So lost with daily menu!

[AbyssalCritter]

Hello and wheek to all.

First time poster, long time luruker.

We've had our two little girls (1.5-2yr) for 2 months now. Had some ups and downs (striaght from adoption turns out they had a bit of a lice problem, so we are at least very familiar with the local vets now ). I've been feeding them a mix of timothy, meadow hays, those nice Burgess pellets (tablespoon per pig a day) and veg. And that veg is the bane of my existance. I have no idea how to plan a menu for them (aside from the issue of 'how much is a cup, how big is a slice etc'). Every day there is:

• cucumber (with skin, 1.5 thick slice per piggy),
• gem lettuce (depending on the size of the head, they get one big leaf or two medium ones per piggy),
• bell pepper (whatever colour I have; I divide 1/6=5th of the pepper between them as treats)

I used to do parsley, spinnach and basil and carrots a few times a week but apprently they are too high in calcium. Two days ago we experimented with romaine lettuce but one piggy got very cloudy urine and powdery pee residue and while it wasn't gritty it got me worried. I've read somewhere that romaine lettuce can cause that for some piggies so immediately the rest of that went onto our plates. They hate celery and zucchinni, it's like trying to convince a toddler to eat boiled broccoli...

What am I supposed to feed them daily aside from the above three? If I can only feed high calcium veg/green once a week, then if I give them a spring of parsley once a week, I cannot give them anything from the high calcium list that week? Same goes for carrots, yes? Or am I completely overthinking their diet. I would rather not cause kidney stones, and I know we have hard water either way.

Any and all feedback would be so so appreciated!

Send help. Drowning in calcium charts.

 

[Piggies&buns]

You are understanding everything correctly.

Just give them the three they will eat every day; then add one other thing in once per week.
Coriander in a small amount is also something they can have daily.

Mine get lettuce, pepper, coriander, and cucumber every day and largely that’s it. They only get something else added in if I’ve bought it specifically for us humans.
I don’t feed pellets so I can feed high calcium veg items more easily

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[Roselina]

Piggies&buns has said it all
I think you’ve got it right - they don’t have to have a huge variety of stuff ….they are quite happy with the basics
Mine get a tablespoon of pellets between them each am and in the eve it’s little gem/red lettuce leaves , cucumber, a small slice of green & red pepper - once a week a green bean / celery leaves
For supper a few sprigs of coriander
At bedtime they share some readigrass ( about an egg cup each) when i top up their hay
I have dandelion dry forage / dried corainder stalks that I sprinkle in the hay for a charge a couple of times a week to encourage their foraging behaviour
If I have other spare veg I might give them something
They have a bit of carrot peel and slice of apple peel at Xmas
I don’t have grass in my garden but I give them either strawberry leaves / raspberry leaves / nettles/ a few times a week

 

[AbyssalCritter]

Thank you so much for your insights! And the reassurance.

How can I cut out pellets in their diet then, to reduce calcium? I still have half a bag of their pellets so ideally I would like to use it up rather than bin it. Can they go cold turkey or should I reduce it more gradually? If I stop giving pellets is there something else to watch out for? I put the pellets in a ball with holes so they would have some fun getting the pellets out, I'll miss that if we cut them out but anything to avoid bladder stones!

We're also buying a water filter but considering we've never had one, I have no idea which one to pick to deal with hard water, need to research that one more.

 

[Roselina]

Thank you so much for your insights! And the reassurance.

How can I cut out pellets in their diet then, to reduce calcium? I still have half a bag of their pellets so ideally I would like to use it up rather than bin it. Can they go cold turkey or should I reduce it more gradually? If I stop giving pellets is there something else to watch out for? I put the pellets in a ball with holes so they would have some fun getting the pellets out, I'll miss that if we cut them out but anything to avoid bladder stones!

We're also buying a water filter but considering we've never had one, I have no idea which one to pick to deal with hard water, need to research that one more.

I have a Brita filter jug that I use for me and the piggies - we have very hard water in Suffolk and I do have to change the filter every 3 wks rather than the 4 they say. It works really well
Maybe you could just reduce the amount of pellets ? Piggie parcels make a pellet that has glucasamine in to help prevent bladder issues so you could try swapping to those
Piggie parcels is owned and produced by a forum member


Guinea Pig Pellet with Joint and Urinary Support - 1kg

 

[Piggies&buns]

You don’t need to cut pellets out entirely, just make sure you never feed over them; or you can reduce them. Continue putting few in the ball - it doesn’t have to be many.
When I say I don’t give pellets, I meant I don’t feed them daily - they get just five pellets each as a treat twice a week

The important thing is a balance - and remembering that cutting calcium too low is as bad as a diet which is too high.
In a diet which is too low in calcium, you can still cause the white ( not necessarily gritty) pees because their calcium intake still isn’t right for them