My guinea-pigs diet

[Alicia]

I've changed my guinea-pigs diet because they were eating too many pellets and not enough hay and were getting quite fat.
They now have 2 and a half handfuls of burgess excel every evening, which is normally all gone by the morning so I put another handful in (which is also gone by the evening) is this the right amount? They always have hay so they can't be going hungry but I know they love pellets and I don't want to give them too much.
I've also bought some more burgess excel meadow herbs to mix in with their hay, is it ok for them to have this regularly or not? It does say on the packaging that its a treat but the ingredients don't seem too unhealthy so I'm not sure how often is too often?

I saw the food cube on the vetuk website, does anyone know much about this? I don't want my guinea-pigs diet to be too boring, I'd like them to have more variety, but I'm not sure if these are any good or not. I wouldn't give them to them every day, I was thinking maybe once a week just to make things a bit different for them, or is it best to leave it all the same?

 

[obsessedwithanimals]

I've changed my guinea-pigs diet because they were eating too many pellets and not enough hay and were getting quite fat.
They now have 2 and a half handfuls of burgess excel every evening, which is normally all gone by the morning so I put another handful in (which is also gone by the evening) is this the right amount? They always have hay so they can't be going hungry but I know they love pellets and I don't want to give them too much.
I've also bought some more burgess excel meadow herbs to mix in with their hay, is it ok for them to have this regularly or not? It does say on the packaging that its a treat but the ingredients don't seem too unhealthy so I'm not sure how often is too often?

I saw the food cube on the vetuk website, does anyone know much about this? I don't want my guinea-pigs diet to be too boring, I'd like them to have more variety, but I'm not sure if these are any good or not. I wouldn't give them to them every day, I was thinking maybe once a week just to make things a bit different for them, or is it best to leave it all the same?

Mmm. I'm only a newbie myself but it does sound as if you are feeding them too many pellets. Mine only get half a fairly shallow bowl full a day plus unlimited hay and some veggies and will get herbs and grass etc aswell. I think the food cube isn't very good I'd just stick with pellets, hay, veggies, occasional bit of fruit, herbs etc... tbh

ETA: I've got 2 girl piggys.

 

[first_time_piggie_mum]

Hi Alicia

Have you weighed your piggies to see their weights? It should be something thats done as part of their health check ups on a weekly basis anyway. Its one of the best ways to pick up on any illnesses if you see that they are losing weight.

In terms of their diet...80% should be good quality hay. It does sound like they are getting a lot of pellets but it all depends how big your hands are |) I have cut right back on the pellets I give my 2. At most they are getting 25g/day, some days they dont get any at all, and I just give them extra veggies instead.

Both are healthy weights at 1125g and 990g

If you are worried about the amount you are feeding them, just cut back on the pellets. Having less of those will encourage them to eat more hay anyway so they wont go hungry.

The cubes are expensive and make a lot of mess, especially if you have fleece. As my boys do a lot of bottom dragging, I was worried about them getting bits stuck in places bits shouldnt be getting stuck

Hope that helps