Pig who eats.... and eats.... and eats....

[Freela]

We have two sows, Linney and Sundae. Linney is full grown at two years old, Sundae is still an adolescent (don't know her birthdate for sure, but best guesstimate is that she is approx seven months old.) Both are on a timothy hay based pellet, unlimited hay, and fresh fruits/veggies daily.

For the past month, we have been going through large amounts of food and water. We have a large ceramic bown of pellets in there and I used to refill it each night and it would last until the next night... now it's often empty as early as three in the afternoon. I am guessing that it is mainly Sundae polishing it off and there has been no fluctuation in Linney's weight. Sundae is gaining, but of course she is still growing... right now she is just over two pounds.

So... can I overfeed pellets, even if one is still growing? If the bowl is empty, should I just keep refilling it, even if it's a good eight hours earlier than when they used to be finished? Or should I just give a predetermined amount of pellets and when it's gone Sundae will just have to subsist on the hay until feeding time again, no matter how much she wheeks at the food dish every time I walk by? Does anyone else have a pig who eats, well, like a pig?

 

[sally]

Hi Freela, I would keep the dry food bowl topped up at all times, if they are eating it, they need it. I don't think you can ever over feed piggies, they will only eat what they need. It is going into winter, I often find mine eat more as it gets cold.

 

[TwoPiggies]

Are your piggies indoor?

It should say on the packet of nuggets how much they should be getting daily?

Recently, I have been told to only give a very small amount of nuggets. The most important part of the piggies diet is hay so when the nuggets are finished they should just eat their hay, so make sure they have plenty and that they also have a variety.

Someone may correct me on this. This link may help http://www.guinealynx.info/diet.html

 

[Wiebke]

You may find this thread interesting:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38805

I usually recommend starting to restrict the pellets once growing guinea pigs come closer to their adult size (like Sundae now does), but to do it very slowly until you have reached 1 handful per piggy per day.
Mixed veg you should also give about 50g per piggy per - in as many serving as you like. I usually feed the pellets after the veg twice daily.
Hay should make up to 80% of a piggy's diet and should be available at all times.

That way, you do not have to worry about overfeeding. If your piggy is still outdoors or in an unheated space, you will want to feed more pellets as those piggies burn more calories just to stay warm.

 

[Tracyxx]

It's really hard when you have 2 pigs of different ages to get their eating spot on. I personally would keep topping up the pellets, for a few more weeks at least, maybe a few months, til Sundae is a bit older.