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Pellets Wheat Middlings, Soy and Molasses

cocogigi

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I'm currently giving my guinea pigs Oxbow pellets, but the main ingredients are Wheat Middlings, Soy and Molasses, which worries me. I feel like there is no way these things DONT interfere in some way with their digestive/urinary health. I was thinking about switching them to something more natural without these things and the only brand I found is Sherwood Adult Guinea Pig food. However, the first ingredient is alfalfa hay, followed by timothy hay (its a 50/50) and is grain & soy free, has Vitamin C, and and the ingredients list is much shorter. I know everyone is super against alfalfa for adult piggies, because of calcium, but I feel like it would be a decent trade off for more natural pellets. I would probably stop giving them calcium rich veggies like parsley if I did switch.

thoughts?
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Although more calcium may not necessarily be a good thing for pigs, I believe that a lot of it is also genetics. My pigs (up to four now) have never had anything BUT Oxbow pellets, both the young guinea pig formula and the adult. I've never had a stone issue. I do get the odd calcium spots, but nothing further than that.
 

bpatters

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Can you take a picture of the Oxbow ingredients? Because every one I look at, the main ingredient is timothy hay.

Are you in the U.S.? The best pellets on the market, IMO, are KMS Hayloft, available online. There's always a mill date on them, and they're never more than just a couple of weeks old.
 

bpatters

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I'd be far more worried about alfalfa as the first ingredient than about molasses being in pellets.
 

spy9doc

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I'd be far more worried about alfalfa as the first ingredient than about molasses being in pellets.

To piggy-back on this, most pellets have some sort of "sweetener" added to them, and molasses is generally the preferred choice. IMHO, it is quite difficult to find any pellets that don't have anything objectionable in them.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I also am intrigued by these claims. I'm going to wait and watch before I make any decisions. I certainly would prefer my pigs with less fillers and by products.

I'm familiar with the Youtuber you guys have been watching, and the fact that Bullseye appears to have no more stomach upset is very interesting to me. Sly also has chronic tummy upset and soft stools, and I have to wonder if these pellets might make a difference for him.
 

spy9doc

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I'm always open to learning more about cavy health, so I decided to order them and see what the boys' opinion is. I currently pay $3.59 for 5lb of pellets, so the Sherwood sticker price was a bit of a jolt. The shock was eased a bit by no shipping charges. I could have ordered through Amazon Prime, but the price is the same as the Sherwood site.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I'm always open to learning more about cavy health, so I decided to order them and see what the boys' opinion is. I currently pay $3.59 for 5lb of pellets, so the Sherwood sticker price was a bit of a jolt. The shock was eased a bit by no shipping charges. I could have ordered through Amazon Prime, but the price is the same as the Sherwood site.

I'm used to high prices for my pellets. Sherwood ships to Canada free as well apparently, as I ordered a sample bag. I'm looking forward to trying them out for Mr Sly.
 

spy9doc

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Well, the Sherwood pellets arrived today and I immediately switched from their usual pellets. Both of them gingerly approached the bowl and took a few tentative bites. Within about five minutes, Sparky came over to the side of the cage to "talk" to me as he does when something needs to be discussed. The Sherwood pellets aren't the same size and consistency as the old ones and likely smell quite different.

I took the hint! lol But, I mixed the Sherwood pellets with the old and all seems to be o.k. It will be interesting to see later in the day if they actually ate some of the new......or simply picked the old pellets out of the mix.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I ordered a sample bag to try with Sly. They very kindly explained that they couldn't ship to Canada, and they said they could cancel if I wanted unless I had a different option.
I have a friend with a U.S. address in Niagara Falls, and I provided them with that. Not only did they ship my order immediately, but included three more sample bags at no charge!
I have to say I'm very impressed so far with the company itself. I do hope that Sly gets some benefit from their product.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I ordered a sample bag to try with Sly. They very kindly explained that they couldn't ship to Canada, and they said they could cancel if I wanted unless I had a different option.
I have a friend with a U.S. address in Niagara Falls, and I provided them with that. Not only did they ship my order immediately, but included three more sample bags at no charge!
I have to say I'm very impressed so far with the company itself. I do hope that Sly gets some benefit from their product.

