Veggie And Food Questions

[shujuju]

I have looked at lists for edible and non edible foods from happycavvy.com but there is a couple foods I'm worried about. Would it be ok to give them fruits like apples and tomatoes 3-4 times a week? (2 days of tomato, 2 days of apple) or is this too much? should I just do 1 day of tomato, 1 day of apple instead? Also, another thing with tomato, I know that tomato is acidic but has some good nutrients in it, but I have only been able to find info about red tomato, what about sunburst tomatoes and sun dried tomatoes?

What about grapes? I heard green grapes are good as long as they are only fed once or twice a week and are only a grape or two, but what about purple/red grapes? is it the same?

A quick question about hay, I know alfalfa is for young piggies due to its high nutrients. So I should use timothy or meadow mix hay, which is better? from what I know, meadow hay is a mix of different grasses, while timothy is one kind of grass, is this true or am I wrong? which kind is better? should I buy both and mix them, or is that not necessary?

How long does it take for pellets and hay to go bad? I heard it takes about 90 days before you should get new pellets, but what about hay? should I just buy new hay once its not as fresh and just mix the old and new hay? Also with pellets, should they have a constant supply of pellets or should I feed them 1/4 cup of pellets once or twice a day?

Also, is it alright to feed them lettuce and baby carrots every day as long as I switch them up? (lettuce one day, carrot the next, I'd switch every day)
I was thinking about feeding them a herb (mostly cilantro) every day along with either carrots or romaine/red lettuce and some red pepper or green pepper. I would probably also put a random veggie or fruit in there too, switching between these every day: Celery, Cucumber, Zucchini, Strawberry, Blueberry, Tomato, Apple

What do you give your pigs daily along with their water, pellets and hay?

I want to make sure I give them a healthy selection, but I also don't want to buy veggies just to have them all go bad because the guinea pigs cant eat them in time.

I don't have guinea pigs yet but I want to learn everything in detail to make sure I am able to take care of a pair of piggies properly

 

[sport_billy]

Apple and tomato should really be a treat. Whatever fruit (including tomato) you feed, fruit should be on the menu no more than twice a week in a small quantity. Please stay off any stone fruit and most exotic fruits. Fruit fed too much or too often can lead to painful fungal or bacterial mouth and lip sores (cheilitis).

When it comes to hay, feed a good meadow hay - unlimited. We then also feed Timothy and orchard grass to mix things up for them and keep their interest

Change pellets and hay daily from the cage, we top our hay up twice a day and throw the old stuff out as they wee in it.

We feed ours this roughly
Morning:
Cucumber
Celery
1/6th of Red/Green/Yellow Bell Pepper (de-seeded)

Evening:
Cucumber
Two Little Gem Lettuce leaves or 10 sprigs Coriander or Parsley or Cabbage ( of some type)

We also add in to the above diet carrot, sweet potato, celery leaves and a few other things occasionally

Have a read of this guide here Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet

Have a read of the threads in the food section for idea on peoples pigs diet

Hope that helps

Lee

 

[34helen]

Have you ever given them banana skins or melon skin? Mine love them