggies!

 

[rome_italy]

Once they are accustomed to digesting grass, they can spend a whole day on the lawn in moderate conditions between 20-25 C, provided that they have a predator-safe run (including birds of prey, snakes, rats, cats, dogs etc) that is at least partially shaded at all time and access to hay and a dry area in shade where they are out of damp ground, any wind or sudden rain showers.

I would recommend to start with half an hour and then a couple of hours. Check their poos - they should not be too soft. If that is the case, do not feed any veg on the day to prevent tummy upsets.

On hot days, please bring your guinea pigs into the house during the worst heat and keep them in a cool place.
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
Hot Weather Management And Heat Strokes

Of course you are right, but the rule you suggest is valid also the other way round: my piggies start producing soft poo if I don't have grass at home and I feed them with salads and other vegs...
Anyway, with my sows, when they came home very young (2-3 months old), I started with a handful of grass, checked their poo and their tummy worked fine.
With Osvaldo, adopted last November, it was different as he had not been used to the grass which he had never seen before (he is 2 y.o.). He started eating a lot of grass because he ate also the ration of the sows (they were separated but he managed to eat their part). I noticed that his tummy digested it very well since the beginning.
I see different effects eating different grass... the grass seems to be just the same to our eyes, but it is different; its effect depends also on its ripening .
My piggies sometimes eat too much grass and the poo looks then a bit "wet" (not soft, but wet). The day after they simply prefer eating less grass and much more hay and the poo becomes normal again. They seem to be able to regulate their meal according to their tummies.
Only Osvaldo needs a strict rule because he is a real PIG and eats too much (and his weight is raising again... here vets are quite strict with weight and my vet does not even understand why Osvaldo is gaining weight with this natural diet...)

A last thing: my piggies eat wet grass, I pick it up even when it is raining... and if it is not raining I spray it with some water before keeping it in cold storage into a bag (2 days max).

 

[rome_italy]

I'm coming over!
Too too cold here in Scotland so all grass if frosty!
Love to piggies!

today some snow flakes around Rome! my hands were freezing when I went to the usual garden to pick up some (wet) grass

 

[eileen]

I'm coming over!
Too too cold here in Scotland so all grass if frosty!
Love to piggies!

please can i come and join you !

 

[Wiebke]

Salad/lettuce is another product that can induce soft poos or even diarrhoea.

With all due respect, @rome_italy, I am going by my own experiences with a good number of guinea pigs and decades of lawn time!

A lot of fresh juicy spring or autumn grass can act the same way as lettuce while dry summer grass is more like hay. If you you read the guide I have linked in there, I have that aspect explained. Grass is not like grass at all times!
It is an important aspect because most people start putting piggies out on the lawn when the grass is growing freshly and is at its richest, but also at the stage where it can - and has on this forum - cause diarrhea and occasionally eve bloat.

 

[daisy bostock]

As long as the grass is fresh and hasnt been sprayed with anything, let then dig in!! They can never have to much grass, and it helps their teeth because they are constantly growing! Piggies are eating machines!

 

[rome_italy]

Salad/lettuce is another product that can induce soft poos or even diarrhoea.

With all due respect, @rome_italy, I am going by my own experiences with a good number of guinea pigs and decades of lawn time!

A lot of fresh juicy spring or autumn grass can act the same way as lettuce while dry summer grass is more like hay. If you you read the guide I have linked in there, I have that aspect explained. Grass is not like grass at all times!
It is an important aspect because most people start putting piggies out on the lawn when the grass is growing freshly and is at its richest, but also at the stage where it can - and has on this forum - cause diarrhea and occasionally eve bloat.

you mentioned me and I have replied... that's all! experience or not I am here for talking of what I am doing at home with MY piggies. And I am saying what I know, learnt maybe in other places and in other books, then if you also have written the same things that is very good. Where is the problem? I will go on posting what I am doing, without any wish of convincing other people to copy what I do here. Someone asked if it is good to feed piggies with grass and I said that my piggies eat ONLY grass. That's all! I don't see any problem...

 

[daisy bostock]

you mentioned me and I have replied... that's all! experience or not I am here for talking of what I am doing at home with MY piggies. And I am saying what I know, learnt maybe in other places and in other books, then if you also have written the same things that is very good. Where is the problem? I will go on posting what I am doing, without any wish of convincing other people to copy what I do here. Someone asked if it is good to feed piggies with grass and I said that my piggies eat ONLY grass. That's all! I don't see any problem...

Only grass!?

 

[rome_italy]

Only grass!?

yes, fresh grass and dried grass, that is HAY... nothing else. But grass is different here, there are also chicories and other wild herbs... and one teaspoon of pellets... 4-5 pieces not more, as a treat or for making them moving around the kitchen...
sometimes some vegs, but 99% is hay and grass...

 

[daisy bostock]

yes, fresh grass and dried grass, that is HAY... nothing else. But grass is different here, there are also chicories and other wild herbs... and one teaspoon of pellets... 4-5 pieces not more, as a treat or for making them moving around the kitchen...
sometimes some vegs, but 99% is hay and grass...

