Nutrition: Cavy Nutrition Charts Discussion Thread

[Ly&Pigs]

So if you know the specifics on amount of grams for serving sizes on these three groups, that would be very helpful.

The problem is there are no certain amounts of any one thing to feed. Everyone feeds what they feel is appropriate on things like lettuces, cilantro, etc.

Just give twice as much leafy greens as other veggies and I'd still leave fruits to twice per week. So if you give a cup of leafy greens, give 1/2 cup of non leafy greens.

[RainKindle]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

The problem is there are no certain amounts of any one thing to feed. Everyone feeds what they feel is appropriate on things like lettuces, cilantro, etc.

Just give twice as much leafy greens as other veggies and I'd still leave fruits to twice per week. So if you give a cup of leafy greens, give 1/2 cup of non leafy greens.

Thank you Ly.
The whole cup thing is a liquid measurement and it drives me crazy because I work with scientific measurements all day long and so does my sweetheart. Then we come home to "cups" haha.
Ah well, at least I have the digital scale set to grams.

On another note...I wanted to try a new veggie for my babies off the chart.
Random veggie of the week is artichoke!
Um yeah...so what part is edible, and how do I prepare it?
It looks like a round pinecone.
Are those scaley things edible, or do I dissect the thing to get to the center?
It was on sale but I'm just not Mediterranean enough to figure it out on my own. My searches keep coming up with how to cook it...and obviously that's not what I want to do for my guineas!

[Haley0489]

Originally Posted by RainKindle

Thank you Ly.
The whole cup thing is a liquid measurement and it drives me crazy because I work with scientific measurements all day long and so does my sweetheart. Then we come home to "cups" haha.
Ah well, at least I have the digital scale set to grams.

On another note...I wanted to try a new veggie for my babies off the chart.
Random veggie of the week is artichoke!
Um yeah...so what part is edible, and how do I prepare it?
It looks like a round pinecone.
Are those scaley things edible, or do I dissect the thing to get to the center?
It was on sale but I'm just not Mediterranean enough to figure it out on my own. My searches keep coming up with how to cook it...and obviously that's not what I want to do for my guineas!

You're in luck! I asked the same question a few months back. I love artichoke, but I go the easy route and get canned hearts. Dealing with the "real deal" was a bit mind boggling for me!
http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...tml#post374884

[hueyeats]

First of all I want to thank Ly&pigs for that wonderful easy to follow diet chart guide for piggies... did I mentioned it is very very easy to follow?

I am not a vegan but my DH is close to being one & can easily be one (he so loves his salads & is more of a diet freak than I. LOL)... so veggies is an important part of our family's diet.

I just have a question on some other veggies that is not mentioned on the chart that I quite frequently get (I do love cooking different dishes from different countries):

Daikon & Chives... is that OK to feed piggies?

For flowers, Asians use Chrysanthemums in their teas... is it OK to feed my piggies occasionally? My piggies has taken quite a liking to blossoms (occasional rose blossoms & hips or dandelion blossoms; I use them as treats for my piggies & they gobble them up!).

Thanks for the answers in advance.

[Ly&Pigs]

Daikon is a chinese radish is I am correct. Not sure of the spiciness of it. I think I'd avoid that.

Chives can be fed but only the green top parts and not the bulb.

Chrysanthemums are on the poisonous plants list. There is a list of poisonous plants on the nutrition charts thread. It's the 2nd post.

[hueyeats]

^^^ thanks much Ly&pigs.

Great knowledge do come in handy!

[AnimalHouse36]

Can guinea pigs have eggplants or pomagrant? I didn't see it on the charts but I always have pomagrant in the house. The only problem I could see with pomagrant would be the seeds...

[ZiggyMama]

I am new here and TOTALLY appreciate that list. I just printed it and I am going to tape it on my fridge!

Janna

[Corinne]

Our 2 girls came home 2 nights ago. I was literally up at 4 am wondering how I was ever going to figure out the food mysteries/ contradicting info on feeding them healthily.

I have 3 young children, a home based business, and community commitments.... adding spread sheeting their weekly food was an overwhelming thought!

Thanks so much for your dedication. Between this and the weekly menus link: It will help me be a dedicated provider to our new family members in a MUCH saner way!

[mom929]

Thanks for this great info! I'm going to print this chart and keep it on my fridge so I know what to buy and my son will know what is safe to feed his GP - what every day and what only once in a while.

Especially for younger GP owners, if you ever do publish this info, turning the chart into traffic light colors would work really well. Green light foods, vs. red lights foods. But I understand that for now you are more interested in getting the info out there and comments on the fruits/veggies themselves. Thanks again!

