Just making sure i am doing the right thing with my new little girls.

Also, if you could tell me how to insert pictures from an ipad, that would be great. I will show what my Maple and snow look like.

PianoPlayer88 said:

Hello, I am a new member here(as my "cavy newbie" title implies), and I would like to go over my guinea pig care routine and clarify that I do NOT have any errors. Every morning i get up, and I give my guinea pigs a fresh, new full bottle of water, two large handfuls of alfalfa hay(oxbow, and yes, they are below six months old, they are sisters), and and a little over a half cup of oxbow cavy performance pellets. I also give them each a slice of green bell pepper, and hold them for a bit if I have time before school. Every 3-4 days my mom and I change out their fleece and towel underneath, along with the layer of newspaper below the towel. In the evenings I hold them and feed them lettuce, and a thin slice of cucumber every 2-3 days. Yes, the lettuce is romaine, not iceberg. My cage is a 2x4 C & C. The only thing I am not sure about is free range time. I am in three different advanced and gifted classes and that means TONS of homework, so I don't have all the time in the world, along with playing the piano. Sorry for such a long post, but any sort of input and advice for a newbie such as me would be very much appreciated. Thank you! &(broken link removed)

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Guinea pigs need unlimited grass hay. Alfalfa should be in addition to, not in place of, grass hay for guinea pigs of all ages. If you look at the Diet and Nutrition chart, it will give you a lot of information on good vegetables to feed. This is a great site for good information. Welcome!

pinky said:

Guinea pigs need unlimited grass hay. Alfalfa should be in addition to, not in place of, grass hay for guinea pigs of all ages. If you look at the Diet and Nutrition chart, it will give you a lot of information on good vegetables to feed. This is a great site for good information. Welcome!

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Ok, thank you! I got them about a month and a half ago, and they are around 4-5 months old. I will start giving them timothy hay(I have some right now) and would like to know when to take alfalfa out of their diet. Thanks again!

Welcome to the forum! Like pinky said, don't portion out their hay, just stuff as much in as you can and refill it constantly. Alfalfa is a supplement, for calcium in pigs 6 months and below. Timothy/other grass hays keep their teeth in check and provide the proper nutrients as well.

Veg wise you should feed 1 cup per pig per day, most split it in to 1/2 cup morning and evening though. See https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List for what's safe to feed, and how often. Most people staple veg is lettuce and green pepper, and if you can, steer clear of romaine because in some pigs (for unknown reasons) it causes excess calcium. Most users prefer red/green leaf.

I do not have a hay rack right now, so that's why I say 2 large handfuls. My mom doesn't want to get a hay rack, even though I try try to convince her(typical, but oh well). Anyway, it is about the amount that would fit in a hay rack, and it would be a pretty large amount if I were to put anymore in.

As long as it lasts them whatever amount of time they're alone for, it doesn't matter what it goes in

ETA : Bear in mind if it's not in a hay rack/bag/ball whatever, it's likely to get soiled and become inedible quickly, which'll mean they can't eat it.

I was just wondering if these types of hay were okay-
1- oxbow alfalfa, second cut. I was wondering about this, because out of the 3 bags i have opened, all have had prickly sticks and dead strands of hay/ twigs.
2- oxbow timothy, second cut. I am just opening this bag this morning,

Also, is there any reason I should get third cut? The only reason I might prefer it is because I do not have a hay rack as of now, and the 2nd cut may be a little hard on the guinea pig's feet.

Second cut hay isn't going to bother the guinea pigs' feet.

Alfalfa should not be their main hay. Alfalfa is a legume, like peas. Pigs need a long strand grass hay to keep their teeth ground down and their gut moving properly. What young pigs need is extra calcium, which you can give them by supplementing (not replacing) their grass hay with alfalfa, OR with alfalfa pellets, OR with calcium-rich veggies such as parsley.

When they're six months, I'd recommend switching them off romaine. Some pigs are fine with it, others excrete lots of urinary calcium which may contribute to stones. Red or green leaf lettuce will do just fine.

Okay, thank you both. I just started giving my guinea pigs timothy hay yesterday, which they attacked much more vigorously than the alfalfa( quality issue?). Also, thanks for telling me about the romaine calcium. I will try and convince my parents to get green or red leaf lettuce from the store next time, just to get a little variety( romaine one day, red/green next, and so on, then switch to fully green at 5-6 months). Thanks guys! This is a great forum, I love the quick responses given here!

P.S.- Are daily romaine/red leaf/green leaf lettuce, occasional carrots, cucumbers every 2-3 days, and a daily slice of green bell pepper a good enough variety?

I don't think I've seen this mentioned yet but what I have read is that guinea pigs don't need more than 1/8 of a cup of pellets each, maybe 1/4 of a cup. The bulk of their diet should be hay. And vegetables of course.

I think a little more variety in their diet is needed. To me, it's logical that the darkly colored veggies are good for them the same way they are for us.

Every day, my pigs get red or green leaf lettuce, baby carrots, tomatoes, bell pepper, radicchio, summer squash, green beans, belgian endive, and corn husks and silks when I can get them. In addition, they occasionally get blueberries, cranberries, apple peelings, celery leaves, and herbs.

Be careful with cucumber -- it gives some pigs gas, and gas can, but doesn't always, lead to bloat.

Thanks for all your advice guys, I'm a very New Guinea pig owner and I have had some sad experiences with pets in the past. I have had two bearded dragons and they both passed as a result of metabolic bone disease. This time, I wanted to do EVERYTHING I could for my new pets, and did so much research and even wrote a persuasive paper to my parents about it. Without this website, I would probably have ONE guinea pig in a 3 square feet cage, eating peelers and occasionally carrots, nothing more. After viewing this website, I told my parents I would not get guinea pigs if not under these conditions:
1- They had to let me build a c & c cage or else I wouldn't get guinea pigs, even if they said yes to everything except this list.
2- I had to be able to use fleece
3- I had to get a pair
4- I refused to buy them from the pet store(that one took a little time to convince them)
So, I would like to thank all of you for the info. and guidance with my piggies. Three lives were saved-
th first two are Maple and Snow, the ones I found from a genuine accidental litter, where they had only a two square foot cage and cheap pellets, no hay, no veggies except radishes(are they even safe?)then, the little pig that would have replaced th ONE I got at the pet store.
So once again, thank you all so much

I meant pellets when I said peelers, auto correct can be very funny sometimes