Pellets Do I need to wash pellets and are these good quality pellets?

joeyandrufus · Sep 24, 2015

Do I need to wash pellets before i give it to my babies. The pellets look really dirty(dusty rather). I have never seen one in real so.
Anyway I live in india and its really hard to find pellets. i finally found it and i m feeding it to my piggies. they really love it.
surprisingly its very cheap. is it cheap where do you live too?
can you also tell me if its a good quality pellet since i bought it loose.
Thankyou

Do I need to wash pellets and are these good quality pellets?

jaycriae · Sep 24, 2015

You don't need to wash them, but if they're too dusty you might want to put them through a strainer or something if you have them and let some of the dust out- to me it looks like the dust is caused by the pellets being partially crushed, probably during travel since they were loose. The dust isn't really dirty, but it could make your piggies sneeze and cough a bit if they breathe it in too much, and make kind of a mess. It's not a huge deal though.

And it's hard to tell for sure what kind of quality they are, but the fact that they don't have any extra seeds or random junk and are instead a solid brown color is a good sign! It's possible the yellow stuff is corn, though, which is very sugary. If it's the only thing available though, that's better than nothing, so just make sure to avoid giving them any sugary fruits to help make up for it.
The most important thing that's pretty hard to tell by just looking at them is whether they're timothy-hay based, so just in case they're not you can give your piggies lots of extra hay to make up for it, and if you have access to grass that hasn't been sprayed with anything, you can wash some of that and they will love it also.

Where I live in the US it depends on the brand and size of a bag a lot, they're not really cheap but they're not too expensive either. It's nice to hear that your piggies love it and are eating well!

joeyandrufus · Sep 24, 2015

jaycriae said:
You don't need to wash them, but if they're too dusty you might want to put them through a strainer or something if you have them and let some of the dust out- to me it looks like the dust is caused by the pellets being partially crushed, probably during travel since they were loose. The dust isn't really dirty, but it could make your piggies sneeze and cough a bit if they breathe it in too much, and make kind of a mess. It's not a huge deal though.

And it's hard to tell for sure what kind of quality they are, but the fact that they don't have any extra seeds or random junk and are instead a solid brown color is a good sign! It's possible the yellow stuff is corn, though, which is very sugary. If it's the only thing available though, that's better than nothing, so just make sure to avoid giving them any sugary fruits to help make up for it.
The most important thing that's pretty hard to tell by just looking at them is whether they're timothy-hay based, so just in case they're not you can give your piggies lots of extra hay to make up for it, and if you have access to grass that hasn't been sprayed with anything, you can wash some of that and they will love it also.

Where I live in the US it depends on the brand and size of a bag a lot, they're not really cheap but they're not too expensive either. It's nice to hear that your piggies love it and are eating well!

You are right. its not dirty. its the pellet crushed. Also i dont mind separating the corn. yeah i would make up for it too.
I m pretty sure it alfafa based cause nobody freaking knows what timothy hay is but to be honest they didnt know what pellet is too.Luckily a person came on the shop and asked if they have mase(idk thats how they call it in bengali) and i saw those were pellets so i m not sure either. i m still looking for hay. i have a huge lawn but my rabbits died cause my stupid gardener puts pesticides and never informs us. i had to lose my bunnies cuz of him

and thank yoU!!

Fay · Sep 24, 2015

Are there ingredients on the bag? Or do you have a brand name? If you have a list of ingredients we can give a better insight in how good or bad the pellets are. If you're unable to find good pellets you can always consider looking into a pellet free diet of just vegetables and hay. There are some people on these forums who follow that kind of diet and whom might be able to give some advice on that.

jaycriae · Sep 24, 2015

That's too bad about your bunnies. I know some people grow grass indoors in trays so they can be sure that it's not treated, you could always do that, though it's less convenient than just buying it.

joeyandrufus · Sep 25, 2015

no there's no brand name or ingredients known. unfortunately i cannot find hay too so i m trying my best. lets see. thanks!

joeyandrufus · Sep 25, 2015

you are right!

Fay · Sep 25, 2015

Hay is the single most important part of a guinea pigs diet and they need unlimited amounts of it, available to them 24/7. It keeps their digestive system going and their teeth healthy which are extremely important. I would suggest prioritizing finding a source of Timothy or any grass hay (make sure it's hay not straw). Or finding a none pesticide source of fresh grass until you can find the hay.

Secondly, since you don't know what is in the pellets it could potentially be unhealthy or even dangerous. My suggestion would be is looking into a pellet free diet for the time being while you figure out what is in those pellets or finding another pellet where you know the ingredients of.

Another important part of their diet aside from feeding them pellets and hay is vegetables and vitamin C. If you go for the pellet free diet you will have to feed them even more veggies and more varied to make sure they get all the nutrients they need.

I 'think' @bpatters has some experience with it and might be able to advise you on that. However, you will want to look into a healthy balanced diet that includes vegetables regardless. If you haven't yet, check out this handy veggie chart. It tells you how much to feed of what (make sure to scroll down to the second post beneath it for further important details):

https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List

Some further info about diet:

https://www.guinealynx.info/diet.html

You're doing a great job by the way, considering the difficulties you face with finding good products. Kudos to you for doing what you can for your pigs

.

joeyandrufus · Sep 25, 2015

thanks. i do give them vitamin c supplement. i ll do my best.

joeyandrufus · Sep 25, 2015

the mase u said is pronounced as mash (i m a bengali,grew up in a different city though but i know all too well just not the pure bengali) and no its definately not maize. thanks! @spy9doc

joeyandrufus · Sep 26, 2015

i appreciate it @spy9doc
thanks!

Cavylier · Oct 5, 2015

I'm a bit late to this thread but...

If you are looking for a good quality pellet available in India, Zupreem Nature's Promise Timothy Naturals Guinea Pig Food is available on (broken link removed) . If you're looking for something cheaper, Sunseed Guinea Pig Pellet Food is also available but the ingredients aren't that great. Both these pellets do not contain seeds or coloured bits.

But I would definitely recommend buying a packaged feed because I doubt that any loose pelleted feed in India is of good quality. At least from the pictures, it looks as though it is made up of mainly corn/maize which is not appropriate for a guinea pig.

Guinea pig food is not very expensive if you are feeding them the right quantity i.e. 1/8th to 1/4th cup per day. My bag of Zupreem lasts for quite a long time. Their diet mainly consists of hay/grass and vegetables so make sure that you are feeding lots of those. I have tried the pelletless diet (more out of necessity that anything else; there have been periods when no pellets were available) and guinea pigs tend to lose weight on it. India does not have very good vets for small animals so I do not like to risk the weight loss or any other issues that may arise.

joeyandrufus · Oct 5, 2015

thanks alot @Cavylier
but i did find a good quality pellet for them

m so happy!

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Pellets Do I need to wash pellets and are these good quality pellets?

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