Vegetables: A question inspired by posts from a Kitchen thread...

[Heady]

As I was reading through the thread about "why we can't get along" (can't remember the exact name of the thread) there were a few points brought up about the amount and variety of vegetables that I wanted to touch on.

If I remember correctly, one of the complaints was that it was too expensive to buy a large variety of vegetables to only have them go bad in a few days.

I wanted to share how I do it, and I would like for the members and moderators to tell me whether or not I'm doing it wrong.

We go to the grocery store (or Fresh Market, depending how much is in the bank) every other day or so to pick up fresh veggies. Thankfully Angie emailed me the color coded veggie list, so I have that on my computer at all times (well, not on this one, since this is my husband's and he takes my laptop to work with him on Saturdays). Romaine is always on hand. What I try to do is use Romaine as a base to their "salads" and add green pepper. Then the next day, they get Romaine again, but this time paired with another veggie. After that, it's Romaine again, with yet another veggie.

Now, what I'm wondering is if it's okay to offer that type of variety, OR do I have to have a large variety of, say, 3-4 different vegetables everyday? I also have a steady supply of carrots, but those are mainly for me. The piggies do get carrots, but usually only as treats. And the way I offer carrots is during lap time, I have 2 large baby carrots, or 4 skinny baby carrots and while they're on my lap or next to me on the couch, I bite little pieces off and give them to the pigs. I noticed that if I don't get pieces fast enough, they tend to climb up my belly then chest (which is actually quite funny) then they kind of nose my mouth and that bonds us a little more, I think. Anyway...that part is for a different thread since it's not important at the moment. (also, I should say, I don't get my spit all over the carrots...I don't know if it would hurt them if I did, so I don't...)

My other question is that I am absolutely terrified of them not getting enough Vitamin C (even though they're mainly fed the veggies that have a good C content, but I'm still paranoid), so I have a baggie of crushed up C tablets, and I always add a pinch or two of C dust to their veggies. Is it possible to give them too much? I've mentioned this to Angie and she let me know that as long as I'm feeding them enough veggies high in C that I don't need to give them the crushed up tablets...and I know I'm giving them the good veggies, but again, I am so scared of them getting sick or me messing them up that I just want to add more Vitamin C, but I don't want it to hurt them.

I welcome any and all feedback/criticisms!

[twiztedlilfae]

From my understanding of the charts, giving them romaine every day isn't a good idea. They should have a different type of green leafy lettuce ranging from green & red leaf lettuce to some butterheads. Aslong as it's not iceburg.

I was giving them romaine everyday, and they'd eat it up and I would do like you did give them a different veggie everyday but I kept reading that variety is key. So I try and give them different salad mixes that I pick up or one week I'll do romaine, another I'll do another green leaf. Or something like that so it's different weekly. But again I don't know if that's a good idea. I hope that Ly&Pigs can help clear this up. I worry to about them not getting enough vitamin C. But I don't go as often to the store as you do. I try and stock up for the week as best I can.

[Heady]

Originally Posted by twiztedlilfae

From my understanding of the charts, giving them romaine every day isn't a good idea.

OH NO! I just knew I must have misunderstood something and was doing everything wrong. That is very good to know!! Thank you!!!

[twiztedlilfae]

It's alright, I might be wrong. We need to hear from Ly to see what she says. And don't feel bad, even if you are doing things wrong, you can learn from your mistakes and know not to do them in the future.

[Peggysu]

I give my pigs a big variety of veggies. This helps to ensure that they eat it. They will easily get bored. I would hate to eat the same thing every day. Now there are daily staples that should be fed everyday such as cilantro and bell pepper paired with a few leafy greens. Today I have fed some red leaf, endive, frisee, radiccio, swiss chard, green bell pepper, grape tomato and zucchini. I think I'm forgetting something else I fed them. I try to keep it interesting.

Now I eat a lot of these myself too so that it doesn't go to waste. My piggies make me much healthier.

Oh and I think I can safely quote Ly by saying Variety, Variety, Variety.

[akstrohm]

They need a lot more variety--partly for health reasons and partly to prevent them from getting bored of what they're eating.

Lettuce, cilantro, and bell pepper are good daily staples. I would feed all three of these every day. If you're feeding 1/8 bell pepper per pig per day you don't need a supplement. In fact, too much vitamin C can cause pseudo scurvy. You should aim for at least two kinds of lettuce a week--green leaf, red leaf, curly endive, and escarole are good in addition to romaine.

Then each day they also need a few other veggies--cucumber, tomato, zucchini, green beans, pea pods, broccoli, and small amounts of fruit are popular. Providing a variety makes it more likely that they get all the nutrients they need and aren't getting too much of any one thing.

