What Do I Feed A 3 Week Old Guinea Pig?

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Abby M.

Abby M.

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Hello, I am getting a new guinea pig today and he is almost 3 weeks old BUT I have never had one this small and am wondering what I should be feeding him? I was doing some research and half the stuff I read stated to feed alfalfa hay and the other half said timothy is fine. It was also back and forth about if they can eat pellets or not...wondering if anyone can clarify this or tell me what worked for them?

Thank you in advance! :)
 
Abby M. said:
Hello, I am getting a new guinea pig today and he is almost 3 weeks old BUT I have never had one this small and am wondering what I should be feeding him? I was doing some research and half the stuff I read stated to feed alfalfa hay and the other half said timothy is fine. It was also back and forth about if they can eat pellets or not...wondering if anyone can clarify this or tell me what worked for them?

Thank you in advance! :)
Click to expand...

Poor baby - that is very young to be away from its mum! :(
What is the background of this very early separation?

Whether you feed a handful of alfalfa hay in addition to the normal timothy, meadow or orchard hay or whether you feed alfalfa based pellets (which many widely available commercial brands are), the actual extra amounts needed are not so large that you have to worry if your piggies are on a good general diet with some vitamin C veg daily.

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/sexing-separating-baby-boars-and-rehoming-babies.109391/
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet
 
I am confused, the age to be separated is 3 weeks old for males according to the link you attached. He is 3 weeks tomorrow so its not really early?
But thank you for the feedback regarding what to feed him, I guess because he is still such a baby I was thinking he may have needed special food, or something easier to digest. but that is all good information!
 
Abby M. said:
I am confused, the age to be separated is 3 weeks old for males according to the link you attached. He is 3 weeks tomorrow so its not really early?
But thank you for the feedback regarding what to feed him, I guess because he is still such a baby I was thinking he may have needed special food, or something easier to digest. but that is all good information!
Click to expand...

He is old enough to be separated from his mum and sisters; but if you read the separation link carefully, we generally recommend to wait with moving him to another home unless he really has got no company in original home and you have got an uncle to take him on.

It is generally better to wait until babies are 6-8 weeks old and about 400g before rehoming them, as they are much sturdier at that age and their immune system is more developed to cope with the big changes in his little life.
 
I got Linney and Frenzy around 4 weeks of age or so. They were tiny little pipsqueaks! We did feed an alfalfa pellet for the first while as they were still so little. We switched over to timothy pellets when they were around a year (bear in mind that we just fed timothy pellets from day one when we got other young pigs, but Sundae and Hadley were closer to 12 weeks or so when we got them.) They ate fine... the alfalfa pellet, timothy hay, and some assorted treats (veggies mostly.) Hope this helps!
 
I was always told unlimited pellets as babies and a combo of hay. I use oxbow brand pellets and they have young Guinea pig food with an even higher vitamin C content than the adult food. Don't know if one of your brands has something similar but I imagine they are more susceptible to scurvy while their bones are doing lots of growing I also always only used alfalfa as a treat my staple is Timothy with orchard and alfalfa as a treat
 
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