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Pellets I Have No Clue?

Mandas

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I am looking to adopt two guinea pigs from my local humane society, but I want to get everything I need first. