Veg, how do you do yours?

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PAMELAKT

PAMELAKT

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I'm a bit worried cos I only just read if they don't get enough variety they get kidney stones... My boys get kale for breakfast every morning cos I like knowing they get the vit c. They also get green beans because Rodney practically has a nervous breakdown if he doesn't get any.
They then get something different, cucumber, carrot, something different each day.

They also get spinach most days for dinner which I just realised they shouldn't.

Can they not have kale everyday? Do you give totally different veg every day? Cos surely things will go off?!
 
i mix it up with whatever I've got in i.e. the veg we have in isn't solely for piggies hehe so it shouldn't go off. Theres been some good websites posted in the food section on here that tells you which foods are high in vitamin C and how often they can have it (and how much)
 
i always give mine carrotts and peppers every day otherwise they wouldn't talk to me!i change colourrs of peppers,and also add other veg like sweetcorn,celery,and other bits they are the ones i change weekly so they dont get bored or poorly.
 
See I'm not a big veg eater so my fridge has never looked so colourful! Haha. It just gave me a lump in my throat leaving without giving them a grape they've got into a habit of conning one out of me as I leave for work & this morning I had to leave 2 sad faces looking stunned ;(
 
Mine get Celery, carrot, cucumber, sweetcorn, romaine, peppers.:)
 
I tend to base my main 'veg rations' on bell peppers.....when I very first had the piggies, I read somewhere that bell peppers were one of the only foods they could have every day, and that kind of stuck in my head!

So, they have quite a few pieces of pepper (mainly red, they're not very keen on the other colours), then this morning for example, I added a bit of romaine lettuce, a bit of cucumber, a couple of fine green beans, and a tiny bit of well chopped celery.

Tonight, along with their peppers, I'm planning to give kale, a couple of grapes, maybe a cherry tomato, a baby sweetcorn (if there are any left), a bit more lettuce and some parsley (their absolute favourite!).

Oddly enough, my two aren't really keen on carrots! But they love fruit....they go mad for blueberries, grapes, apple, pear and a segment of satsuma, but I only let them have a tiny bit every now and again!

Me and OH are big veggie eaters ourselves, and we've always spent a small fortune on fruit and veg.......so, whatever we have in, the piggies get a taste of as well (assuming it's ok for them to eat). I can easily see how having piggies could turn out to be very expensive if you didn't really eat veggies before!

Tracey
 
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We weren't massive veg eaters but the intention to do so were always very good, we've found over the last couple of weeks we've had more veg with our dinners thankfully so our girls are actually making us healthier
 
I wouldn't give both Kale and Spinach every day as both are high in calcium. Id only give occasionally - say 2x a week
 
heres one of the threads in the food section that lists veg and whether its high in vit c so might help you out a bit
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=42

Over the last two weeks our girls have had carrot, pepper, broccoli, kale, cucumber, celery, coriander, parsley, butternut squash, baby corn, peas in the pod, strawberries and cabbage.

Whenever I get the chance I will try them with something new. My auntie gave us the squash from her allotment so we had soup for dinner and the girls tried a little bit but don't think they were overly keen.

My mum was chatting to her local greengrocer and he has promised he will keep any spare veg leaves for us rather than chuck them in the bin although I'm not holding much hope as he said the cauliflowers etc have come in pretty tidy recently so he's not had to take extra leaves off
 
Yeah see the veg costs me an absolute fortune. If I buy them say a bunch of parsley then they tend to get that most days til it's used up or it'd just go off.

I've been doing it all wrong! I hope they'll be ok?! I'm gonna pop out at lunchtime & buy them some different bits...
 
mine get a mix of stuff I buy for us, and whatever is reduced in our co-op/on offer in Aldi etc, we have a co-op over the road so I'll often go over at tea time and get something reduced for their tea and breakfast, quite often I get the mixed veg packs of cauliflower, carrot and broccoli, or salad bags, cabbage, green beans, spring greens, spinach etc, I bought some green beans on offer in Aldi yesterday as well as carrots and savoy cabbage so the veg did our dinner, piggies supper and breakfast then I'll get something else later on.
 
You have to find a balance that works for you and doesn't break the bank, as well as working for your pigs.
If I buy a bag of kale, then they'll have a bit of kale every day until the bag's gone (along with their other veg). But they won't get parsley or spinach on those days because they're also high in calcium. So, I'll only ever have one of the 3 in the fridge and can rotate them.
I tend to feed greens, sweetheart cabbage, green beans, celery, romaine lettuce, little gem lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, carrot, peppers and tomato (all keep well in the fridge, so can alternate some days for variety). I only occasionally give fruits, such as melon and grapes because they're high in sugar. However, if I buy a melon then they will have a piece for perhaps 3 days in a row as we have to eat it up before it goes off (only me and the pigs here). They have a piece of cucumber at lunchtime and a piece of carrot at bedtime, so these are their treat foods. I have readigrass and a couple of different types of hay, which I can give them throughout the day when they're trying to make me feel guilty with their wheeking.
I eat a fair amount of veg and learned to like quite a few things that I didn't eat before I had pigs. I like cabbage now but tend to eat it mixed in with mashed potato or in a stir fry. If I don't think things are going to be used up before they go off, then I make veg soup and freeze it in margarine tubs.

