Really struggling veg wise...

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Hoggle*&*Ludo

Hoggle*&*Ludo

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Hi,

I have posted about this before and read links about what veg they can have but I am finding it all so hard to follow. grrrr

I am worried I am giving them too much calcium as their wee is white and dries a bit powdery.

I buy bags of mixed leaves but there are always spinach leaves in there.

I know they can have pepper every day, much to their delight when it comes to green. Can you get bags of pepper already cut up because it is costing me a fortune!

So basically, what is an everyday food? Especially when it comes to the bulk of it, ie. leaves...are carrots and cucumber ok daily? And rocket?

I also buy romaine lettuce and chicory, which Hoggle loves in particular.

Please help, I don't want to make my babies ill! :...

What do you feed your babies daily?
 
I stuggle with this too :(! I feed peppers everyday, mint, one grape cut in half, cucumber and carrot tops, curly cale... I rotate I'll do this for a week, the only thing they always get is peppers! It is all so confusing, I think sometimes you know too much for your own good rolleyes! Carrot once a week, which Fred loves!
 
It is like every chart I look at says the things I feed should be given every other day or whatever but never says what they can have daily. It is so complicated! grrrr
 
I know what you mean, a daily, two or three times a week, and weekly list would be great. I don't worry too much because mine seem to have tasters of lots of different veggies each day rather than loads of one or two types, and it's so far so good. x
 
Is lettuce or rocket ok every day? (I know they can't have iceberg though).

If someone could compile a list, that would be great as the others are too complicated to follow. Also how many types they should have per day. :)
 
I feed mine peppers, cucumber and lettuce (romaine or ord lettuce not iceberg) every day,carrots once every 3 and spring greens most days. Then i just give them tomatoes, grapes, herbs etc once or twice a week.
I try not to get too hung up on it and worry about calcium ratios as I'm sure good as they are you could send yourself completely mad trying to balance it out.
I get my peppers from Asda or Tescos and buy the value bag of about 6/7 peppers for about £1.50. I always think pre cut up veggies are expensive and the juicy sort of veggies dry out when they have been cut and bagged for any length of time.

Don't know if that helps:{
 
Hoggle*&*Ludo said:
If someone could compile a list, that would be great as the others are too complicated to follow.
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It would be great if there was some kind of idiots guide cos thats how I feel when trying to work out the calcium/ phosphorus ratio, like a total plonker mallethead The best I can do is buy loads and try to rotate it all which works out very expensive
 
In the summer it's easy as my piggies spend all day eating grass and dandelion leaves but the grass is getting a bit short now. I feed mine carrots, broccoli stalks, cucumber, spring cabbage and peppers.
 
kidsgrovecaviemad said:
Cambridge cavy trust send a very good low calcium diet sheet to avoid bladder stones.There are some excellent articles on this forum too just look at the stickys.
Helen xx>>>
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We have read the other articles on the forum but we still get confused :red! Well I know I do, a food guide for dummies would be fantastic I think once upon a time I found one I'll have a look for it again!
 
I think it would be a good idea to compile a food menu for each day of the week so that people can follow it roughly and chop and change it to suit them.

with all the things they can have sparsely on there, with the amounts that are suitable, if you know what I mean?
 
I think it would be a good idea to compile a food menu for each day of the week so that people can follow it roughly and chop and change it to suit them.

with all the things they can have sparsely on there, with the amounts that are suitable, if you know what I mean?
 
id use it myself, because I'm not sure on portions either.

the rough weights would be good too, e.g.

Monday - 50g lettuce, 10g cucumber
Tuesday - 5g mixed peppers etc

If we worked on the notion that we would prepare it in the morning or the night before, and split the amount into two halves for two meals for the day, i think it would be really really useful
 
I never had to worry about this as a child, because I just used to open the cage door, put their ramp down and they'd have free-range of the back garden to forage in all day, which included a small lawn; I'd just shut-them-in at night. There were loads of different plants and fruit bushes to hide in/scoff. They both lived until they were 7-years-old and never ailed a thing apart from mites once (from petshop hay, which we didn't usually buy). I think guinea-pigs will naturally eat what they need if given the opportunity.

I'd love to do that now and whilst they're out on the very weedy lawn virtually every day, it's not the same; they can't forage for the different plants and leaves like they'd be able to free-range. :(

The perimeter of the garden is just too big and too tricky to block-off, and then there's the problem with hiding places to escape predators and preventing predators from getting into the garden in the first place. Our neighbour used to let his guinea-pigs roam free-range too - must have been a 70s/80s thing.
 
we have cats and a couple of different types of birds of prey that stalk our garden... id be terrified of them being caught by one of those :...

