Readigrass

Status
Not open for further replies.
GuineaPiggie

GuineaPiggie

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Feb 7, 2014
Messages
310
Reaction score
173
Points
0
Location
Northern Ireland
I had £12 gift card balance for amazon so I thought I'd get some pet supplies. I ordered two 1kg bales of Readigrass. I mainly bought it because I see so many people on here and YouTube using it and saying how much their guinea pig likes it. Can anybody tell me how much to give them and how often? They already get an unlimited amount of Timothy and meadow hay, a large handful of pellets and a nice big bowl of veggies every day.

I also spend £18 on viovet buying some chews and 2 piggie wooden bridges, £25.60 on wilko getting mainly pet stuff. I got some nice forages and hay things on there. And £23 on amazon but that was 5 books and 2 corn rattlers for the pigs.

Oh well! I did get some cool things! :))
 
It is very high in calcium so should be fed as a very occasional treat. I don't feed it myself due to a cuple of my pigs having bladder issues.
 
I use Readigrass for mine but more in the winter when there's no fresh grass. Regarding the high calcium content, does this mean that you should avoid fresh grass as Readigrass is basically fresh grass without the water.
 
I don't have access to suitable grass as mine as it's sprayed with pesticides so thought Readigrass was a good option.
 
Stewybus said:
I use Readigrass for mine but more in the winter when there's no fresh grass. Regarding the high calcium content, does this mean that you should avoid fresh grass as Readigrass is basically fresh grass without the water.
Click to expand...

I think it may be more to do with the way it is dried, I have just been told it is not good for bladder pigs so maybe the calcium increases when it is dried? I can find out if needed.

For info the calcium in Readigrass is 0.55% and the protein is 15%.
 
I've tried googling but lots of useless info. Will try when I've got more time later.
 
I give mine one handful (shared with 4 piggies) and it goes in one of those roller ball things which hangs off the side of the cage. Great boredom buster and they love it but I dont give them much due to the above.
 
I think another way to look at this is that normal grass has a water content to it for arguments sake say 50% so in one handful which they could eat in a sitting they'd have 50% grass 50% water, in dried grass its 100% grass so they're in reality getting wayyyyyyy more (if 50% water content in fresh then dried is 2x as much grass) and thus can take in much higher quantities and thus a heck of a lot more calcium too which brings part of the problem with excess calcium, calcium is expressed as % typically in the fresh grass in this example the calcium content would be half that of the dried.

Works for humans 100g of fresh apple is 47.5 calories dried apple is 243 calories per 100g, i know thats calories but its an actual numerical values explain what I really mean :-) 100g of fresh apple is bigger than 100g of dried so you could easily eat more than 100g dried apple and then end up eating way more calories.
 
I have heard both sides of the calcium debate before and I am undecided on the calcium level, much as Stewybus is. I get a large bag (15kg - much better value) for the winter months to replace fresh grass and I give a small handful per pig as a treat, every other day, in addition to the hay they get anyway. Vedra uses it as bedding (must get hers cheap!), so she clearly isn't concerned.

All I can say is the piggies love it and it smells wonderful.
 
Elwickcavies said:
I have heard both sides of the calcium debate before and I am undecided on the calcium level, much as Stewybus is. I get a large bag (15kg - much better value) for the winter months to replace fresh grass and I give a small handful per pig as a treat, every other day, in addition to the hay they get anyway. Vedra uses it as bedding (must get hers cheap!), so she clearly isn't concerned.

All I can say is the piggies love it and it smells wonderful.
Click to expand...

Yay Thanks! I'm sure like a lot of things if you feed too much it would be harmful but in moderation I think it should be fine. I can't wait for it arrive. I'm hoping tomorrow or Thursday as it was despatched yesterday.

I'll be sure to post my opinion on it once it arrives! :)
 
Ours get a readigrass habit when they come back from boarding at Teejays :)

After having 3 Bladder piggies we err on side of caution when it comes to anything that may have a higher concentration of Calcium so it is only fed as a treat here. We do however feed them lots of variety on hays, which they love.
 
Stewybus said:
I use Readigrass for mine but more in the winter when there's no fresh grass. Regarding the high calcium content, does this mean that you should avoid fresh grass as Readigrass is basically fresh grass without the water.
Click to expand...
No you should not avoid fresh grass. grass is what piggies have evolved to eat. They are grazing animals like horses, rabbts, wilderbeast, etc. Everything about them is designed to eat grass ( and its dry form hay) ;their constantly growing teeth, their long GI tracts, their caecotrophs. fresh grass also has high levlels of vit c. If grass was available all year round it would be their perfect diet.
i feed my piggies small amounts of graze-on (similar to readi grass) daily during winter and feed fresh grass in the summer, both alongside plenty of hay and veg. I only feed nuggets occasionally as a treat. I think if you are feeding nuggets daily it is more important to be careful about readi grass. One of pigs had a bladder stone removed in jan 2013, he has not been fed a single nugget since but still has graze-on.
 