Don't worry too much, you'll find a routine that works for you and your pigs. :)
 
My guys get some form of 'leafy' veg every day, such as spinach, kale, romaine lettuce ect, then two other varied veggies. So one day it may be kale, peppers and cucumber, the next day would be spinach, celery, apple and so on. That way they get a varied diet and never too much of the same thing. Having said that, I appreciate how veg can go off quite quickly. With over 80 piggies in my rescue I NEVER have any leftover veg!
 
I have been way overdoing the calcium do you think they'll be ok?! I won't have don't perm damage will I?! I've only had them since November.

Just been & bought them romaine lettuce, peppers & rocket...

Great idea about redigrass I'm gonna buy some!
 
PAMELAKT said:
Yeah see the veg costs me an absolute fortune. If I buy them say a bunch of parsley then they tend to get that most days til it's used up or it'd just go off.

I've been doing it all wrong! I hope they'll be ok?! I'm gonna pop out at lunchtime & buy them some different bits...
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I wouldn't bother buying bunches of parsley, you can save money by buying the potted one at the supermarket (or even seeds if you're adventurous!) and then repot it in a normal household sized plant pot and you will have an unlimited supply of parsley. We brought one like this and ended up splitting it into 3 plants (were going to give two away) and they are low maintenance, just need watering
 
PAMELAKT said:
I have been way overdoing the calcium do you think they'll be ok?! I won't have don't perm damage will I?! I've only had them since November.

Just been & bought them romaine lettuce, peppers & rocket...

Great idea about redigrass I'm gonna buy some!
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I think they'll be okay in the short run, but they may of developed problems in the long run - just refer to that link i left about calcium to phosphurus levels :)

Readigrass is great! and smells soooo yummy! I give mine a handful per pig about 2 - 3 times a week
 
I'm really confused with the ratio thing... God I bet I've made them ill! I'm gutted!
 
try not to panic, the most important thing is that you are looking into the options now and not just carrying on. I'm sure they will be fine
 
I'm soooo glad I've read this :red I've fed rocket and spinach together and now feel bad.
My have a stir fry tray full of (small amounts of )grated carrots, cabbage, celery, toms, beans, sprouts, green leafy stuff, apple or orange (small chunk each), peppers and whatever else I can find aswell as unlimited hay and a bowl of food.
I hope that's ok the tray holds 400/500grms and that's divided between 7 piggies.
Peppa who's inside cos she's still a little bit poorly has a small tray to herself (approx cup full).
I have noticed on the odd occassion that some of the girls had cloudy wee.
 
The only veg we tend to eat ourselves is sprouts but that's the veg the boys don't like. Other veg I buy especially for them. I always have cucumber, tomatoes, red green and yellow pepper. Every morning they get a little bit of each and the same again in the evening. Once a week I will get maybe parsley and a bag of mixed leaves and they will get a bit of that in the evening. I am wondering if I am not giving them enough calcium.

I tend to throw a lot of veg out as it doesn't last very long.
 
I don't actually eat veg :red which could explain why I'm not a size 8 lol:x but the cashiers at tescos and morrisons think that I'm exceptionally healthy cos of all of the veg in the trolly lol
 
I do think theres a bit of panic going on here as regards veg, as long as the piggies have a varied diet and not the same thing every single day, I wouldn't worry. I certainly wouldn't get too worried over calcium levels. I have kept piggies for over twenty years, a vet. nurse for many years and have rescued piggies for over 10 years and have yet to find veg a problem as long as its varied and obviously not potatoes, rhubarb , tomato leaves and such.

Thats just my humble opinion though. :)
 
Really, don't worry. Your pigs will be fine. Everything in moderation and variety is key... just like us. :(|)
 
hellsbells82 said:
I quite like this page as an easy guide to veg etc http://guineapigs101.com/diet-and-nutrition/fresh-foods
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An example of how we can all get confused. The above link says cucumber should be given as a weekly treat however this http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=37030 says we can give it daily. Different sites say different things. I give my boys cucumber every day. I don't know if there are other differences.

I do like the guineapig 101 site. I have it bookmarked.
 
How much pepper do you give? I just got them a bag of 4 bell peppers so how much should they get as in how small do you cut it up?

My boys are in for a right shock!

I'll print this all off when I get home try make sense of it all.

Feel a bit confused!
 
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