You don't have to feed carrots at all, but if you do, limit it to 1 baby carrot per pig per day, even if you don't feed them every day. Carrots are high in sugar, oxalic acid, and vitamin A, all of which can cause problems if fed in large amounts.

The sample menus here are great.

Your pig will survive on just romaine and a few other veggies fed throughout the week, but this is not an optimal diet.

[sdpiggylvr]

When I adopted my two guinea pigs, I had no idea that such variety was needed in veggies, even after extensive research. I thought that a little lettuce every day was healthy. Apparently I had researched in every wrong place I can think of, because I was feeding them horribly.
Now, I try to do better with the vegetable variety and amount, but it's still hard to do. A lot of the things they can have are fairly expensive and I am just not willing to spend $5 on a small head of raddichio. Peggysu, I can't believe you fed 8 types of veggies today! That is just outrageous. I have one question: WHY? I thought 4-5 different types was sufficient.
I guess it's such a shock to me because I wasn't prepared to buy the amount of veggies I found out I should.
The veggie chart is a little confusing, it was to me too. Basically, you should pick a few leafy greens and alternate daily. Romaine lettuce one day, with bell pepper, raddichio, and cherry tomatoes, along with a baby carrot as a treat. The next day, you could do cilantro, zucchini, swiss chard, and parsley. (Examples) You can also throw in a strawberry one day, a slice of apple one day, a slice of orange another day.
Basically variety, variety, variety is the key. (Like everybody else says.)
I think you were feeding your pigs a decent diet before, but this new variety diet is much better and healthier. Ask anyone around here.
Good luck!

[vicky2]

Vaariety is key to keep them interested. The variety is also needed to meet their nutritional intake every day. I can spend $5 a week on veggies just by going to my local farmers market. I easily get around seven different veggies and a fruit or two for the week. A cup isn't hard at all, it's like a big handful or two small handfuls.
Peggysu eats a lot of veggies herself so it's natural that her pigs get the same amount of variety she does.

I would check out the sample veggie menus. Have fun.

[Heady]

We eat romaine every night, along with peppers, so I figured that it would work as the foundation, but I'll add the green and red leaf lettuce as well!

Good to know about the pseudo scurvy!!!

It's also good to know to add more variety everyday! I was just thinking that doing something like, for instance, Sunday-Romaine, green peppers, yellow peppers; Monday-Romaine, cherry tomato, tiny slices of celery, plus leaves; Tuesday-Romaine, baby spinach, red peppers...etc....would be considered variety, but it's excellent to know I was doing that wrong!!

I usually only give fruit as a dessert, like grapes, for example, for dessert after they eat their salad. I will incorporate more fruits then!

I don't really do carrots too, too often. I've found that romaine makes an excellent treat as well, but for training, I usually use romaine. When I do give carrots, it's no more than 1 per pig. I said 4 earlier because 2 of the misshapen tiny baby carrots equals one of the regular sized baby carrots, if that makes sense. Usually, the baby carrots are about as round as my pinkie, and that's the size most of them are in the bag. Sometimes the bags have a few of the super tiny ones...and that's when I give two each. If that makes any sense!

I'm going to do a search for sample menus and I wrote down what you guys said you give to your pigs. I'm the type of person that can and should eat the same thing everyday, that way I can remember what I need to get at the store. If not, I get very overwhelmed, so now my plan is to incorporate that into the pigs' meals. If I can look at the sample menus and pick a day of the week to go along with that specific meal, then I won't feel so overwhelmed at the store. Like, Sundays could be romaine and red leaf lettuce with 3 other vegetables and some fruits. And then Monday could be green leaf lettuce and 3 other vegetables and fruits that aren't from the night before. Does any of this make sense? It's best for me to have a certain meal planned out for a certain day, that way I know they're getting the best amount of vitamins and nutrients, along with daily variety. And no more pounding out vitamin c tablets

Thank you guys so much!! I'm SO glad I asked for help!

***EDIT***I should also note that I do at least a cup a day...is that bad? Between breakfast and dinner, I also will walk by with a handful of veggies that I hand feed by each individual piece instead of just dropping it all in the veggie bowl. I'm still working with Barney to get him comfortable with my hand being around. Santino doesn't need any help in that department, but I still give him pieces of veggie anyway. I mean, I'll go up to their cage without veggies in hand too, but if I go to the kitchen to grab a drink, I'll grab a handful of veggies while I'm at it and take it over to hand feed them.

