Nutrition: Cavy Nutrition Charts Discussion Thread

[Ly&Pigs]

You aren't the only one dear. Ok, I went back to the USDA site to see which chicory I had the info on. It turns out to be Cichorium intybus. I also checked radicchio which turns out to be Cichorium intybus. But the stranger thing is that chicory greens and radicchio have different values. So they aren't the exact same thing. They've changed the USDA database because now I can't get info on belgian or curly endive, only plain. When I pull up chicory I get some different choices such as witloof, etc. Witloof seems to be curly endive as the values I've looked at so far match. It's all strange.

[fairysari]

I happened to google witloof earlier, and just looked at the images, and it looked just like what I would call Belgian endive. At this page - Encyclopedia - it says curly endive is often called chicory, so maybe that's it?
I do have some curly endive in my fridge if you wnat me to take a picture of it...

[Ly&Pigs]

I have photos of both curly endive and belgian endive. I also need a picture of garden cress.

Your link did say: Curly endive, often mistakenly called chicory in the United States, grows in loose heads of lacy, green-rimmed outer leaves that curl at the tips. The off-white center leaves form a compact heart. The leaves of the curly endive have a prickly texture and slightly bitter taste.

[JarBax]

I am a bit disheartenend that red pepper is not a daily veg., as previously I had thought it was. It is the one that seems to get mentioned a lot in talk about vit. C. It took me months to get my pigs to eat pepper of any colour, now they love it, and I thought I was doing well by them, by making sure they had red (and yellow, orange and green) every day! Ho hum.

[fairysari]

The great thing about this chart is that you can see exactly why you are supposed to feed each food with what frequency. So you can compare... red pepper has more than twice as much C as green (190 vs 80) and less than twice the sugar (4.2 vs 2.4). So 10g red pepper will have more C and less sugar than 20g green pepper. Also less calcium. So you can figure out which you'd rather feed... I feed red and green every day, probably about twice as much green as red. And I rarely feed fruit, maybe once every week or two. I think however it evens out for you is okay.

[JarBax]

Fruit is such a rarity in our house, that maybe some red pepper daily isn't such a bad thing. I sat for ages, working out the ratios in your post Sari - my maths lets me down with quick thinking! I'll have to check out the charts in closer detail (and with pencil and paper beside me!)

[Ly&Pigs]

Red bell pepper is in the B category due to the higher amount of sugar and Vitamin A it contains compared to the other colors.

[fairysari]

Oops, I didn't even look at the vitamin A.

See this is why we need an excel calculator with this data .

Ly, I was wondering if your final version will include information like how much vitamin A and sugar, etc. are okay in one day? Or even better as a ratio with the Ca:P?

[Ly&Pigs]

Ly, I was wondering if your final version will include information like how much vitamin A and sugar, etc. are okay in one day? Or even better as a ratio with the Ca:P?

This is something T and I will have to discuss. High amounts will be in red bold.

[thislittlepiggy]

Thank you so much! This chart is very cool and I thought easy to read. I had a couple of surprise's on a couple of iteams. But all in all I have been doing pretty good with my little one's diet. Thanks again LY for your time and effort in this.

[Ly&Pigs]

I also want to say that Swiss Chard has been moved to the B category due to it having 650mg of oxalic acid. Thanks jabberwock for providing that info to me that I could not find when assembling the charts.

[wolfie]

This is a wonderful chart. It answered many of my questions and gave me new ideas for variety. I have also been giving our boys red pepper every day. However, they only get fruit once every 2 weeks or even once a month. Now I will switch to yellow peppers. I am so happy to be able give strawberries frequently as we have a constant supply of them in the house. And that's just the beginning of their new gourmet adventure! Thanks, Ly- I think it's fabulous!

[muffin]

Yikes, I feed red pepper daily too for vitamin C! I didn't know about the vitamin A. Ooooh, my piggies will not be impressed when their red pepper starts to get reduced! Thanks so much for the great chart Ly, it's so much easier to quickly identify what to feed when and why.

[DnLnEsMom]

when the chart says apricots does that include driedapricots?

[Ly&Pigs]

when the chart says apricots does that include driedapricots?

No, only fresh. Dried apricots like you would get at the store have too much sugar in them. The only dried fruits you will find on the charts are dried figs and raisins.

[DnLnEsMom]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

No, only fresh. Dried apricots like you would get at the store have too much sugar in them. The only dried fruits you will find on the charts are dried figs and raisins.

Thank you!

[fairysari]

I just noticed what you said about Swiss chard. I was wondering if that's the kind with the white stalks, or the red stalks, or both? Here they just call the white one Swiss chard, and the red one Red Chard. I went for a few weeks of them getting chard everyday - what is the touble with too much oxalic acid? I mean, why exactly is it bad, what problems is it associated with or known to cause? Thanks!

[Percy's Mom]

Oxalic acid binds with calcium and other minerals to contribute to foruming stones.

[JBarton]

My three girls each get a couple of leaves of green or red leaf lettuce, or romaine twice a day. Once a day, they also get a salad of green and sometimes red and yellow peppers, three or four grape tomatoes and broccoli, an occational carrot, strawberry, or bit of orange for a treat. They graze throughout the day on timothy pellets, and plenty of Orchard and Bermuda grass as well as a bit of alfalfa. Audrey is only 4 months old and seems to really go for it! Am I feeding them a well rounded diet?

[SoCalCavies]

I'm brand new to this site. Can someone tell me how to access the "Cavy Nutrition Chart" everyone is referring to? Thanks!

Also, I just took my 3 little guys to the vet for their 1st check-up, since I never had one done when I first got them from a rescue group back in March 06. I went to a "recommended" exotics vet armed with a list of "trick" questions, but I was very dismayed to hear her recommend putting Vitamin C drops in their water. I thought that was bad, isn't it?

Can someone also tell me HOW MUCH Vitamin C a 1-year old, male, unneutered guinea pig should get daily? They each weigh a little over 2lbs. I feed them a good amount & variety of fresh veggies everyday, but I want to make sure they are receiving enough. I don't know if there are any signs that they aren't getting a sufficient amount.

Thanks in advance for any responses.