No Pellets?

[BoredBellaaa]

Hello! I used to feed my boys Oxbow Timothy pellets along with their hay and vegetables. I’ve heard it’s not required to feed them pellets, as I don’t feed them pellets anymore. They get their perfect about of hay and vegetables daily, along with forage sometimes. Am I a bad owner for not feeding them pellets?

 

[Piggies&buns]

No you’re not a bad owner, some people do choose to go pellet free.

Going pellet free is fine to do as long as you are sure they are getting the correct balance of all the necessary nutrients from their variety of mixed veg. The benefit of feeding pellets is that you can be sure they are getting all the nutrients and any gaps in the nutrition in their diet veg is being met. Of course, hay needs to be 80% of their diet and veg limited to one cup of veg per day.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Not at all, if they get veggies and plenty of hay then pellets are unnecessary. They were devised by companies for us to buy just like so many products. As long as they get a balance of veggies, forage and lots of hay and are happy and healthy then that’s fine. My two girls don’t like them and Bill and Ted never liked them either, despite all my efforts to buy different types and varieties

 

[Eriathwen]

Not at all! Mine do not get any commercial guinea pig pellets either. They only get 100% grass pellets as far as pellets go, which I feed soaked. Pellets are essentially a safety net for nutrients that may be missing from a diet that isnt ideal or varied. It must be coming up to a year since I removed pellets, I think it was after a bladder stone in October last year, and so far everyone has not only done well, but actually improved.

 

[Cowslip]

Ours get their cup of veggies a day, currently only introducing the leafy lettuce to mine as Clover is a baby, they get maybe a handful of pellets, some muesli as a treat, as much hay as they wish and want to eat, 2 water bottles, and Oxbow Vit. C treats once a day. I do pick mint for them, soft grass, and the occasional fruit slice now and then.