Do you give them the mix food from shops? Because most if a guineapigs diet is hay/grass but they should really have vegetables and mix foods too

 

[rome_italy]

Do you give them the mix food from shops? Because most if a guineapigs diet is hay/grass but they should really have vegetables and mix foods too

Actually the pellets are not necessary (and an excess of dried food is linked with a lot of issues of the bladder and kidneys)... anyway I give them few pieces of Versele Laga Complete and the recommended dose of pellet is 5% of the whole diet, that is maybe 5g or 1 teaspoon only, not more...
Vegetables have vitamins, just like grass and wild herbs, but the vegs have an imbalance among the minerals... too much phosphorus and in fact also the guides written on here (but also elsewhere) suggest 15%, maybe 80-100g... but grass is better, a correct ratio calcium/phosphorus, silica for eroding teeth, crude fibres for developing good gut bacteria... vegs are different and nowadays are even rich of sugars.
I am following the latest rules and I don't care of what the vets suggested in the past; also with my (baby)daughters' diet I followed the latest researches and not the advices of experienced aunts and mothers. So far I see great results.
Only for being on the safe side I add a little supplement of vit C (drops for children), but this is what vets suggest here, what I feel like to do and it is probably not necessary...

 

[Bubble&Spark]

Wow, I can't believe how helpful all of you have been, including the differences in experience and opinions. It sounds overall that the agreed consensus between your diffetent posts is that lush green grass (as is the case with my lawn during summer in our sunny South Africa) should be allowed for Bubble and Sparkle as part of their daily munching.
They honestly love it which perhaps speaks for itself, come to think of it. As for dry muesli I seem to have come across too many views (plus a recent study that was conducted) suggest we stay away from it. There are many conflicting views, so at this stage I'm giving them a few as little treats whilst keeping an eye on them for signs of choking. You are all wonderful and its sooo worth coming over to this side of the world...the weather is oustanding and there are many beautiful places to see and kind and generous people to meet. Any other help would be hugely appreciated by both my new babies and I

 

[Bubble&Spark]

P.S If you know of any other helpful websites I'd love to hear about them please. These are my first guineas and I need all the help I can get .

 

[rome_italy]

Wow, I can't believe how helpful all of you have been, including the differences in experience and opinions. It sounds overall that the agreed consensus between your diffetent posts is that lush green grass (as is the case with my lawn during summer in our sunny South Africa) should be allowed for Bubble and Sparkle as part of their daily munching.
They honestly love it which perhaps speaks for itself, come to think of it. As for dry muesli I seem to have come across too many views (plus a recent study that was conducted) suggest we stay away from it. There are many conflicting views, so at this stage I'm giving them a few as little treats whilst keeping an eye on them for signs of choking. You are all wonderful and its sooo worth coming over to this side of the world...the weather is oustanding and there are many beautiful places to see and kind and generous people to meet. Any other help would be hugely appreciated by both my new babies and I

the main rule is always the same: do what you trust of and make any change slowly.
About the pellet the story is really long; I have saved some pages, but I don't like processed (junk)food like the dried pet food for many reasons. The best vets here don't recommend dried food and say that they have never had kidney/bladder issues in rabbits/piggies fed naturally pellets-free. This does not mean that all the pets fed with pellets will fall ill! It is only my choice (and I have never given even my daughters any ready baby food).
Although I consider all the pellets a poor junk food, I have bought Versele Laga because it is cereals free... but it is only a no-food fortified with some vitamins (are these vitamins still there?). Also Versele Laga does not explain clearly what that "food" is made of (making a sum of all the nutritional components written in the label you have a 46%. What is the 54% made of? mistery... the other brands do the same: a 50% of components is a secret). At least I know exactly what is into the grass...
You can chat here, you can learn and read others' experience (and mistakes), I don't think this is a religious movement and we don't have to follow any Goddess here and out here. We do what we prefer and if we like we can share the info with other people. I find interesting also Guinea Lynx and other web pages...recently I have discovered also a german website translated in english. It explain the matter of dried food very well: (there are also other interesting pages there)
https://translate.google.com/transl.../www.diebrain.de/nh-versuchtrockenfutter.html
And there are useful and well written guides here, too. About the grass, I would recommend you to learn the (short) list of dangerous and toxic herbs, but as a general rule, the normal grass made of strings is always safe
These are the lawns I can find here now (there is mallow everywhere now, but it is too rich of calcium)



this below is wild chicory, another usual herb here (eaten also by us humans)


how is the climate in south africa now? are guinea pigs popular pets there?

 

[Bubble&Spark]

Thanks a mill...I'll take your ideas and read the extra sources you recommend ☺. So far the majority of those in South Africa that I've chatted to have their guineas outside due our warm amd mild climate. Mine are getting their own bedroom (yip, they're my little babies) and the idea is to spend time with them . Guinea popularity as pets is not nearly as muh as rabbits and hamsters...but hey...I'm an owner now and intend slowly but surely learning and hopefully spreading my ideas and experiences with others here