[vicky2]

This is the nutritional section of the forum where you should ideally read the stickies:
Diet and Nutrition - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!
Here are the sample menus and the veggie/fruit chart:
http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/diet-nutrition/24770-sample-veggie-menus.html
http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/diet-nutrition/22156-read-me-guinea-pig-nutrition-charts-poisonous-plants-list.html

[Heady]

Thank you for the links Vicky! The first link took me to the stickies, but the other two took me to the main page of the forum. That's okay though because I'll just do a search on sample menus and that should take me where you intended for me to go


***EDIT*** I should note that when I searched for the sample menus, a post in a thread related to my question about whether or not I was giving too much and Ly mentioned that too much veggies will cause soft stools, and I wanted to say that the pigs have firm stools, so I guess I can assume that they aren't getting too many veggies.

[vicky2]

Sorry about that; that's weird.
Well, the veggie menus and the veggie chart is towards the bottom of the stickies.

[Ly&Pigs]

Here's the deal.

You should have no less than 3 daily staples. Lettuces, bell pepper and cilantro (zucchini can be a fourth daily if your pigs will eat it). Then you need 3-5 rotating veggies on a daily basis. Keep fruits to a minimum, no more than twice a week in small amounts.

My girls are currently getting:

• Romaine/red or green leaf or spring mix daily (other lettuces when I can find them).
• bell pepper daily (normally green but this week green and yellow-alternate days)
• cilantro and zucchini daily

In rotation:
Monday-
Cucumber, artichoke leaves, kale, a small bit of kiwi

Tuesday-
celery, a wedge of roma tomato, a broccoli floret each

Wednesday-
cucumber, mustard greens, 2 green beans each

Thursday-
celery, a wedge of roma tomato, kale

Friday-
A small cube of fresh pumpkin, a small bit of kiwi, italian parsley (2-3 sprigs each), fresh forages

Saturday-
Cucumber, artichoke leaves, 2 green beans each

Sunday-
Celery, a small wedge of roma tomato, mustard greens

[Heady]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

Here's the deal.

You should have no less than 3 daily staples. Lettuces, bell pepper and cilantro (zucchini can be a fourth daily if your pigs will eat it). Then you need 3-5 rotating veggies on a daily basis. Keep fruits to a minimum, no more than twice a week in small amounts.

My girls are currently getting:

• Romaine/red or green leaf or spring mix daily (other lettuces when I can find them).
• bell pepper daily (normally green but this week green and yellow-alternate days)
• cilantro and zucchini daily

In rotation:
Monday-
Cucumber, artichoke leaves, kale, a small bit of kiwi

Tuesday-
celery, a wedge of roma tomato, a broccoli floret each

Wednesday-
cucumber, mustard greens, 2 green beans each

Thursday-
celery, a wedge of roma tomato, kale

Friday-
A small cube of fresh pumpkin, a small bit of kiwi, italian parsley (2-3 sprigs each), fresh forages

Saturday-
Cucumber, artichoke leaves, 2 green beans each

Sunday-
Celery, a small wedge of roma tomato, mustard greens

This is beautiful! Just to make sure I have it right. THREE staples, lettuce (the kinds you mentioned), bell pepper (we always have green on hand) and cilantro/zucchini. Then each day of the week, they get all the vegetables you listed for that day? I'm going to paste it in notepad and print it out to stick on the fridge. Thank you so much!

[Ly&Pigs]

Originally Posted by Heady

Then each day of the week, they get all the vegetables you listed for that day?

Yes. They get their staples plus the veggies I listed for each day. I also vary it up quite frequently so what I posted is merely a guideline and what I am currently feeding. In two weeks, it could end up being a different list. Pumpkin is going out of season so I will have to replace that with something else. I alternate some things with other things. It all depends on what I can find when I go shopping.

My rotating staples that I rarely ever change are kale and broccoli florets.

My dad and I frequently travel to Little Rock to the VA Hospital for appointments so I often stop by different stores down there to find different types of lettuces and veggies I can't find here in town. So some things the girls may get infrequently.

I remember this past March when we had to go to St. Louis for a funeral. I brought back a cooler full of veggies that I couldn't find locally so the girls got some nice treats for a couple of weeks.

The only things I've found my girls will absolutely refuse to touch is yellow squash and strawberries. They like strawberry tops though.

[vicky2]

For strawberry tops, do you mean the stem or the actual top? Or both...

[Ly&Pigs]

I'm talking about the green leafy part attached to the top of the strawberry. Stems should not be fed.

[vicky2]

Ok, thanks.

[Heady]

This is all great to know and I appreciate everyone's input! I do apologize, though, because I'm sure I'm not the first that asked those questions, so thank you for repeating it for me!

[wheekypigs]

All that variety really? Wow.

I guess my pigs are not adventurous eaters then, just big eaters. I've tried all kinds of veggies, but they're not interested unless it's romaine, dandelion, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and carrots, and sometimes fruit. They like cilantro but my husband's allergic to it.