Normal Pellet Diet

**miccee** · #1 12-22-04, 12:29 pm

I'm wondering if the pellet contains essential nutrients with vitamin C and all, why do we still need to feed them with vegetables, fruits and so on? Do I feel my piggies with pellets and vegetables everyday? How about hay, is it part of their diet or it's just a "chewing gum" for them.

**John4216** · #2 12-22-04, 01:55 pm

Hay is essential to them for many reasons and they need fresh hay every day, as much as they want to eat. As for why give them other foods besides pellets and hay...well pretend your the piggy and every day of your life you get to eat only 1 thing forever...try eating lets say nothing at all but hamburgers every day for a few weeks and you'll understand quickly why its the right thing to do to give them a variety of foods. Plus there is other reasons but even if there wasnt this would be reason enough. You should see my piggies when I bring them grass, they can smell it or something before I reach the cage because they go crazy, popcorning, running, climbing over each other...its great to see them so excited and happy. They get so happy that when I go into their room (yes they have an entire bedroom for free range time) they will climb on me to get the food

Just seeing them this happy is reason enough

**My Baby Mu** · #3 12-22-04, 06:41 pm

Hay helps their digestive track out and lets everything go through smothly and they need an unlimited supply of it. Vitamin C in pellets breaks down in 90 days-and that is from when they made it and not when you bought it. So you can never be sure how much vitamin C is left in the pellets so you provide the vitamin C in veggies and fruits and not in those vitamin C drops for their water because those change the taste of the water so your not really giving them water anymore. Feed you pigs with pellets, hay (have an unlimited supply), veggies, and every so often fruits.

**miccee** · #4 12-22-04, 10:03 pm

Ok, let me recap what I should feed them DAILY. Pellets, hay ( must be replaced everyday with fresh one ), vegetables & fruits. Is that right? Can I like feed them pellets on Monday, Vege on tuesday, Fruit on Wednesday? And back to pellets on Thursday? But of course, I'll give them hay everyday, fresh ones. Thanks. As John4216 have said, it's like humans... so my thinking is giving them alternate food everyday.

**John4216** · #5 12-22-04, 10:12 pm

They need to have pellets and hay available to them every day. As for the veggies and fruits these are more like the side dish and not really the main dish...Mine have hay and pellets in unlimited amounts (and FYI..a lot of pellets are made from alfalfa and adult pigs need ones made from timothy..kaytee & oxbox are 2 companies that make the timothy pellets) and then I might give them 2 leaves of romaine in the morning, then later when my youngest comes hoem I might give them a few pieces of cucumber and a few fresh green beans then at bed time I might give them a few pieces of cantalope or apple. I change the foods around so they may get grass or lettuce or green beans so its something different every day.

**critterlover** · #6 12-23-04, 02:02 am

They need pellets, hay, and water available 24 hours a day. Also they need fresh vegetables and fruits at least 2 times per day. Guinea pigs don't tolerate sudden changes in feeding so you need to feed them the same things (hay, pellets) everyday, but give them a variety of vegetables and fruits everyday also.

Check out http://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy.html#diet. It's a very reliable source of information. They also tell you which veggies are good to feed.

**Ly&Pigs** · #7 12-23-04, 06:52 pm

I think it is more essential for the pigs to have unlimited hay and veggies every day over pellets. Some people on guinealynx don't give their pigs pellets at all. Think of it this way, a guinea pig in the wild will have access to grasses and forages but do you think there are pellets out in the wild? I do give mine pellets but I give about 1/4 cup per pig per day and if they run out they don't get more until the next day. I give tons of fresh veggies daily and they always have access to hay and water.

**Katie** · #8 12-23-04, 07:07 pm

They need hay available to them 24/7 and 1 cup of fresh vegetables daily. You do NOT have to give them pellets. Mine get pellets maybe once every two weeks as a treat, usually when I run out of hay and need to get more. However, if you cannot provide them with fresh vegetables daily, I would not suggest the "HAFF" (hay and fresh foods) diet.

**Ly&Pigs** · #9 12-23-04, 07:24 pm

Katie, I am confused by your post. You say you do not have to give them pellets and you only do so about once every 2 weeks but then you say you would NOT suggest the "HAFF" diet. Isn't that a contradicting yourself?

**DocDolittle** · #10 12-23-04, 07:25 pm

She says if she can't provide him with fresh vegetables dailt that he shouldn't use the HAFF diet.

**loves2travel** · #11 12-23-04, 07:28 pm

Miccee, basically, this is what I would strongly reccomend:

Unlimited Hay
Unlimited water
Unlimited Pellets
1 Cup of assorted Veggies per pig every day
Fruit every 2-3 days as treats

**My Baby Mu** · #12 12-23-04, 07:28 pm

It depends on the guinea pig on how much veggies you give daily. It is easier to provide pellets or you would have to find some other way to provide the vitamins and minerals in the pellets which cannot be found in veggies.

**loves2travel** · #13 12-23-04, 07:33 pm

well, people have in the past been very succesfull with their pigs and a no pellet diet. But to do that, you have to be pretty knowledgable in knowing what fruits and veggies will fill all the nutrient requirements. For beginners, I would reccomend sticking to pellets in the diet.

**My Baby Mu** · #14 12-23-04, 07:35 pm

I agree with L2T. You can feed fruits every 2-3 days as a minimum.

**loves2travel** · #15 12-23-04, 07:36 pm

yes, too many fruits have too much sugar, which can lead to obesity and further health problems

**miccee** · #16 12-23-04, 11:12 pm

So vege must be fed everyday... fruits are for treats 2-3 days interval. Alright, thanks for the information ! The fruits... do I give them the whole thing ( slices by slices ) or just a few slices? And a cup of vege, how big is the cup?

**DocDolittle** · #17 12-23-04, 11:15 pm

I normally don't measure it by cups. I normally buy romaine lettuce, take three leaves, shred it up, and add a few other veggies in randomly. One day I'll have two slices of red pepper, the next some cilantro greens. When I give fruits I usually give them about half of an apple, as they get it so rarely.

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