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Lettuce?

  • Thread starter Thread starter frw3
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frw3

Hello, I was under the belief that lettuce is bad for piggies but after reading squeakypigs forum (very useful ;) ) is it only iceberg lettuce that is dangerous? Is it okay to feed other types of lettuce and how often?
 
Apparantley it is not supposed to be given too often as not really nutritous, but mine love it so I give them lettuce about 3 times a week...they love romain and cos. Thats just me though, others may disagree :)
 
i give my piggies lettuce, but very sparingly. they love it. you shouldn't give it to them often as it is a diuretc, and it can also make them sleepy. so yes you can give it to them, but as i and lavenderjade have already said not very often and not iceberg :)
 
I give mine romaine lettuce 2 - 3 times per week. It's their favorite :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
cavy love said:
i give my piggies lettuce, but very sparingly. they love it. you shouldn't give it to them often as it is a diuretc, and it can also make them sleepy. so yes you can give it to them, but as i and lavenderjade have already said not very often and not iceberg :)
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I didnt know it made them sleepy, not noticed it with mine. You learn something new every day :D
 
Lettuce(with the exception of iceburgh which is too high in nitrates) can be given as a treat,in small amounts,up to 4 times a week.
All lettuce varieties contain laudenham,which is why the intake should be limited.
 
lavenderjade said:
cavy love said:
i give my piggies lettuce, but very sparingly. they love it. you shouldn't give it to them often as it is a diuretc, and it can also make them sleepy. so yes you can give it to them, but as i and lavenderjade have already said not very often and not iceberg :)
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I didnt know it made them sleepy, not noticed it with mine. You learn something new every day :D
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It would take a lot of lettuce to make them sleepy, I think you'd have problems with diarrhoea first ?
 
Wait so what other foods can you give? If youd don't give lettuce all the time what is a food that can be given without limit? I know hay has no limit. How often can you give cucumbers?
 
i give mine little gem lettuce. usually once or twice a week, and they love it
 
ksiusha237 said:
Wait so what other foods can you give? If youd don't give lettuce all the time what is a food that can be given without limit? I know hay has no limit. How often can you give cucumbers?
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Mine have a piece of cucumber in their salads every day :)
 
ksiusha237 said:
Wait so what other foods can you give? If you'd don't give lettuce all the time what is a food that can be given without limit? I know hay has no limit. How often can you give cucumbers?
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There's lots and lots of veggies pigs can have. I alternated mine (when i had piggies), usually gave 3 different types a day (maybe the same 3 for a week, then change them a bit). If you look at the top of the food section.. it lists every single thing a piggy can eat (and what to give in moderation). Lettuce, in my eyes, is only a treat & not to be relied upon as part of the diet (because of it having little nutritional value).

Hope this helps : )
 
No one variety of veggie should be given all the time.Piggies need a variety to get a proper balance of vitimins.Some veggies are high in vitimin c for example while others have little or vit.C.As has already been mentioned,there is a large variety of veggies,herbs and salads that are safe,so there should be no difficulty in giving your piggies a good choice.They will love you all the more for this.
 
Thank you guys, all comments very useful! Will pop to the supermarket now and buy some lettuce (not iceberg!) ....piggies are going to love it....i am a little bit too excited! :D
 
Each day I give my piggies, either greens or lettuce, with carrots and cucumber and maybe some broccoli and apple or pears... I have been keeping piggies for nr 28 years and years ago there was not the info we have now and I have got one piggie to 9 years and others to 8 and 7! I feed them icebergs and romaine, cos, little gems, kale, cabbage (which they hate and would not eat everyday!) and greens! Variety is the spice of life! As long as it not too much, I would say lettuce is ok!
 
i wouldnt feed iceburg even if some do, its got no goodness and has too much water content.
 
Mine get some romaine lettuce every day to. Is this bad for them? I'm worried now!
 
i dont think romaine is too bad, but i wouldnt give it them everyday..maybe 1-2 times a week is better :)

i dont feed mine any lettuce at all though..so maybe someone else can say how much they feed
 
I do feed iceberg, but they do prefer romaine and cos! i feed mine probably half leaf each... summit like that... never had any problems, so far....! :laugh: :laugh:
 
i don't think it's a good idea to feed it to them everyday. no offence to anyone else, it's just my opinion, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to me, i don't want them to get tummy upsets or urinary problems and it doesn't have a very high vitamin etc. content. anyway, each to their own and i REALLY DON'T want to hurt anyone's feelings. :-\
 
As you say,It is up to individual owners to feed what they think is right for their pigs.

Personally,like you,I do not give my piggies any variety of lettuce except as a treat,there are plenty of other veggies that they like and are much healthier for them.

Lettuce has no nutritional value and it does contain llaudenam which if fed in regular large quantities could damage the central nervous system.
 
my pigs have never had any kind of lettuce not even as a treat! lol..but i dont think it has any nutrition and there is a lot of other things which are better for them than lettuce so thats why I dont feed it ever.
 
Piggeis should only be given little gem or romaine lettuce. ICEBERG lettuce is a no no.......
 
Romaine lettuce is fine and contains around the same amount of vitamin C as carrots and much more than the likes of cucumbers. It is actually better for piggies as it contains a good balance of what they need vitamin wise and doesn't contain too much vitamin A like carrots and kale do (can cause liver damage among a variety of other things) and not too much calcium (can cause bladder stones).

I don't feed it daily but pigs get it around every 2-3 days. http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum...cavys-diet-read-me-nutrition-charts-info.html is a superb chart showing you what's best and why.
 
I give my guinea pig lettuce everyday, I have not had a real problem with it so I think it is fine for him. But I would try to give a variety of different kinds of lettuce so they don;t get bored of the same ol' thing. I feed my pig, romaine, green and red leaf lettuce but he LOVES romaine. This is my personal opinion no one has to take it if they don;t want to but I would give them lettuce on a regular basis not necessarily every day (I do) but like someone else said lettuce, the darker green it is in color the moire Vitamin C it contains.
I have had my piggie for six years and he is doing good! sleeps and poops alot though. oh, and I also feed him cabbage but not very often.
 
I have a real problem with what to feed the boys that they actually like. They don't like fruit, although will eat the outside of a melon! Originally it was just Romaine lettuce (1 piece per pig), 1 and a half celery sticks, 3 chunks of cucumber about 2 cm in length given twice a day.

Now I've introduced corn and green pepper, going to try yellow pepper tomorrow. I read if you can get them to eat green pepper it provides enough Vitamin C for a pig per day (quarter of a pepper per pig).

As for carrots, well the boys will eat them grated, talk about fussy! But I don't give them all that often because I offer Carrot juice.

I'm seeing the vet tomorrow so I'll ask him about the lettuce, I don't want to upset the boys system but lettuce is something they enjoy. You hear so many conflicting reports that sometimes you don't know what to believe.

Louise
:)
 
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