Pound Shilling & Pig said:
No you should not avoid fresh grass. grass is what piggies have evolved to eat. They are grazing animals like horses, rabbts, wilderbeast, etc. Everything about them is designed to eat grass ( and its dry form hay) ;their constantly growing teeth, their long GI tracts, their caecotrophs. fresh grass also has high levlels of vit c. If grass was available all year round it would be their perfect diet.
i feed my piggies small amounts of graze-on (similar to readi grass) daily during winter and feed fresh grass in the summer, both alongside plenty of hay and veg. I only feed nuggets occasionally as a treat. I think if you are feeding nuggets daily it is more important to be careful about readi grass. One of pigs had a bladder stone removed in jan 2013, he has not been fed a single nugget since but still has graze-on.
Click to expand...

Wow, no daily nuggets? My piggies would be very unhappy about that! They absolutely love their pellets/nuggets and while I agree hays and grasses should be the majority of their diet, I feel pellets/nuggets are also an important part of their diet. If I didn't feed mine pellets/nuggets I would feel like I was depriving them!
 
GuineaPiggie said:
Wow, no daily nuggets? My piggies would be very unhappy about that! They absolutely love their pellets/nuggets and while I agree hays and grasses should be the majority of their diet, I feel pellets/nuggets are also an important part of their diet. If I didn't feed mine pellets/nuggets I would feel like I was depriving them!
Click to expand...
Mine love them too and enjoy them as a treat. They would be more unhappy though if they didn't get their daily veg! Many of the nutrients in nuggets are an important part of their diet but I like to provide these in a more natuaral diet where i can and try to avoid grains and legumes (from which nuggets are made) as much as possible as piggies are not naturally grain foragers like mice but grazing animals. Their wild ancestors would only have eaten 'grain' occassionally and seasonally in the form of grass seeds etc but no doubt would have beneited from the nutrient boost.
 
Right I have done a bit more research and the reason I have been advised not to feed it to my pigs is that even though the calcium content is actually relatively low (0.8%) it has been found to be a trigger for pigs that suffer with Cystitis or Interstitial Cystitis and has been proven to irritate the urinary tract.
 
helen105281 said:
Right I have done a bit more research and the reason I have been advised not to feed it to my pigs is that even though the calcium content is actually relatively low (0.8%) it has been found to be a trigger for pigs that suffer with Cystitis or Interstitial Cystitis and has been proven to irritate the urinary tract.
Click to expand...
That is interesting and is the same reason I never feed spinach or beetroot leaves. I recently had a similar discussion with my cavy savvy vet who didn't think readi grass would be much of an issue if part of a non nugget diet. I suppose it all depends on a combination of factors.
 
I will be giving it in small, infrequent amounts as a sort of replacement to grass they would of been getting outside but obviously not as frequent. My piggies don't have any bladder issues at the moment so I'm going to go ahead and try the Readigrass with them. It seems like quite a interesting and controversial topic! Thanks everyone for your opinions! :)
 
Pound Shilling & Pig said:
That is interesting and is the same reason I never feed spinach or beetroot leaves. I recently had a similar discussion with my cavy savvy vet who didn't think readi grass would be much of an issue if part of a non nugget diet. I suppose it all depends on a combination of factors.
Click to expand...
I think it probably does, and is worse when fed with a pellet that is high in calcium and protein.

@GuineaPiggie I think you will be ok while you have no bladder issues just feed in moderation as you are. I have 2 pigs with bladder issues in my herd and so need to be careful.
 
I'd be interested to know what it is in readigrass that irritates the urinary tract. I've been investigating calcium content in hay and found that Timothy hay has around 0.44% compared to 0.55% in Readigrass. I know that they dry it in a special way to keep nutrients and limit growth of parasites/fungus. I wonder if it is a bit "rich" for piggies prone to cystitis and IC? If you compare Readigrass with hay, just looking at them, there is quite a difference in colour and smell!
 
Elwickcavies said:
I'd be interested to know what it is in readigrass that irritates the urinary tract. I've been investigating calcium content in hay and found that Timothy hay has around 0.44% compared to 0.55% in Readigrass. I know that they dry it in a special way to keep nutrients and limit growth of parasites/fungus. I wonder if it is a bit "rich" for piggies prone to cystitis and IC? If you compare Readigrass with hay, just looking at them, there is quite a difference in colour and smell!
Click to expand...
I'm not sure of the exact reasons. I am sure there is something technical behind it.
 
Hey all, I am also on the fence with readigrass so contacted the seller and this was the answer:

Dear Debra,
Thank you for your enquiry.

Readigrass is a popular choice in a guinea pig’s diet; this is because grass is already part of a guinea pig’s natural diet and our Readigrass is made exclusively from British pastures and contains digestible fibre essential for your animal’s health.

It also has the correct amount of calcium: phosphorus ratio of 2:1 to aid normal skeletal development (0.55% calcium in every 1kg bag).

Readigrass is good for your guinea pig as it contains 150mg/kg vitamin C which is necessary for your guinea pig as it can protect it against scurvy which is a potentially fatal disease furthermore they cannot produce their own vitamin C so it’s vital that it is in their diet.

As for quantity, you can feed your guinea pig Readigrass exclusively, but most prefer some variety in their diet. Please note that any change in diet must be made gradually.

More information about Readigrass and the information displayed can be found here:http://www.friendshipestates.co.uk/pure-dried-grass/view-all-products.html

Best Regards
Kelly Marsden
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top