Veggie 3 times a day

[Seven7]

Hello,

My Finn, 6 month old guinea pig, gets his veggie 3 times a day half of a cup each, once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once at night. He also gets pellets at night and has endless supply of hay at all times.
I saw some people feed veggie only once a day, so I wondered if I am over-feeding my Finn.
My Finn gets lettuce, spinach, cilantro, basil, parsley, carrots, and other veggies daily. He gets small amount of apple, blueberry, watermelon, melon, and other fruits through out the week but not everyday.
He constantly begs for food by making noise, so I feed him small amount of food often. I wondered if what I am doing is it ok since I read others just feed veggie once a day.

 

[Betsy]

Guinea pigs always want more food!. My 5 get 3 small handfuls is pellets in 1 food bowl and 2 in the other per day and just veg in the evening. Some give veg morning and evening. It's what works best for you. Don't give fruit so often though it is the equivalent of us having sweets and cake - nice but not good for us! Have a look at the guides at the top of the page. There is one about diet that you will find useful. Sorry can't link on this device.

 

[Guineautopia]

It’s more about the quantity rather than how often you feed, although it does sound like you may be giving a little too much for one pig. Recommend daily amount is 50gm (one cup).
Main thing is too make sure they eat mostly hay, so this is why I give veg and pellets twice a day in much smaller limited amounts and any other squeaks are met with more hay. I feed a variety of hays to keep up their interest.
As @Betsy said, there are some great guides to feeding on this forum.

 

[Pigwhisperer]

My 2 share 1 cup of veg morning & evening. As the others have said they should be eating mostly hay (80% of their diet). I find they only eat their pellets when their veg & hay is eaten up!

 

[Merab]

A guinea pig is basically an appetite covered with fur.
They are very good at explaining to slaves that they are starving and fading away because they haven’t been fed for ages and ages and ages.
I give my 3 girls roughly a pasta bowl of veggies each day but it can be spread out through the day or given in one helping depending on my day.

 

[Betsy]

A guinea pig is basically an appetite covered with fur.
They are very good at explaining to slaves that they are starving and fading away because they haven’t been fed for ages and ages and ages.
I give my 3 girls roughly a pasta bowl of veggies each day but it can be spread out through the day or given in one helping depending on my day.

 

[Seven7]

My Finn does seem to haul in hay to his heart's content. I constantly find myself loading up more hay into his two big hay feeders, one is a big ball of hay feeder that sits around, and the other hay feeder hangs outside of his cage with the hay opening to inside his cage. He spends a lot of time in front of both hay feeders.
If he is consuming hay in large quantity, does it mean he is ok with being fed veggies threes times a day?

He also enjoys his pellets. I see him munching on his pellets so I don't want to take that away. I saw that people who feed enough veggies remove pellets from their diet.

My Finn is used to his routine so I can't take away things he enjoys doing, namely eating.

 

[Betsy]

Mine get pellets, hay, hay, more hay, even more hay and yet more hay and veggies too. Hay should be at least 80% of the diet.

 

[Merab]

Mine have always had masses of hay. I buy different types of hay for variety.
They get nuggets each day with a bit of GP muesli mixed in and about a pasta bowl full of veggies- again a variety. Today they had some tomato which they love but only get occasionally.
Hay gets topped up whenever they want it.
Finn is a perfectly normal piggy if he likes to eat.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

The rule of thumb is one cup of veggies per pig per day if that helps It also depends what you feed too.

Has he got a friend?

 

[Seven7]

I will be adopting a friend’s unwanted baby girl guinea pig in about a week.
This friend got her from a pet store and kept her for about 2-3 weeks, and decided they didn't want her anymore. The baby girl’s name is Lara and she is only about 2 months old. I am currently in the process of getting ready to welcome Lara to our family. I don’t want anything bad happening to Lara so I accepted her when my friend asked me to take her. My friend knows I have Finn and 7 hamsters who all live in separate cages. In total, I already have 8 pets and Lara will make it 9 pets.

Since I never planned on getting my Finn castrated, they will be housed in separate cages with a secure top. I was actually actively was looking for a boy neighbor for my Finn. I just never expected things to happen this way.
But, I don’t want anything bad to happen to Lara so I have to welcome this baby girl to my family.

 

[Seven7]

The rule of thumb is one cup of veggies per pig per day if that helps It also depends what you feed too.

Has he got a friend?

Continuing with my post above, I looked at some cages with secure lid for separate housing for Finn and Lara and they run around $190, which will be around 140 pounds sterling I believe.
Lara is not coming to my home with a cage as she is currently staying in an open playpen at the friend's house.