I need help!!!

[lawita]

[FONT=Arial]ok, I bought i guinea pig about two weeks ago. the guy at the pet store was feeding them rabbit pellets and he told me that is what they eat. So i bought him a bag of rabbit pellets and that's what he's been eating. I just read that rabbit pellets are bad for guinea pigs. but i have a HUGE problem. I live in honduras and guinea pigs aren't common pets, so there are no guinea pig pellets around. does any one know what i can feed him? i'm afraid he could die from eating rabbit food I REALLY NEED HELP I've spent about 7 years looking for a guinea pig, and i finally found them and now it seems I'm doing everything wrong for him [/FONT]

[C&K]

Ok, try not to worry, you will figure this out.

First and formost, try to find out what is in the rabbit pellets, (and brand name) some rabbit pellets are absolutley no good, others can be worked with if you truely cannot find Guinea Pig pellets. There are two problems with rabbit pellets, the worst is they do not contain vitamin C, but you could supplament this with human vitamin C tablets (try to get a low sugar type) and or providing veggies and fruit that have a lot of vitamin C, like red peppers, oranges, cantalope. (There are others too).

It is also very important that the rabbit food does not contain any sort of medications ([FONT=Arial]antibiotics[/FONT] in particular) that are often added to rabbit food to help them fight off common diseases, (especially in feeds that are used for raising commercial rabbits sold as food). If the food does not have any antibiotics, then you may be able to use it, just make sure you enrich the diet with vitamin C. (Do not use drops for the water).

Another option is to go with the HAFF diet, which is mixing up the right blend of veggies and fruits everyday so that you don't need pellets.

Do you have access to unlimited grass hay? That is really important. What fruits and veggies are you feeding right now?

Please read over the Common Misconceptions thread in Cavy Chat, it has a lot of great advice. Also, www.guinealynx.info has some wonderful advice and a medical / care guide.

Welcome to the world of pigs! It is good you are being proactive in getting this all figured out now and not after the pig becomes sick!

HAFF diet:
http://cavycages.com/forum/showthrea...highlight=HAFF
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22686
http://cavycages.com/forum/showthrea...highlight=HAFF
http://cavycages.com/forum/showthrea...highlight=HAFF

GL diet Information:
http://www.guinealynx.info/diet.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/scurvy.html

Common Myths and Misconceptions.
Common Misconceptions about Guinea Pigs and their Care ( 1 2)