• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

teeth

  • Thread starter Thread starter tyson_chan
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tyson_chan

hi people i am curious, can carrots and sweet corn or any hard veggi trim down the teeth of guinea pig? or only hays will works?
 
Guinea pigs need hay, Carrots and sweetcorn will not keep it's teeth down and it needs a balanced diet with lots of different veg!
 
thanks...btw i am so curious, hays are so soft like grass, how come it will trim down the teeth?
 
The teeth you really need keep trimmed down are the ones at the back, the molars. They use them for chewing. Roughage, like hay, is simply the best way, as it has the right consistency - provided it is given in the right quantities.

Guinea pigs live off dried grass mostly (i.e. hay), which makes 80 % of their diet. Fresh grass is OK, but they still need hay, even in summer or they get tummy upsets. Their digestion suffers if they don't get hay and they can be more liable to tummy problems and long term tooth trouble.
 
Any hard food will help to wear the teeth down, including dry food.

However hay is the most important and effective, for the digestion as well as teeth. Not least because it can be eaten all day long with no ill effect, unlike all other foods which must be fed in moderation.
 
my guiena pig lives in a tank... so does it mean the tank must always have hays?
 
my tank is very big....i know * guys might think fish tank r small but infact my tank is able to let 2 guinea pig run freely in it without pushing over...thanks for sharing the knowlegde...
 
my tanks is 60cm(length) by 36cm(height) by 32cm(width).. only keeping one piggy in it
 
The issue is not so much with the size, although that does play a part, and the size of your tank is definitely too small, equal to only 1x2ft.

The problem is the ammonia fumes which will build up very quickly, and the poor ventilation - even if the top of the tank is open, it is the sides that need to be open too, which is why most cages have wire sides and tops.
 
thanks on that, will get a change... can you explain more on that fumes thingy...and the harmfulness of it..
 
It applies to all tanks, but much more so with smaller tanks. Piggies urinate quite a lot, the bedding can get wet quite quickly, and the ammonia smell builds up. In tanks with solid walls, it cannot be released from the sides of the cage, meaning the smell builds up in the cage, so the guinea has to breathe this in. It can affect the respiration (breathing) of guinea pigs. I don't know anything more specific than this; it's just logic and common sense.
 
btw, we know that hamster cages can be change once a week, however guinea pig poop r big and alot so i change them every 4 days... is that normal or i should even change it earlier than 4days
 
I agree with everyone else about the tank thing and the reasons.

Going back to hay - if you consider how much hay a guinea pig eats and that they eat it strand by strand and chew and chew and chew each strand it does an amazing job of keeping teeth down. It needs to be on offer 24 / 7. In fact i top up all hay before bed here and by the time I get up it's almost gone.

It doesn't matter if you are feeding meadow hay or timothy or whatever - it's really quite cheap in supermarkets but you really should feed hay all the time. With one guinea pig a bag will last ages!
 
tyson_chan said:
btw, we know that hamster cages can be change once a week, however guinea pig poop r big and alot so i change them every 4 days... is that normal or i should even change it earlier than 4days
Click to expand...

In a tank I would do it more often. In a big enough cage every 4 days would be okay. In a tank you will get fume build up quicker than that. Please consider getting a cage - a BIG cage. Check your freeads and adtrader or maybe even ebay for cheap, large cages in your area.
 
thanks for sharing the knowledge.... you guys from uk? i believe my country also have some guinea pig expert but mainly what i see in my country are people breeding guinea pig and selling them at high rate.... thats bullsh1t..infact my guinea pig i bought gotten lice and i just didnt notice when purchasing...anyways you guys help me alot and you guys r pro...
 
I am glad you're learning a lot, I hope you're able to make lots of positive changes to your guinea pigs' life.

Whereabouts are you? The majority of members on this forum are in UK, but there are a fair few from across Europe, the USA and Australia. Even one or two from Asia.
 
oh, i am the one or two asian here.. from singapore... lucky there is this forum to help me.. very hard to find knowledgeable people in my country that knows about guinea pig.
 
Grass (and hay) contain silica, which is more effective for wearing down teeth than other veg.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top