Treats: homemade guinea treats?

[momma2sons]

Do any of you make homemade treats for your piggies, like the timothy hay blocks that can be bought at the store? Just curious as I am not real fond of all the junky treats found in the store and have been looking online and found some that sound really good to try. I was just curious if any of you make them for your piggies?

[Ly&Pigs]

The best treats are veggies and occasional fruit. There is nothing you can make as a treat really other than a nice heaping plate of veggies. They can't have frozen veggies, canned or baked goods.

In the summer, I freeze watermelon and cantelouple rinds and give those as treats on hot days but it's not a great idea to do that in wintertime.

[momma2sons]

hmm, I found online where a gal had taken some pellets, water and a fruit mixed it all together and baked them until they were hard. I was just curious if anyone had tried something like this. Thanks, hun.

[guineapigluver1]

Like Ly said, the best treats are veggies and fruits. But I remembered this thread from a while back, read it.

[momma2sons]

Thanks for that link, the recipe looks pretty good. I will have to give it a try.
Thanks again.

[sophistacavy]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

The best treats are veggies and occasional fruit. There is nothing you can make as a treat really other than a nice heaping plate of veggies. They can't have frozen veggies, canned or baked goods.

In the summer, I freeze watermelon and cantelouple rinds and give those as treats on hot days but it's not a great idea to do that in wintertime.

momma2sons, read that. She said "No Baked Goods". The recipe calls for baking the treats. So, the recipe is of no use.

If you want to bake things to feed to your pets, then buy The Three Dog Bakery's doggie cookbook titled "Cooking the 3-dog Bakery Way", or any other dog cookbook, and feed the baked goods to your dog.

Baked goods are processed. Baking is a form of cooking, and therefore a form of processing, because you are changing the natural cellular structure of the food, and you are changing the form of the food into something totally un-natural.

Hope this helps!

[5guinea5pig5]

But even Ly said that the treat would be fine...

[momma2sons]

Thanks hun, but in that recipe post here: http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...+guinea+treats

Ly mentions that, she thinks they are fine but 2 fruits in it may be a bit much. Try it with either apple or pear (or another fruit). I don't think baking them would hurt it since they are made from oxbow pellets. How often are you giving them?


I am kinda confused here with the help, but that's ok, I will figure things out. Thanks again hun.

[guineapigluver1]

sophistacavy: If you read the whole thread, you'll see Ly says they are fine.
momma2sons: I wouldn't feed them more then, say, 2 times a week.

[sophistacavy]

Even raw, freezing them still cooks them, just reversely. It's the same as frozen veggies. Now, it is okay to give frozen veggies then. Giving these as often as suggested all-year round sounds like a bad idea to me.

Any way you put it, they're processed. Who says some big name pet food/treat company like Sweet Meadow or Oxbow couldn't do the same thing, and sell them in pet stores? I mean, Oxbow sells in petsmart now, so what if Oxbow had this idea, and they sold them in petsmart? Or any other pet store? Then, everyone would say not to feed them b/c they are petstore treats. Why is it so different that just because the treats are made in a single person's home, then they're ok to feed to guinea pigs?

That being said, then the following baked treats for cavies are ok to give too:
Oxbow Animal Health | Organic Barley Biscuits


Fruit Treats: Orchard Sweets Small Animal Apple Pellet Treats at Drs. Foster & Smith These are dehydrated.

There are of course countless others, but I'm not going to waste the space on this website by posting them all.

[guineapigluver1]

No, the barley treats aren't okay. She even tried just refridgerating them and not cooking them and they still liked it. So it would be the same as refridgerating your veggies. Personally, I wouldn't do it unless you were clipping there toe nails, or for a treat just because, but I wouldn't do it more then twice a week. I'd say just once a week even.

[sophistacavy]

Originally Posted by guineapigluver1

No, the barley treats aren't okay. She even tried just refridgerating them and not cooking them and they still liked it. So it would be the same as refridgerating your veggies. Personally, I wouldn't do it unless you were clipping there toe nails, or for a treat just because, but I wouldn't do it more then twice a week. I'd say just once a week even.

Yeah, I agree with you. I see everyone's point now. And yeah, those barley treats aren't any good, barley is indeed a grain, and cavies don't have an easy time digesting grains, so yeah, thanks for bringing that up.

Yah, clipping nails would be an excellent time to give these homemade "treats" of hers, my girls generally don't like having their nails clipped, even though it's not that often, I guess they have a hard time "getting used to it" unless we reward them with something new and unusual to them such as these homemade treats. Good idea guineapigluver1, thank you!!

[guineapigluver1]

Your welcome. Sometimes treats don't even work, but this is just my experience with dogs and our cats. With our (now deceased)dog treats didn't even work, and it was living hell to get it done, we had to have 3-4 people hold him while one person quickly did his toenails, we tried treats and all. For our cats I have to catch one while he is still sleeping to do his otherwise you can forget it. And with the other two it's impossible, but they clip their toe nails by themselves, not very good, but I can't get it done.

[Ly&Pigs]

I want to clarify some things here. I was sent a private message which I found rather harsh but it asked me why I stated on the thread that guineapigluver1 linked in post #4 that those treats were fine and in this thread I say no baked goods.

When I say no baked goods I mean pre-processed pet store treats that are baked, other baked goods like breads, cake, etc.

