Treat recomendations?

[CocoSnicks]

Hey guys im new here, i just brought my pig, his name is Coco, anyway, ive been feeding him the average pellets and mixed foods...i give him fresh treats such as carrots (which he loves), cucumbers, and borcolli..

Do u guys have any good recommendations for treats that i can buy from petco, or something like that, or perhaps some other fruits that your piggys love to eat?

Thanks in advance for any input.

[this_lil_piggy]

The mixed foods are a bad idea, not good for your piggy at all.
What your piggy needs is a small amount of quality plain pellet food, unlimited grass hay to graze, and leafy greens. Carrots should be limited to a baby size carrot (high vit a content) per pig per day, broccoli should be limited to a few times a week (very gassy and high in calcium). Try out some leafy lettuces such as romaine, red and green leaf, cilantro, bell peppers..as a part of their daily diet.
For treats, skip anything marketed for pigs and try some much appreciated fresh foods instead. Your pigs will love a slice of apple or orange, a strawberry, black or blueberry, or a slice of melon every few days much more than any packaged snack, and it is much better for them.
Have a look at Lys diet guideline, it is a great resource for good fresh foods and how often they can be fed: http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...arts-info.html

[aqh88]

You need to do some reading. Your current diet isn't that great and now your looking to add extremely unhealthy treats(petco only has crap) to the mix. Your looking at potential health problems. Along with actually taking a look at the stickied posts at the top of this forum section also read:
Guinea Lynx :: Diet

If you do insist on a commercial treat the only ones I recommend are oxbow which are easiest to get by going to Oxbow Pet Products | Treats All of those are healthy treats and most pigs love them. The critter carrots are the only ones that aren't a huge hit with mine.

[Sugar]

Hello,

I don't know if you know this, but this forum is a Rescue-Friendly Forum and Anti-Petstore fourm. It doesn't encourage buying from petstores, so you should see if you can get your supplies anywhere else, such as a farm shop.

I don't have much of a suggestion about feeding, but I wish you luck!

[CocoSnicks]

Well I currently purchase most of my pet supplies from a warehouse. The only thing I did get from Petco was coco himself. Thanks for all the input guys, but I think I'm going to stick with the pellets, the water drop vitamin-c which of course needs to be changed daily to avoid losing the vitamin C content in the water, and 1-2 servings of veggies/fruits. Thanks again.

[aqh88]

The vit c in the water is bad. See: http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...ang-water.html. To summarize vit c drops do not last anywhere near 24hours. Maybe more like 1hour from what I've read. They also are not a good way for pigs to absorb vit c and do make the water taste funny. Especially after the stuff breaks down. Load a bottle up with vit c, leave it for 24 hours, drink it, and then see if you still feel like making your pigs drink it.

I also suggest reading some of those other stickies up there. Which I quite enjoy since over the years I've gotten rather tired of repeating basic things like this over and over and over on a daily basis.

[CocoSnicks]

What would you recommend in place of the vitamin-c drops to help keep the daily intake of vitamin-c stable? Besides some things I already give such as bell peppers, carrots, lettuce, etc.

[aqh88]

If your feeding at least 1 cup per pig per day of vegetables no additional vit c is needed. Especially if your pellets contain vit c which all the good pig pellets do. See the stickies and the search function on this forum to give you further information on a good mix of veggies to feed. Also check out Guinea Lynx :: Vitamin C Chart. It has a listing of fruits and vegs by vit c content and can be interesting. Alot of the foods we have been told are great for vit c in human diets actually come in well below other foods.

If for some reason you have a pig not eating veggies or that is ill you can use plain vit c tablets sold for humans or flavored vit c tablets sold by oxbow. Most pigs quite like the flavored tablets they have and they can be used as an occasional treat. If they won't eat the tablets you get then you can crush them up and sprinkle them on veggies. Do not mix with water unless you are using it immediately such as syringe feeding.

By the way if you'd read through the linked to sticky in the previous post it should have answered those questions. Read first, ask questions later.

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by CocoSnicks

What would you recommend in place of the vitamin-c drops to help keep the daily intake of vitamin-c stable? Besides some things I already give such as bell peppers, carrots, lettuce, etc.

If you are feeding a good quality pellet and daily veggies then you do not need to supplement with additional Vit C. They will usually get all they need from a good, balanced diet.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Are you feeding hay? What brand of pellets?

[CocoSnicks]

Yes I'm feeding him unlimited amounts of hay, the hay is Alfalfa King timothy hay. The pellets are called Gold Cup, on the back it states, protein is minimum at 20.00, fat is minimum at 9.00, Fiber is maximum at 16.00, and moisture is maximum at 12.00.

Is this a OK brand? If not where can I find some of the higher quality brands, being I live in southern California. Thanks again guys

[Ly&Pigs]

I've not heard of Gold Cup pellets. Can you give me an ingredients list or a link to an ingredients list? I'd like to see what's in these pellets. Also are they plain pellets or a pellet mix?

You can order KM's pellets from Kleenmama's Hayloft :: Home which is in Washington State. Oxbow has a store locator on their site at Oxbow Pet Products | Welcome and Mazuri can be found at some petstores and feedstores. Oxbow products are often sold in Vet offices too.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

I'm in SO Cal and I haven't heard of it. Do you mean Nutriphase Gold?

Are you near OC, LA or San Diego?You can get Oxbow Pellets locally here.

[CocoSnicks]

[quote=Ly&Pigs;306414]I've not heard of Gold Cup pellets. Can you give me an ingredients list or a link to an ingredients list? I'd like to see what's in these pellets. Also are they plain pellets or a pellet mix?

Sure the list seems quite long but I will copy them down and put it on here. These are plain pellets.

Ingredients of Gold Cup Pellets for Guinea Pigs:

Alfalfa meal, Ground Barley, Ground Milo, Wheat Mill Run, Ground Corn,
Ground Oats, Cotton Seed Meal, Cane Molasses, Soybean Meal, Linseed Oil Meal, Wheat Shorts, Potassium Iodine, Salt, Yeast Culture, Ground Wheat, Wheat Flour Middling, Brewers Yeast, Wheat Germ Oil, Anise Oil, Lecithin, Beta Carotene, D-Activated Animal Sterols, Choline Chloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Artificial Flavors.

Guaranteed Analysis:

Protein (min) : 20.00%
Fat (min) : 9.00 %
Fiber (max) : 16.00%
Moisture (max) : 12.00%

Do these sound like good quality pellets? Any information, or insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Ly&Pigs]

These aren't quality pellets. They contain a lot of fillers, corn, unneeded oils and animal fats. I don't see any source of Vitamin C either which is essential in cavy pellets.

You'd be doing your pigs a favor by getting them a better pellet.

[CocoSnicks]

Yeah, I'm going to go get switch over to Oxbow pellets asap.

Is Alfalfa King a good brand for hay? Thanks for the advice.