I wasn't quick enough to edit this before it locked. I made an error when I said that Sherwood Pet couldn't ship to Canada. They can, but it isn't free. A small box is $26.00 to ship to Canada. THAT'S when they asked if I had another option, as they know that shipping up here is exorbitant to say the least.
 

spy9doc

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Are the Sherwood pellets hard or are they softer and easier to break in half?

They seem very easy to break. In the picture below, the Sherwood pellets are those on the left and my regular Blue Seal are on the right. The Sherwood are smaller in diameter and decidedly green in color. The boys seem fine with the mixture, although I can't yet determine if they are eating both pellets or are selectively eating the old ones.

My husband undermines me with the children! I got up this morning only to discover that he had replaced both bowls with the old pellets because he felt that they hadn't "touched" their pellets overnight. I quickly switched them back to the mixture and they seem fine. As an aside, a TON of poops this morning. :crazy:


pellets2.jpg
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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My samples have arrived at my friend's PO Box already! They were just shipped yesterday.

Hopefully I will have them soon to try out with Mr Sly!
 

pigmommy89

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@spy9doc How have your pigs done on the Blue Seal pellets? I've been thinking about switching, but the calcium seemed a little high in those.
 

spy9doc

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How have your pigs done on the Blue Seal pellets? I've been thinking about switching, but the calcium seemed a little high in those.

I've been feeding Blue Seal for at least 7 yrs. and all my cavies have fared well on them.....and really like them. At one point I did try KMS and they were an immediate hit as well. Alas, I have had issues with KMS and their poor customer service in the past and wouldn't do business with them if I could find bluegrass hay elsewhere. The boys will eat orchard grass, but I prefer to feed bluegrass if I can get it. So, I have been a captive customer of KMS for hay.

Regarding Blue Seal, I too am less than impressed with the ingredients, but DO like the fact that they have a higher protein content. I began using them upon the recommendation of a couple of the top East Coast breeders some years ago. And, I can get them from my local feed store who seems to have a number of cavy clients. They buy (often) and the pellets are always fresh. They are purchased in a large bag and repackaged into 5lb bags......sold for $3.59.

My only complaint has been that they disintegrate almost too easily! The boys will drink water and immediately move to the pellet bowl to eat.........and back and forth. I consistently have to remove the top layer of pellets, stir the rest, and add a few new ones to keep them happy. On more than one occasion, the manager of the feed store has complained on my behalf to the manufacturer because of the waste that is generated both in this fashion and because the pellets disintegrate in the bag simply from handling.

The boys seem to be eating the Sherwood pellets in the mix and if this continues, I may try switching them to all Sherwood in about a week.
 

spy9doc

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Update on the Sherwood Pellets. I thought that the boys were making the transition to the new pellets and filled their bowls with mostly Sherwood pellets. They have the large Target bowl (immovable) on the main level and a ceramic one in the loft. Yesterday afternoon, I watched Chip pick up the ceramic bowl with his teeth and dump out the pellets.....on two occasions! I dont know if he was expressing his disgust, or got tired of searching for the old pellets and dumped everything out for convenience. That little man has always been a rascal! :crazy:

As the day wore on, Sparky was obviously hungry and agitated............I gave in. Put some of the old pellets in their bowl and all was well. Apparently, the transition is going to take longer than I anticipated.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Received my samples of Sherwood pellets today. Put a small bowl full of them in Sly's cage, a little away from his regular bowl.

He sniffed them and tried one, but I didn't expect him to eat any right away. He'd just had his veggies a couple hours ago so he's in his afternoon food coma.
 

spy9doc

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Apparently, Chip is still picking up the food bowl upstairs and dumping out the pellets. My husband went in to check on the boys first thing this morning (as he usually does) and most of the pellets were on the fleece outside the bowl.

The question arises, "Are you smarter than a guinea pig?" Hmmm, let's see.....I'm just about to go downstairs and get the second Target bowl for the loft. Now let's see the little rascal dump them out! lol
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Apparently, Chip is still picking up the food bowl upstairs and dumping out the pellets. My husband went in to check on the boys first thing this morning (as he usually does) and most of the pellets were on the fleece outside the bowl.

The question arises, "Are you smarter than a guinea pig?" Hmmm, let's see.....I'm just about to go downstairs and get the second Target bowl for the loft. Now let's see the little rascal dump them out! lol

You might want to set up a video camera for that one. I have a feeling you'd get some good footage out of Chip if you did that!
 
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