Oxbow Pellets?

[alex_23]

I bought a 10lb bag of the cavy cuisine oxbow pellets from oxbow at the pet expo and kiwi won't eat them. she will dig them out of her pellet box(she has them available 24/7)and will poop and pee on them. They are not old, but she likes the ones from the Feed Barn. My concern is I don't think the ones she likes are very healthy, and I know oxbow has great pellets. Only if she'd eat them.

Well, my question is, should I be concerned, and should I buy her the feed barn pellets she likes?

[Ly&Pigs]

The oxbow will be better for her. Pellets are the least part of any piggies diet so if she's not eating many of them, it's no big worry. Just make sure you are providing unlimited hay and at least 1 cup of fresh veggies per day.

If she's over 6 months, she needs a limited amount of pellets per day.

[alex_23]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

The oxbow will be better for her. Pellets are the least part of any piggies diet so if she's not eating many of them, it's no big worry. Just make sure you are providing unlimited hay and at least 1 cup of fresh veggies per day.

If she's over 6 months, she needs a limited amount of pellets per day.

Thank you. I rescued her and the estimated age is about 2yrs old. Shes not fat, she gets unlimited amount of timothy hay, oat hay once a week, and alfalfa hay once a month. My vet told me to leave her food out all day so she can eat as she pleases. I used to feed her three times a day for her pellets and she was always wanting more so my vet said to leave them out for her. She seems very healthy...and she gets fresh veggies every day, and fruits and petstore guinea pig safe/vegan treats once a week.

[Percy's Mom]

You can certainly leave her food in there all day, but I wouldn't recommend giving her more than 1/4 cup of the pellets. Up the veggies slightly if you think she needs more to eat. As far as treats go, you'd do your pig a lot better to get rid of the processed treats and give an extra piece of fruit or favorite veggie. The pet store treats, even the vegan ones, are usually quite high in sugar, fats, salts, and chemicals, and guinea pigs can be susceptible to diabetes.

[Piggersrule]

At your piggies age, I would stop feeding her Alfalfa hay. Alfalfa is high in calcium. As long as you are feeding her fresh veggies than she doesn't need the Alfalfa. Other hays like Timothy and bluegrass are good for her to eat in unlimited amounts. Fruit is fine to feed her but keep it to 1-2 times a week. Most fruits are high in sugars. Petstore treats are not good for piggies. If you want to feed her treats, Oxbow sells treats that are good and don't contain sugars and preservatives. I bought a pouch of the critter berries and my girls are going nuts over them.

[alex_23]

Thanks Everyone! I will give the petstore treats to my rats then, and give her the hay kinds I buy at the petstore which is hay n berried in a cube...she gets that once a month. My vet said alfalfa hay once a day once a month(like frist monday of each month)is good for her cause she used to never have hay and had poor pellets with no vit C and no fresh veggies, just old lettuce and some meat. She wasn't healthy when I got her...buts shes put off the unhealthy weight, then put on healthy weight and looks normal now. She loves the space of her cage as she used to live in a 10gal with no human contact nor playtime and the cage was filthy. But she is litter trained now too.

I'll keep with the oxbow hay and fuits as treats and veggies every day. She also loves those store bought timothy salads with the dried flowers and veggies. She loves the dried carrot*(no sugar added)