shop brought treats

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Cookie22

I was just looking at this website http://www.lbgpr.co.uk/index.php?mod...N_position=3:3 and looking at all the foods you can give your piggies and i saw at the bottom it says PLEASE DO NOT FEED US SHOP BROUGHT TREATS. they are full of chemicals, colourants and sugars that simply are no good for us at all.

I've been buying my piggies shop brought treats like those dandelion sticks you can get from PetsAtHome, chocolate, yoghurt drops and that but i try to get them some treats that have veggies/herbs in them. The treats haven't harmed my piggies if it says they contain other stuff. I just don't wanna give my piggies just hay and veggies. i want to give them treats now and again like we have snacks.
 
ok, yesterday i brought my piggies some bordom breakers Naturals Cornflower pack from P&H and it's got leaves, and flowers and stalks in it. I'm sure feeding them a little every day as a treat is much better because it's just natural.
 
Any of the chocolate/yoghurty things are a huge no-no. Guinea pigs cannot tolerate dairy in any form. You're not doing your piggies any favours by feeding these, especially if you're doing it daily. Natural treats like Excel nature snacks are fine in moderation. My pigs are lucky if they get these three times a year.

It's not a case of because humans like snacks, pigs should have them too. The piggies don't have a choice about what they're fed, we do. If we want to eat junk (and we all know the consequences of it on our own health) then we can choose to or choose not to. Piggies generally eat what's put in front of them.

Guinea pigs relish vegetables and fruits. Especially fresh herbs. These are the best treats for them. Just bear in mind that because things are marketed towards piggies, doesn't mean it's good for them. A bit like McDonalds is to humans.
 
Yeah well said, daftcotslass, thanks.

I don't give them those yoghurt/choc drops all the time. Or not recently anyway, because they hardly touch them.
 
I wouldn't ever consider giving pigs yoghurt or choc snacks.
BUT
daftscotslass said:
Guinea pigs cannot tolerate dairy in any form.
Click to expand...

I have read this many times in various places on the internet.
Can anyone ACTUALLY give me a link to some properly researched and refereed scientific literature that gives this information ……..just so that we can distinguish fact from fiction ?
 
mine do not like shop bought treats. they will not eat them

there favourite treats are parsley, coriander and a small piece of apple.
 
I have tried different shop bought treats with mine to but they don't seem to like them either they much prefer fresh fruit or veg
 
None of mine will even touch a shop-bought "treat", they even turn their noses up at the supposedly healthy ones.
They give it a sniff, then give me a look that just says; "what is this rubbish? Where's the real food?"

If you really want to give them a naughty treat now and then, certain fresh herbs (leafy ones) are always a sure-fire winner. They're not supposed to have them very often, but they'll gobble them down like it's a KFC boneless bucket.
 
Mine love the white vegetable corners that you can buy in P@H but they only come in a bag with two other colours and I won't buy a bag just for the 10 or so white ones and then throw the rest away.

They go nuts (and I really do mean nuts) over fresh basil - their little butts start shaking and they squeak and squeal and popcorn all over the cage when they smell the basil! It's very cute and a basil leaf each has become part of our goodnight routine.
 
Juniper said:
I wouldn't ever consider giving pigs yoghurt or choc snacks.
BUT


I have read this many times in various places on the internet.
Can anyone ACTUALLY give me a link to some properly researched and refereed scientific literature that gives this information ……..just so that we can distinguish fact from fiction ?
Click to expand...

Harkness and Wagner (1995) in Biology and Medicine of Rabbits and Rodents

"They require specific amounts of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium, and therefore recommending feeding table scraps (and vitamin D-fortified cow's milk) or other animals' feed may promote metastic calcification, acidosis, ketosis, or skin disease from vitamin A or D toxicity"

Richardson (2000) in Diseases of Domestic Guinea Pigs

"orphans which receive too much milk replacer develop cataracts and become blind. The development of cataracts is thought to be associated with the intake of too many complex sugars which are dissimilar to those found in natural guinea pig milk"

I haven't seen any properly researched scientific literature to suggest that cows' milk would be beneficial for the guinea pig, a herbivore.
 
Thank you Cookie22 for visiting my site, glad you found it. :):)

My point is that these treats are designed to appeal to pet owners who like to buy little treats for their small furries. The packaging and marketing are important to these companies whereas the contents/ingredients of them are not a priority.

Sadly quite a few are misleading and whilst I have no evidence to suggest that they are harmful I also have found no evidence to suggest that they are of benefit. I am simply applying my own experience and common sense. I have seen some of these treats and they look ghastly, but they are marketed as though our pigs/buns will love them.

As I suggest on my site, with all the very many fresh foods available that piggies enjoy money would be better spent at the local green grocers than at multinational / pet shops.

I too love to give all my piggies, both rescue and my own, a treat. It's part of the fun of having them live here but I restrict my treats to fresh rather than chemically manufactured.

Its just part of responsible pet ownership for us all to read whats on the label I guess.
 
Well i'll have to buy some packet parsley, mint, basil and coriander and grow them though i know it'll be a while 'til my piggies can have some because herbs do take a while to grow.
My mum was growing parsley, chives etc but the herbs seem to take a long time to grow and then when they do it doesn't look like there's much leaves on them. :(
But then i suppose i could just buy some already grown potted ones from a garden centre. I'll have to ask my dad if he can run me down to one.
 
i only give mine boredom breakers natural treats of herb mix, which they love!

I give mine in small moderation and i know this isnt bad for them, i wouldnt gfive them drops though.

Remember that some herbs cannot be fed daily, and only as a treat.

use this as a guide, it links to a chart in cavycages which is brilliant. For some reason i cannot copy and paste the individual link to the site, so having to do it to the thread!

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=25873
 
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