[CF#5]

Pellets contain much more supplemental material than is really necessary. All the metals and additives do more harm than good in excess amounts. Pellets were originally designed to be the only dietary requirement for young guinea pigs in labs who weren't expected to live very long. A good pelletless diet rich in a large variety of different grass hays and lots of vegetables is actually preferable to any other diet. I only give my pigs pellets because they're high in fat, and I like my pigs to be a little pudgy, so they'll have plenty of extra energy in case they get sick and start losing weight. This too is dangerous, because obesity in guinea pigs is just as bad as obesity in humans. But a little extra cushion of fat never hurt anyone. It's probably a good idea to give one or two servings of pellets per week, not per day, and they should never be counted on as the pigs' primary source of vitamin C. Romaine lettuce is relatively low in vitamin C, but the amount is still statistically significant. Still, the only food sources that I ever use as a primary vitamin C source are the ones that have over 100mg of vitamin C per 100-gram serving of food. Like with the pellets, vitamin C isn't all that stable in food either, so if you get half of what the nutrition chart says you're supposed to get, you're still doing pretty good.