Pellets: No pellets better than bad pellets?

[Grisli]

I live in Europe and have found nothing but crappy guinea pig mixes in the stores. The ingredient list is usually a tally of all things not to feed a guinea pig. Since I live on an island that has strict import rules regarding animal fodder I don't have the option of ordering online, besides the shipping fee alone would probably be around $200 for a big bag of pellets from KM. The brand names I have found are Vitakraft, Witte Molen, Biozoo and then I found a vet that sells Science Selective.

I'm getting my two first guinea pig girls in about a month (they were born on Christmas day), I have found the proper grids to make a C&C cage, I am working on the coroplast and have my fleece and towles ready. I even found Carefresh to put in the kitchen area. Hay and vegetables are readily available. The only thing missing are the right pellets. So do I just skip giving them the guinea pig mixes and only give them hay and vegetables? I have looked at the nutrition chart and veggie menus but I assume they are put together assuming you are also feeding pellets. If I don't have any pellets how much vegetables do I have to feed my two growing girls in addition to the hay?

I turn to you vise ones for advice

[Ly&Pigs]

I'd go with the Science Selective. It may not be a top quality food but I'm sure it's better than the seed mixed stuff. I couldn't find anything on the Witte Molen or the Biozoo online. I would need ingredients lists but Vitacraft is a very low quality feed. If the other two are pellet mixes, well then they are not to be fed either. At least Science Selective is a plain food with no other seeds/colored bits or junk mixed in.

[sophistacavy]

Originally Posted by Grisli

I'm getting my two first guinea pig girls in about a month (they were born on Christmas day)

Don't mind my asking, Grisli, but are you adopting from a purely accidental litter, or from a breeder, or from local classifieds?

[Grisli]

My boyfriends uncle and his wife have three guinea pigs, two males and one female. They let one of the males breed with the female and as a result have three little piggies now ( two females, one male). I don't know what they were thinking. Me and my boyfriend decided to take the two girls, I don't know what their plan is with the male.

[Grisli]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

I couldn't find anything on the Witte Molen or the Biozoo online. I would need ingredients lists but Vitacraft is a very low quality feed.

Witte Molen is a big dutch company that produces pet food, there is something wrong with their site so I can't get any information on the food. But from what I remember it was just the normal mix consisting of cereals, seeds, corn and derivatives of vegetable origin (which could be anything really). Approved by vets it said on the package. Biozoo is a Spanish company that has a poorly translated English site with no information on ingredients, it hardly has any text at all for that matter. Here is a link too their site B i o Z o o / A x i s

[Ly&Pigs]

I'd stay away from both the Witte Molen and the BioZoo because they are both pellet mixes. Just go with the Science Selective.

I hope your boyfriend's aunt and uncle don't breed anymore. Maybe you could talk to them and take all the females and have them keep the male pup to go with their other boars.

[Grisli]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

I hope your boyfriend's aunt and uncle don't breed anymore. Maybe you could talk to them and take all the females and have them keep the male pup to go with their other boars.

This had crossed my mind, but I doubt they are willing to part with her. They saw her at a pet store and fell in love, she has a beautiful gray coat. I think the reason they bred her was to try and get pups with the same color but all the pups are brown. But after she arrived the boars are no longer friends and cannot be housed in the same cage. They are talking about having one of them neutered. I told them politely that I had read that it would probably not change their behaviour but I think to them I'm just a newbie guinea pig owner who's been reading stuff on the internet.

[dra&pigs]

I would show them this site. The boars are probably not friendly towards each other because of her. If they are keeping her in the same room as them, they are most likely fighting over her. Removing her from the room would probably solve the problem, especially if they have not fought before her arrival. You are right-nuetering one of them would not change behavior as it does in other animals, and they cannot have both nuetered and placed with the girl-they will most likely fight (I have never heard of an instance where this is not the case).
Again, I suggest showing them this site. They can read through the anti-breeding and nuetering posts on their own and find out the correct information.