The only time my piggies free range on the lawn is when I'm sitting out with them, and they can run into their run if they want to, but its nice for them to be able to run around properly x)
 
Growing your own veg in summer in pots is a good way to save money and give the gang a variety, I used to grow peppers and rocket in pots outside the front door and hanging cherry tomatoes in the hanging basket by the front door and of course I used to drive the neighbours mad by cultivating dandelions :))

I agree though a list all in one place of suitable veg etc and the quantities and varieties allowed per day would be good for those who are new to guinea pigs. As with everything individual piggies will have their own likes and dislikes.
 
I dont understand how veggies can be so expensive, how much veggies do you feed them? If I understand correctly 10 grams of red pepper more than covers the C-vitamin needs of a +/-1kg guinea pig. That's the vitamin C taken care of. Then they get some cucumber, mixed greens, carrot and either some cabbage or broccoli (mine have been fed cabbage and broccoli a long time so I'm keeping it up and decreasing it slowly). Sometimes they get a bit of fruit too. I have three pigs and a normal week they'll eat half a cucumber, a carrot or two, two peppers and maybe 2 bags of greens. The cabbage and broccoli they share with me. as well as an occational apple. Piggie veggies usually cost me around £7 a week and that's organic veggies bought in Sweden. Which everyone knows is not the best value for money country around...
 
This country is terrible. 2 peppers in Morrisons is £1 and they make out is is a special offer! :{

Lidl is the best I think for veg but I can't always be bothered going! :(|)

Just thought, I don't need a green house, I can use my conservatory! How do you grow peppers? They are the main one.
 
If you have a Joe Richards greengrocers nearish, they are quite cheap for veg. Lidl is good, and so is Aldi and Asda

Ive looked at the prices of veg for a while and thought "crikey.. HOW MUCH?!"
 
Hoggle*&*Ludo said:
This country is terrible. 2 peppers in Morrisons is £1 and they make out is is a special offer! :{

Lidl is the best I think for veg but I can't always be bothered going! :(|)

Just thought, I don't need a green house, I can use my conservatory! How do you grow peppers? They are the main one.
Click to expand...

I used to cheat and buy pepper plants from the garden cnetre then followed the instructions :)) but my neighbour grew them from seed in her house to start with then in the greenhouse.
 
The best place to buy veg ive found is from the market - I can get three huge bunches of corriander for 60p near me. Its much cheaper than the stores - where one bunch of corriander is 60p alone.
 
When I first got my piggies in August, I found a site that had a table on it, all colour coded, with what could be fed daily, weekly etc. Then about a month and a half later I trawled the net and couldn't find it again 8...

The only sliced peppers I've seen are frozen ones at Asda which are dirt cheap but apparently piggies shouldn't eat defrosted frozen food.

I also buy the value peppers from Asda, Sainsburys or the Co-op which are about £1.50-£1.80 a pack (about 7-8 peppers - but they are smaller than the ones you are talking about).

I spend a fortune on veg, I did when I had just two piggies, when the four babies get bigger I'll be spending LOADS more! I thought it would be ok, because fresh veg in the house, I'll eat it more. But I don't :red I still eat rubbish!
 
Hoggle*&*Ludo said:
Just thought, I don't need a green house, I can use my conservatory! How do you grow peppers? They are the main one.
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Start them off in pots in your house next February. Just plant one seed per small plant pot and then either put the pots in a propagator (preferably), or on a warm windowsill. Keep the soil slightly moist, don't let them dry out, but only water them when necessary until you can see seedlings, the continue to water sparingly. Too much water will kill them off. Plant about a third more seeds than you think you'll need.

Re-pot them into bigger plant pots when they've grown to a reasonable size. Re-pot them again into tubs and them put them out in your conservatory in April. Don't make the mistake (like I did) of being stingy with the size of tub you use; you won't get any peppers if you do. You'll need to feed them with a fertiliser throughout the growing season (I use poultry manure pellets).

You'll get peppers in July/August.

Check to see if there's a variety of pepper plant which will fruit earlier; if you grow an early and later fruiting variety you'll get a longer harvesting period.

Hope this helps. :)
 
i'll just add my 2p in here, I don't feed Africa fresh food everyday, I couldn't afford it, I do try and feed him a chunck of cucumber, some of the mixed lettuce i buy and carrots. When I have peppers in he gets that, and other things, but it's not nessesserly everyday and he's well healthy.
 
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