Science Selective Offer At P@h

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I have just bought a small bag of this to try my piggies on. I'm abit worried about feeding it though because it says that it may contain traces of nuts and I thought nuts were dangerous to guinea pigs. It also says it contains salt which I also thought was bad for guinea pigs. I'm really confused and there is lots of contradictory info around so I don't know what to think.
 
I have found the label of this product and honestly I don't think it is natural for piggies, just like all the other nuggets I see... unless we are using such foods as a treat only.
Let's read: (in red my concern)

COMPOSITION

Alfalfa meal (good for baby piggies, but not good for adults), whole wheat (not good! wheat increases glycemia and insuline and pigs should not eat pasta and bread...), wheat feed, soybean hulls (legumes... not good) , soybean meal, flaked peas, linseed, sugar beet pulp (this is necessary for making a nugget, but it is a sugar, not good for glycemia and hormonal system; it increases insuline and the last researches demonstrated that there is a great link between insuline and ovarian cysts in women... 93%of adult sows develop ovarian cysts!), soybean oil, fennel seeds, monocalcium phosphate, salt (?) , calcium carbonate, dried dandelion.

NUTRITIONAL ADDITIVES/Kg

Vitamin A 23000 IU, Vitamin C 800 mg (it decreases with air, light, storage and firms guarantee vit C for a time no longer than 1-3months), Vitamin D³ 1500 IU, Ferrous sulphate monohydrate 152mg, Calcium iodate anhydrous 1.5 mg, Copper sulphate pentahydrate 20 mg, Manganese oxide 38 mg, Zinc oxide 62 mg, Sodium selenite 0.2 mg.

Now, if you like, go and read the nutritional data of wheat and common grass which is free of charge, natural, organic and available everywhere:
wheat grass Nutrition Facts & Calories
 
rome_italy said:
I have found the label of this product and honestly I don't think it is natural for piggies, just like all the other nuggets I see... unless we are using such foods as a treat only.
Let's read: (in red my concern)

COMPOSITION

Alfalfa meal (good for baby piggies, but not good for adults), whole wheat (not good! wheat increases glycemia and insuline and pigs should not eat pasta and bread...), wheat feed, soybean hulls (legumes... not good) , soybean meal, flaked peas, linseed, sugar beet pulp (this is necessary for making a nugget, but it is a sugar, not good for glycemia and hormonal system; it increases insuline and the last researches demonstrated that there is a great link between insuline and ovarian cysts in women... 93%of adult sows develop ovarian cysts!), soybean oil, fennel seeds, monocalcium phosphate, salt (?) , calcium carbonate, dried dandelion.

NUTRITIONAL ADDITIVES/Kg

Vitamin A 23000 IU, Vitamin C 800 mg (it decreases with air, light, storage and firms guarantee vit C for a time no longer than 1-3months), Vitamin D³ 1500 IU, Ferrous sulphate monohydrate 152mg, Calcium iodate anhydrous 1.5 mg, Copper sulphate pentahydrate 20 mg, Manganese oxide 38 mg, Zinc oxide 62 mg, Sodium selenite 0.2 mg.

Now, if you like, go and read the nutritional data of wheat and common grass which is free of charge, natural, organic and available everywhere:
wheat grass Nutrition Facts & Calories
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Thank you so much for that. I always worry and check the packets but have no idea what half of it means. Thank you for breaking down the ingredients for me. I won't feed it to the piggies.
 
I think the only good thing contained in such pellets is the vit D3, considering that our piggies live indoor... Vit D is so important also for us adults, it prevents a lot of diseases, also cancer (and we all have a serious deficiency nowadays... even in Italy where the sun is shining all year round). There are no studies about the role of vit D in piggies, talking with my vet he said they only know that a food with an amount of vit D over 3000 IU/kg is dangerous for kidneys and that pellet has in fact 1500 IU/Kg.
Before reading and learning such things, before talking with the vets I made the mistake of buying a box of "good" nuggets, cereals-free (but they contain sugar beet pulp... ) and as I can't eat them and I hate throwing food away, I am giving 4-5 pieces a day to each piggie, but only as a treat and I see that they are growing up amazingly as well. You can do the same... :D
I don't want to give the eternal life to my piggies, but I would like avoiding the usual and expected diseases and I would like feeding them in the most natural way... and I don't see any tree of nuggets in the forests:))
 
This particular pellet is recommended and sold by my exotics specialist vets. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. Like all things, pellets should be fed in moderation.
 
All bar one of my pigs (he is just a fussy ) are on these pellets and I have never had a problem with them at all. All of my guys love them and are all healthy and happy. Any pellets are not a natural thing for guinea pigs but it is recommended that you feed them to them. As with all pellets there are going to be ingredients that people question but others wouldn't say the same about the ingredients. Just feed your pigs with what you know to be healthy for them.
 
Just caught up on the replies. We have always fed science selective, but the pigs only get a limited amount each day. The treats we don't usually feed but as they were in the offer, I will feed them a treat occassionally. My dogs are both fed naturally and I have tried to look into more natural ways of feeding pigs but there is not enough research and information for me to feel comfortable with doing so, as I would worry that I was missing out vital vitamins and minerals. As others have said, science selective is recommended by vets so that's the reason I have always fed it. We did try a grain free brand a while back (can't for the life of me remember what they were called) but neither of my pigs would even look at them, never mind eat them.
 
Sian25 said:
Just caught up on the replies. We have always fed science selective, but the pigs only get a limited amount each day. The treats we don't usually feed but as they were in the offer, I will feed them a treat occassionally. My dogs are both fed naturally and I have tried to look into more natural ways of feeding pigs but there is not enough research and information for me to feel comfortable with doing so, as I would worry that I was missing out vital vitamins and minerals. As others have said, science selective is recommended by vets so that's the reason I have always fed it. We did try a grain free brand a while back (can't for the life of me remember what they were called) but neither of my pigs would even look at them, never mind eat them.
Click to expand...

I was going to start a thread but because I came across yours I thought I'd ask, I have given them a piece each and they liked it, was just worried about it saying may contain traces of nuts as mine have never had nuts before and didn't know if they could be allergic but so far they have been okay. I don't like wasting things so I will give it as a treat :) i am just over cautious with the piggies because had an incident last year where my piggy had an allergic reaction to a mites treatment so I'd rather ask other people before giving them something they haven't had before :)
 
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