Is Variety Necessary?

[Cavylier]

Where I stay, very few of the vegetables on the 'acceptable' list are actually found. A lot of things in India are known by a native name so I'm not sure whether they are safe and steer clear of them altogether. This results in my piggies' diet having very little variety compared to other diets that I've seen.

Currently they are having -
Regularly (daily): Red bell peppers, yellow bell peppers, green leaf lettuce, coriander, carrot pieces.

Occasionally (once in two weeks or so): Cucumber peels, a little bit of apple if it's in season, corn husks, corn silk, baby corn.

Rarely: Red lettuce, spinach, coriander.

Is this enough variety in their diet? We don't get a lot of veggies here and the ones we do are always dependent on the weather because our temperatures are so different from the West.

(I have tried to give them less spinach and coriander as they are high in calcium and sometimes my piggies leave white stains where they pee. Those veggies are actually given rarely but they are almost always available.)

[vania]

Technically, as long as they're getting the right nutriets, they don't NEED variety. Variety is just nice so things don't get old and boring, but piggies love veggies, so I don't think this would happen It sounds like you're doing you're best, I don't see any harm in their diet. Maybe you could give them a little piece of fruit every once in a while as a little treat if you can.

[bpatters]

Given your problems with vegetable supply, that's probably enough variety.

But I'd give the cucumber rather than the peel. And you should watch them carefully to make sure they don't get gassy from eating it. Too much can lead to bloat, which is a medical emergency.

They can have corn husks and silks daily if you can get them, as well as red leaf lettuce. Spinach especially should be limited because of the high vitamin A and oxalates. Some pigs excrete calcium when eating coriander, while others don't -- it's not as big a problem as romaine (cos) lettuce.

Other things you might give them if you can find them are occasional green beans, summer squash (yellow or zucchini), endive, and herbs such as thyme, basil and dill. Mine LOVE dill, and it's pretty easy to grow.

[Zuidy]

I feed a variety of 7 items daily, but the same ones daily, and my girls are fine.