I was also asked what's the difference between the baked petstore treats and the ones in the link from post #4 of this thread. There is a difference. Petstore treats are usually made using low quality ingredients, they have added things like preservatives (sometimes ethoxyquin or other harmful preservatives), added chemicals, added vitamins/minerals, added food colorings/dyes. When making homemade treats like the ones in question, you are using oxbow pellets, fresh fruit and fresh veggies. Oxbow are one of the best pellet brands out there (2nd to KM's in my opinion). At least with the recipe for the homemade ones, you aren't getting a lot of added garbage in them.

I'm also am not really fond of homemade treats like the ones in question, but I had stated that I thought they were ok and still think they are ok. I still believe the best treats are fresh fruits and veggies. Maybe a veggie or fruit they don't get often but they love is good for a treat, like a couple raisins once in a great while.

As far as dehydrated fruits, they aren't good either because they tend to be more sugary than fresh fruit. The exceptions are raisins very occasionally, dried cranberries with no added sugars or dried figs very occasionally.

[Haley0489]

I don't know why some members are so set on giving guinea pigs "treats".

With my pigs, a treat is a bite or two of banana since they absolutely love it, but it's not good for regular feeding. Or a little sliver of pineapple once in a while, since it's so acidic. They're also fond of raisins, herbs and cucumber peelings.

Of course, huge piles of hay to eat and play in puts them in popcorning-lap running-chutting moods too.


My pigs enjoy the occasional bit of "special" fruit and hay piles over anything else. You don't have to get all fancy with the "pig treats"; just give the little guys what they like: fresh foods and hay!

[Ly&Pigs]

I don't know why some members are so set on giving guinea pigs "treats".

It has to do with the world of marketing. Some people (especially the younger crowd) see petstore treats and want to buy them for their animals because they feel that these treats will make their animals happier or feel better or somehow bond better with us. Honestly, I don't think the pigs care if they get "treats" or not. To them, it's not a treat, it's just one more thing to eat. Companies market this garbage to make sales. It doesn't matter if the treats are healthy or not, they just want to make money off of unsuspecting consumers. In the meanwhile, the only ones that suffer are our pets.

[guineapigluver1]

I still don't get why people want to give them treats. I'd much rather give a veggie or fruit they don't often get.

[momma2sons]

I didn't mean to start anything here and Ly I am sorry that someone sent you something rude. We all need to realize that we are humans here and we aren't perfect, we say and do things and figure people understand what we mean. It's like going to the doctor and getting all upset at him for something. Everyone here is giving advice and their opinions some are more knowledgeable than others use your gut and do what you feel is right for you and your piggie.

Giving a treat to your animal is kinda like giving a treat to your child. Do they need it, no, but it makes you and the child feel better. Does the piggy need the treat, no, but it makes you feel good knowing you're giving him something that he might find good, whether it's a store bought treat, homemade or just plain veggies and love. Let's all do what we feel good doing and not what everyone else says we have to do. I personally will take the info. and learn and do what I feel is best anyway. Just like with my child, people will say this or that, that's fine, take it and do with it what you want. K, now that's all over with, let's move on. ahahahha!

[Ly&Pigs]

Giving a treat to your animal is kinda like giving a treat to your child. Do they need it, no, but it makes you and the child feel better. Does the piggy need the treat, no, but it makes you feel good knowing you're giving him something that he might find good, whether it's a store bought treat, homemade or just plain veggies and love.

Pigs may find a lot of things that they deem "good" but why give them something that can make them obese or have bad ingredients in them for the sake of making yourself feel good.

We as humans can make a choice whether we want to eat something or not, and often we don't always eat the things that are the healthiest for us. In the long run though, eating the wrong things (or not eating enough of the right things) can lead to all kinds of health disorders and shorter lifespans. It's basically the same with our pets. If we feed them the wrong things, they can have shorter lifespans or get obese. The pigs don't make the determination to only eat specific things. Mostly they will eat about anything put in front of them even meats or dairy products which are two things they specifically can't have. So it's up to us to provide them with a good balanced diet of things they need and not things they don't need.

We humans are a long way from being perfect. But we can make choices. People come here all the time asking for advice. Great advice is given but it's their choice to follow it or not. Like with this thread, it's your choice to feed your pigs occasional junky things or to feed them only good healthy things.

[momma2sons]

I don't feel a homemade treat is junky if made with the right things, but I get your point. We do make the decisions for our piggies, I just don't want people to think that if they've given their piggy a treat every once in a while that they're pig is going to die or became severely sick from it. I just thought it was interesting how conscious we are of our pets but we fill our bodies with all kinds of junk that is so not good for us.

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

Pigs may find a lot of things that they deem "good" but why give them something that can make them obese or have bad ingredients in them for the sake of making yourself feel good.

We as humans can make a choice whether we want to eat something or not, and often we don't always eat the things that are the healthiest for us. In the long run though, eating the wrong things (or not eating enough of the right things) can lead to all kinds of health disorders and shorter lifespans. It's basically the same with our pets. If we feed them the wrong things, they can have shorter lifespans or get obese. The pigs don't make the determination to only eat specific things. Mostly they will eat about anything put in front of them even meats or dairy products which are two things they specifically can't have. So it's up to us to provide them with a good balanced diet of things they need and not things they don't need.

We humans are a long way from being perfect. But we can make choices. People come here all the time asking for advice. Great advice is given but it's their choice to follow it or not. Like with this thread, it's your choice to feed your pigs occasional junky things or to feed them only good healthy things.