[RainKindle]

Originally Posted by mom929

turning the chart into traffic light colors would work really well. Green light foods, vs. red lights foods.

I'd very much support the change for our personal use on this site.
Green for daily, yellow, orange then red for sparingly to cover all of the feedable foods. Then do something in black for the dangerous ones.
My family member's have been thrown off a couple times by the current color scheme, but I didn't want to be picky because I live by that chart for my furkids and wouldn't want to live without it.
(Ly, if you feel comfortable with the idea, I would gladly edit the current color scheme for you over winter break. It would be done just after Christmas, and you could review it by new year's. PM me either way.)

[Ly&Pigs]

CavySpirit aka Teresa the site owner came up with the color scheme so it's staying as is for the time being.

[TashLB]

I just want to say thank you for the list. We just brought home two cavies last night (Squeaky and Teddy) and it's going to help me greatly in what we feed them.

We get an organic food box delivered every week and I want to start ordering things for the cavies.

I have a few questions based on foods we currently eat I did not see in the chart.

Are these ok to feed and how often?

Carrot tops
Sunflower sprouts

We'd also like to know about Vit C - what can we feed daily that is high in Vit C? Is supplementation always necessary?

Thanks,

Tash

[Amsley246]

Ok, I made sure I went through and read all 9 pages of this thread so I hope I'm not repeating anyone, if I am, I'm sorry for forgetting, there's a lot to take in! I had a few questions!

Ok, Are Sugar/snap peas the same as snow peas, and if not are they ok to gve them anyway?

And I have 3 girles in one pen and the boys in another and when it's feeding time, the piggers go into frenzy mode and randomly start grabbing veggies. I always give them a big variety every meal, but with baby carrots, because I have a few pigs, I throw in a handful of about 4 or 5 baby carrots becuase they just start grabbing and they don't completely finish the carrot anyways till they move on to something else. Should I be more sparring with the carrots and make sure everyone sticks to one carrot? I also find as well that they dont eat everything all at once, they save some for later too, is that ok. I do try to make sure it doesnt stay in there too long, and it's mostly gone after a while.

I was also wondering, I know you guys are busy, if you could someday possibly make a chart with just herbs? I just thought maybe it would be a little easy in their own catagory?

And my very last question! I hear you could give piggies, if you don't think their getting enough, some vitamin c tablets (the ones with just vitamin c, nothing else) My grandmother takes them and thier probably bout the size of a nickel. How much, if it is indeed true, can you give them of that nickel sized portion? Sorry for asking so much, I want my piggies health to come first!

[guineapigluver1]

Snow peas are a more immature state of snap peas. Snap peas, apparently, are sweeter, rounder and crisper than snow peas. So I guess, yeah snow peas would be fine to feed. If they are eating proper veggies and pellets they wouldn't need vitamin c tablets. But, just for the record, Oxbow has vitamin c tablets.

[IluvePiggies]

This was really helpful. Is it okay to feed your Guinea Pigs 2 baby carrots a day figuring that their high in sugar?
I finally kind of figured out some foods to feed them but I haven't read it completly.
Q: What does the A mean because I didn't understand?

[Ly&Pigs]

Originally Posted by TashLB

I have a few questions based on foods we currently eat I did not see in the chart.

Are these ok to feed and how often?

Carrot tops
Sunflower sprouts

We'd also like to know about Vit C - what can we feed daily that is high in Vit C? Is supplementation always necessary?

Carrot tops no more than twice a week. Same for sunflower sprouts or any other kind of sprouts.

If they get the minimum of at least 1 cup of veggies per day each (primarily leafy greens) then you don't need to supplement with C tablets.

[Amsley246]

I found a bag of a really nice mix. It's mainly Romaine, but has a little bit of radicchio and grated carrot in it. I thought it was great! It's got variety in it, plus I dont have to worry about them getting too much sugar from the carrots (it's grated baby carrot, or so they proclaim in the bag) because it's the perfect amount in it! I think it's called classic Italian.

[Amsley246]

I do also throw in other veggies as well every meal time**

[new piggie]

Thank you so much for the chart! I went to the pet store to buy my son a hampster yester day, he saw Gina (that is what he named his piggie), and fell in love with her. Needless to say we bought all the things the sales girl told us to. She gave me some basic information that just didn't seem right so I got on the internet and started searching. I came upon this website and found out that little Gina is going to take alot more than the sorry little cage I bought and the basic things the sales girl told us. But none the less we love her already. I found myself out today buying her little things and even made her a mansion (I am truly laughing at myself right now) according to my son. But back to nutrition. I wanted to know if it was safer for Gina to eat celery and your chart answered all of her nutritional needs. Once again Thank You so very much!