What food?

[Helencork]

Hi,

We have two young (8 weeks) little girls. I have been reading on what they should be eating daily/ weekly but feel like I've come away more confused.
I get the general gust of what they should have but not sure about the different types of hay (should I be giving more than one type?) and how much pellets (at their age) they should have and which type? Again should it be different types?
I would really appreciate if someone could give me an idea of what they feed their piggies daily/weekly.

Thanks X

 

[GuineaPigsPipPumpandJG]

I give my pigs fresh hay daily (unlimited) and then a tablespoon of pellets per piggy every morning. They also have fresh veg (one cup) every morning. When my girls were babies they had a big bowl full of pellets every day, but that was when I didn't know better, so I would definitely not give too many pellets. They also get treats of fruit every now and then.
Basically, make sure they have unlimited hay (I only give one type), fresh water, a cup of fresh veg every day and a tablespoon of pellets every day per piggy (make sure the pellets are hay-based.) I hope this has helped!

 

[Siikibam]

Hi and We have a feeding guide where you can see which foods can be fed and how often. The plate is a good judge of the amount they should be getting. Pellets they can have two tablespoons each a day. Once they reach four months then that drops down to one tablespoon. Adult pellets (non-alfalfa) ones are okay to feed. Hay makes up the largest part of their diet so should always be available and changed out if wet.

As an example, my piggies will get a lettuce leaf, green bean, slice of cucumber, pepper, celery and a sprig of coriander daily. Sometimes I don't have everything in except coriander (planted my own), pepper and cucumber. You can add in other veg and herbs. Just be aware that kale and spinach (and parsley) are high in calcium so only one of them should be fed maximum once a week. If I buy kale for us to eat then I will give them some, but it's not often. Cabbage and broccoli (and cauliflower I think) can cause bloat so should be introduced slowly and don't give too much.

 

[LMPigs]

You do not need to give them more than one type of hay. Some people supplement their day to day feeding hay with other special hay but this is not required at all.

With the pellets, the most important thing is that they actually are pellets and not muesli feeds. Other than that, there are a variety of different brands used by people on here but assuming your guinea's don't have special requirements of any kind (doesn't sound like it) then you could pick any of them that (a) they will eat and (b) you can easily and regularly purchase.

If you have questions about particular brands you could post them on here and I'm sure someone would be able to tell you their experience.

Ours like the Burgess Excel mint one which we get in large bags from Amazon.

 

[LMPigs]

Sorry I realised I missed out one question which was the amount of pellets for 8 week old babies. I do not know the answer to this but maybe @VickiA or @Wiebke could help?

 

[Wiebke]

Sorry I realised I missed out one question which was the amount of pellets for 8 week old babies. I do not know the answer to this but maybe @VickiA or @Wiebke could help?

Hi! Please take the time to read our diet guide; it is really worth it! It would have answered your question...

We recommend to give 1 tablespoon of pellets to guinea pigs. I have never made any difference between my youngsters and adults in that respect as it is more important to eat as much hay as possible, and have seen the majority of them live to the upper end or even beyond the average life span (6-8 years instead 4-6 years) - and that even in those cases where my adoptees have come from bad neglect or uncontrolled breeding situations.

 

[LMPigs]

Hi! Please take the time to read our diet guide; it is really worth it! It would have answered your question...

Sorry - I had read it a while ago but clearly only retained the information relevant to me (adult guinea pigs) and did not remember that there was also a section on young ones.

@Helencork - the guide Wiebke refers to is the one that is linked in Siikibam's post above if you haven't already taken a look there.

 

[Helencork]

I guess the reason I find it hard is because i find so much conflicting advice. I read on one website you should never give grapes to guineas but it's on this list? And some sites say give lots of veg etc that is high in calcium and it will just be flushed out and others say don't give too much calcium...

 

[LMPigs]

In the end, you have to make your own judgement about internet sources of course.

I will tell you that I have only had good results from following the advice in the various helpful notes on this forum so I tend to keep it simple and look here and generally ignore everything else. Judging by the number of happy forum users I think I am not the only one to have this positive experience! It may be worth having a look around - including in both the various guidance notes as well as the guinea pig chat section - to get an understanding of the level of experience some of the members have, as you may find that reassuring.

 

[Robin_]

I guess the reason I find it hard is because i find so much conflicting advice. I read on one website you should never give grapes to guineas but it's on this list? And some sites say give lots of veg etc that is high in calcium and it will just be flushed out and others say don't give too much calcium...

May just be a mix up/assumption since dogs can't have grapes. There are assumptions like that from animal to animal sometimes (like with rodents and avocado), but in this case we know grapes are totally safe on an occasional basis.

Technically speaking, yes, guinea pigs can flush some of the calcium away through their urine, but too much can put your piggies at risk of bladder stones. In this case it's all about moderation.

 

[Helencork]

Ah thank you. Yes i have been following this forum mainly but was just really worried when I saw that, I didn't want to give them anything that could be harmful to them.
Thanks for the advice, think I'm pretty much there. It's early days, just need to set up our routine X