Specific time when I feed my GP?

[Angelmoon1804]

[FONT=Times New Roman]I always have my GP bowl full of pellets and I was just seeing if I should only feed her once a day or what? I have seen people talk about there GP feeding time so that is why I am asking [/FONT]

[bromers]

I only feed mine once a day but I do fill it up I always through away any left overs from the next day.

[tattooyu]

We give our pigs a serving of pellets with their breakfast, and one with their dinner.

I believe that young guinea pigs (under 6 months) should have pellets always available to them throughout the whole day. Older pigs should only get something like 1/8"-1/4" cup each day.

Anybody else? Does that sound about right?

[TipiDancer]

Well, Rockets dish lasts him a full day. So I only have to feed him in the morning.

[sweetspice221]

I have a question. How many times a day do you need to feed them veggies?

[PiggieMom]

Well they need a cup of veggies a day. I feed mine some in the morning and some at night.

[sweetspice221]

Thanks alot!

[fourbwabbys]

I give mine pellets in the morning, veggies in the evening, and hay throughout the day.

[Angelmoon1804]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Ok thank you but also because I have her bowl full of pellets she dose not eat all that much of them through the day .[/FONT]
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[ScottandDebbie]

We fill a small bowl of pellets for our 2 boys every morning. They rarely empty the bowl.

They have their veggies served three times a day.

A few months ago I was having a problem with Oscar making an awful sound like he was coughing. So after chatting with the group it was thought that he was eating too fast, and too much. So now, instead of feeding him all his veggies in the morning we are serving smaller portions three times a day.

The coughing... "choking" stop right away once we spread out his meals.

[cavy-cool-crazy]

Morning:
Fresh hay; fresh pellets; plate of veggies

Evening:
Plate of veggies, fresh hay

Pellets and hay are available all the time but are replaced each day. The second serving of hay - in the evening - is just a little bit extra on top of what they already have.

[nenaramirez]

Is it wrong to have pellets in a bin feeder???
I did this because I used to travel a lot before and I couldn't give my Cosas pellets everyday (I had someone who gave him fresh veggies and checked the water though) plus he used to make a mess with his pellets all over the cage.... now with this bin he eats when ever he wants and he makes no mess...

[pink_cottonball]

In the morning we fill up the hay racks and give one small scoop of pellets in each bowl. The bowls are rarely emptied and half the time we only end up giving them another half scoop the next day because their bowls are still pretty full.
In the evening we give more hay and feed them their veggies.
This way of feeding has worked great with us.

[Percy's Mom]

Originally Posted by nenaramirez

Is it wrong to have pellets in a bin feeder???

That depends on how old your guinea pigs are. If they are less than about 6 months old, a bin feeder is fine. Young cavies grow so fast, it's not really a problem if they have free choice unlimited pellets. Adult guinea pigs shouldn't have more than 1/8-1/4 cup of pellets a day though. Once they stop growing as quickly, unlimited pellets could make them put on a good deal of weight and could possibly contribute to bladder sludge or stones.

[SW <3 Guineas]

WOW I never realised I over fed so much! A young guinea lives with my old guinea so its hard to control who eats what however I remove the older guinea pig for 30 minutes to allow the young cavy to eat yet she hardly touches the food! Is it ok giving 1/4 a cup two times a day? I may reduce this by giving a smaller bowl if suggested.

[aqh88]

The problem with bin feeders is that the pellets are left open to the air, sunlight, and other environmental factors that speed up the breakdown of the nutrients. Kinda like leaving the box of cereal open. It goes stale quickly. If you grab a handful of pellets from a bin feeder they won't have as good of smell and some will be a bit crumbly compared to a handful from a closed bag.

The other problem is that unless you are feeding KM's pellets I would not recommend giving them unlimited pellets. The salt and high molasses content make the pellets very desireable and they end up eating more pellets than they should. Pellets are a concentrated nutrient source and you can end up with fat pigs along with them not eating enough hay. I haven't seen that issue with KM's pellets since she cut those ingredients and her pellets are healthier and better balanced. I tried giving mine unlimited of her pellets and not one has started to get fat and they all eat their hay and veggies first. They like the pellet but not too much. Any other pellet I was restricting them to 1/8th cup per pig per day or less. For awhile I wasn't feeding them any pellets because a few would eat nothing but pellets and get very fat.

[ScottandDebbie]

RE: The Above Post From aqh88...

This is one of the reason I LOVE this site. Such great knowledge here. Seems like I learn something new each time I come here.