Science Selective Grain Free / Low Calcium Diet

LeahsPiggies

LeahsPiggies

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi all. Due to recently losing one of my beloved piggies from kidney problems/stones I am wanting to change his brothers diet to low calcium to prevent these problems happening to him.

He is currently on the burgess excel blackcurrant and oregano but I’m going to keep this as a treat and change his base food. My partner has bought him some science selective grain free today, is this a good food? I want to give him the best quality diet I’m able to. It’s timothy based rather than alfalfa/Lucerne which will dramatically reduce the calcium levels.

Any other advice on a low calcium diet and what to feed him would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
 
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Here’s the guide about low calcium veg.

And here’s a thread about grain free pellets Recommend Me A Good Grain Free Pellet

As for pellets, I switched all mine over to grain free after an experience with stones. We tried all of the following
JR Farms grainless; Bunny; Rosewood Naturals; Versele Laga and Selective grain free. Some were refused point blank and others treated with some tolerance.

Mine have all decided they enjoy Versele Laga (I order a sack from Zooplus) and Selective grain free. So they get a bit of a mix/variety.
 
VickiA said:
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Here’s the guide about low calcium veg.

And here’s a thread about grain free pellets Recommend Me A Good Grain Free Pellet

As for pellets, I switched all mine over to grain free after an experience with stones. We tried all of the following
JR Farms grainless; Bunny; Rosewood Naturals; Versele Laga and Selective grain free. Some were refused point blank and others treated with some tolerance.

Mine have all decided they enjoy Versele Laga (I order a sack from Zooplus) and Selective grain free. So they get a bit of a mix/variety.
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Ah very helpful thanks so much!
 
My boys are the same as Vicki's. Science Selective and Versele Laga are okay according to them but the others are inedible, haha.
 
Mine all love the Science Selective grain free timothy hay pellets, they wont eat any other pellets at all! My daughter tried to feed them some alfalfa stuff while we were on holiday and they werent impressed...
 
My lot are on the SS grain free but I bought a Bunny gift pack from Zooplus and I have them a handful of the Bunny cross over food (from the other pack, not Bunny Basic)
 
Anyone tried harringtons? They dont use alfalfa or lucerne (the other name for it) but they are not the highest in vit c
 
Thanks all, I’ve tried him with the SS grain free and he likes it luckily! I will continue to give him that and sprinkle the burgess on as a treat. Paranoid piggie Mum after losing his brother on Friday!
 
I moved mine to ss grain free this year and they love it. They won’t touch ss standard or Wagg now.
 
I had a gpig live to over 7 and he didnt have low calcium diet most of his life Because i didnt know at the time about stones. He never had any problems. I wonder how though :hmm:
 
Skypipdot said:
I had a gpig live to over 7 and he didnt have low calcium diet most of his life Because i didnt know at the time about stones. He never had any problems. I wonder how though :hmm:
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My understanding, partly intuitive I’ll grant, is that for many diseases in many animals you will find individuals who are very susceptible, and may suffer the condition with even the most careful management, and then at the opposite end you’ll have those that can live life how they wish and not have the slightest symptom. It’s not a foregone conclusion that ALL piggies on a high calcium diet will develop stones, in the same way as how not ALL humans who smoke like chimneys develop lung cancer.
You obviously gave him a healthy life as he lived to a good age :)
 
Tangle said:
My understanding, partly intuitive I’ll grant, is that for many diseases in many animals you will find individuals who are very susceptible, and may suffer the condition with even the most careful management, and then at the opposite end you’ll have those that can live life how they wish and not have the slightest symptom. It’s not a foregone conclusion that ALL piggies on a high calcium diet will develop stones, in the same way as how not ALL humans who smoke like chimneys develop lung cancer.
You obviously gave him a healthy life as he lived to a good age :)
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Yea its strange isnt it. His brother had same diet and always got sick, but did live to 6 . I wasnt meaning what i put in a bad way. Jus wondering why some pigs get sick easy and some dont. It looked like i was being smug a bit
 
Skypipdot said:
Yea its strange isnt it. His brother had same diet and always got sick, but did live to 6 . I wasnt meaning what i put in a bad way. Jus wondering why some pigs get sick easy and some dont. It looked like i was being smug a bit
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I didn’t read it as smug at all - I was trying to be reassuring! I guess it’s why medicine (human or animal) is still at least partly an art as well as a science.
 
Skypipdot said:
Anyone tried harringtons? They dont use alfalfa or lucerne (the other name for it) but they are not the highest in vit c
Click to expand...

Two of my boys are on Harringtons along with two of the temporary boys. My other three don't like them so they have Burgess Blackcurrant. I sprinkle a few grainless science selective on top of all of their bowls.

I've had one boar with bladder stone issues who I changed his diet but the others all have a normal diet.
 
Skypipdot said:
Anyone tried harringtons? They dont use alfalfa or lucerne (the other name for it) but they are not the highest in vit c
Click to expand...

I used to keep my last pair on a mix of harringtons and the burgess mint. They ate the harringtons but preferred the burgess.
 
Guinea Slave said:
I moved mine to ss grain free this year and they love it. They won’t touch ss standard or Wagg now.
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Does the grain free have vitamin c added? I might change to this as my girl has gone off her woodlands nuggets and burgess
 
I’m not sure, need to check but if they are getting plenty of fresh veg then they should be fine. Mine certainly don’t seem to be suffering and have been on this for a good 6 months now.
 
Guinea Slave said:
I’m not sure, need to check but if they are getting plenty of fresh veg then they should be fine. Mine certainly don’t seem to be suffering and have been on this for a good 6 months now.
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Does all fresh veg have vitamic c? I give my pigs . 2 small slices of red pepper , 1 small slice of green pepper, a slice of cucumber and some mixed leaf lettuce. I give all this twice a day 7am and then 5pm. Is this too much veg? I'm sure the grain free ss dont have added vit c but the normal ones do. For what reason i cannot work out
 
Skypipdot said:
Does the grain free have vitamin c added? I might change to this as my girl has gone off her woodlands nuggets and burgess
Click to expand...

The selective grain free does have added vitamin C. My boy is quite fussy and doesn’t like burgess either, but loves these.
 
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