salt lick, hay and gnawing

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neeshkabeesh

I'm taking care of my neighbours pigs at the moment. I've never kept them before but I'm already quite hooked, they're lovely :) I've been reading up on them and found somewhere which said they need salt licks. I've read that about other animals and know it not to be true, do guinea pigs really need them?

Also I found somewhere which says they need timothy hay and that other hay is a bit useless. I buy a bale of hay from a farmer for my rabbits which these guinea pigs are getting too, will that be okay for them? They didn't have any hay when they arrived, and my neighbours only gave me a bag of straw and some useless wood shavings which I'm not using.

Also I was wondering do guinea pigs need things to chew on to keep their teeth down? I keep rats and rabbits myself, and rats keep their teeth down by bruxing and rabbits by eating hay and grass all the time. Does this apply to guinea pigs too?
 
Hiya,

I don't use salt licks or mineral stones my pigs never touched them so basically they were a waste of money. Not sure if they are 'needed' if they are getting a varied diet I don't think so.

Yes pigs need a good quality hay, I give Timothy Mixed with meadow and that helps to keep teeth down.

To keep teeth down I use willow balls. :)

Louise
:)
 
I once read that mineral stones were not needed but I have read in other places they need them, I only buy them for Honkey as he likes them.
 
They dont really need salt licks, my lot used to have them but they were a waste of money
I dont know what type of hay mine have, it doesnt say on the mag
I think its meadow
 
Salt/mineral licks etc are pointless if the piggies are getting a good diet :) They need constant hay (to keep their teeth down), good quality pellets and fresh vegetables daily (for vitamin C).

The bale of hay from a farm is fine aslong as is it fresh and good quality ;)

They (well, mine do anyway) love nibbling on willow balls. have a look at www.pamperedpiggies.co.uk if you wanna get them some, although I know you might be a bit reluctant cos they're not your piggies (they have bunny stuff too ;) :D)
 
Thanks all :)

Jane said:
They (well, mine do anyway) love nibbling on willow balls. have a look at www.pamperedpiggies.co.uk if you wanna get them some, although I know you might be a bit reluctant cos they're not your piggies (they have bunny stuff too ;) :D)
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I have ordered some with my usual order from http://www.thehayexperts.com/ Hopefully through a courier (not Royal Mail!) they'll arrive this week ::) They're for my rabbits really but the pigs can have one :)
 
I hope they don't really need a salt lick. Mine had one for a couple of months, but they never touched it! They are quite expensive if they are not going to be used, so I didn't bother again.
 
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