Pellets to Powder

[Ithilgil]

My cavies like putting their front paws into their pellet bowl as they eat, crushing most of them into powder.

Would they eat the pellet powder? Or should I just throw it out?

Any suggestions how I could prevent this? More than half of the pellets are now powder.

[PigPandemonium]

What kind of pellets are you giving them? And what kind of pellet bowl do you have?

[bpatters]

Good pellets shouldn't turn to powder easily. What brand are you using?

[Ithilgil]

I'm using Living World Healthy Timothy pellets. The pellets don't break that easily (I do need to put some effort to break a pellet by squeezing it with my thumb, and index and middle fingers. But after stepping in and staying on top of them while my cavies eat, the pellets eventually get crushed into powder.

The bowl is about 1" in height and 3" in width. 1/4 cup of pellets only fill up half the bowl at max. That's probably why they step into the bowl to eat.

Should I switch the veggie bowl and the pellet bowl? The veggie bowl is also about 1" high, but it's diameter is about 2", so the 1/4 cup of pellets should fill at least 75% of the bowl.

[PigPandemonium]

Living World pellets are bad, consider switching to KMS or Oxbow, they are the most recommended

[Ithilgil]

There weren't any Oxbow pellets at the pet store I went to. But, I've found a cheaper and closer pet store yesterday. That one doesn't have Living World, but it does have Oxbow pellets. I'll buy those from the pet store once I run out of the ones I have now.


Or, should I buy the Oxbow ones and mix it in with the Living World pellets?

[pinky]

Toss the Living World pellets and switch over to Oxbow.

[PigPandemonium]

Don't mix, as @pinky said, just toss out the pellets and switch them over to Oxbow, or KMS which you can get online, then you wouldn't have to buy from a pet selling store which promotes them.

[Ithilgil]

I've decided to buy them the Oxbow pellets, but I've noticed that Oxbow pellets are seperated into two types - alfafla and timothy.

My girls are 2 1/2 months old, so I should be giving them alfafla pellets for more calcium, but I'm already giving them a sprig or two of parsley a day for calcium because their Living World pellets are timothy pellets.

So, should I buy Oxbow alfafla pellets and ditch the parsley or buy timothy pellets and include the parsley?

Or should I just ditch the parsley all together?

[PigPandemonium]

I'd say ditch the parsley and go with unlimited alfalfa Oxbow pellets

[MrWhistles]

Whistles puts his feet in his dish as well. I'm usually home all day long. So what I did was used a small doggie dish and filled just a little bit of pellets at a time. I leave the center of the dish free of pellets and he places his feet in the center. Once it gets low I just give him a lil more.

I also recommend switching your pellets. Glad to here your going for Oxbow. I use Sweet Meadow pellets. Their good pellets as well. I don't understand why users here aren't talking about them as much as Oxbow and KMS
Sweet Meadow Farm - Guinea Pig Timothy

[bpatters]

@MrWhistles , Sweet Meadow Farm pellets aren't nearly as widely available as Oxbow. If you're not local, you pretty much have to order them, and I think most people who order would rather get KMs, which are fresher and don't have the calcium carbonate in them that SMF does.

@Ithilgil , it doesn't really matter whether you supplement the calcium by giving them alfalfa pellets, or by feeding them parsley, or by supplementing their hay with a little alfalfa. They just need the extra calcium.

Some people think they're less likely to have urinary tract calcium problems if they get the calcium from veggies rather than pellets.

[CinnandMegsMom]

Living World pellets are bad, consider switching to KMS or Oxbow, they are the most recommended

I agree 100%. Through my research lots of cavy parents suggested KMS. I made an order of 3rd cut Timothy and alfalfa pellets. Store bought crud went to the mulch pile.
I do believe that pet store purchase of Timothy Hay was the cause of a vet visit for a cut throat. Not a cheap trip + baytril...

[Ithilgil]

The problem is the cross-country delivery fees. I check several different websites and the delivery fees is often similiar or exceeds the product fees. Otherwise, I would've chosen buy hay and pellets online. Much cheaper that way (without the cross-country delivery fees).

Speaking of online stores, does anyone know any Canadian online stores which sells pellets and hay?

And, about the question I had earlier... I've decided to buy Oxbow timothy pellets, simply because I have a small bag of parsley left, and they really do like their veggies.

[bpatters]

@Ithilgil , you can't compare the price of pellets if you're mainly looking at shipping fees. Unless you buy pellets from a plant next door to you, you pay shipping fees whether you order them online, or buy them from a store. The only difference is, the store adds the shipping fees to the price of the item, and you only see the combined price. When you order online, you see the price of the item and the shipping separately.

Stores can't afford not to charge shipping -- they'd be out of business, otherwise. But it's too cumbersome for them to separate the shipping from the item, so they add it together.

If you don't believe this, go to the KM website at KMS Hayloft, Grass Hays & Fortified Feeds From the Valleys of the Pacific Northwest, and look at the price of the pellets alone, say a 10 pound bag. Then look at the cost of a 10 pound bag at your local store. The store price will be way higher than the farm price.

That's not to say that shipping can't be expensive. If you live close to KM, your shipping fees will be much lower than for someone all the way across the country.

I live in Houston, 2,000 miles from KM, and the cost of her pellets are within a dime of Oxbow. Oxbow's sometimes a few pennies higher, sometimes a few pennies lower, depending on FedEx rates. Her hay is way more expensive than any local hay I could buy, but then, I can't find local hay that guinea pigs can eat -- it's lousy quality, and even the horse people have their timothy hay shipped in.

Anyway, that's just to say that you should compare apples to apples when you're looking at shipped items, and not apples to oranges.