Diet: Feeding babies and adults in the same cage

[Kareen]

I have recently adopted two 5 week old female guinea pigs. After having had them for almost two weeks I checked on the humane society website only to see that all the other babies were adopted and the mother was left alone . Poor thing, after all that work giving birth to her babies and caring for them, she is the one that gets left behind. I went back this afternoon to get her so she can be reunited with two of her girls.

My question is, how do I control her feeding (pellets) when she should have limited quantities and her babies should still be free fed. Also, the babies are being fed alfalfa based pellets and she should be eating timothy. Sorry if this question has been asked in the past. I did a quick search and was not able to find it.

Also, are carrot tops safe to feed to guinea pigs? I feed them to my bunnies but was wondering if the piggies can have some too.

Thanks!

[akstrohm]

You can feed all the pigs timothy pellets (about 1/4 cup each per day) and give the babies veggies that are higher in calcium during lap time (such as parsley).

Carrot tops can be fed, but in small amounts.

[Ly&Pigs]

Since you already have alfalfa based pellets, I would do two things. First I'd feed a mix of timothy based and alfalfa based pellets and secondly, I'd limit them. If the pups are eating a good amount of grass hay and veggies it's ok. I'd give about a cup a day for the three. Pellets are the least part of the diet.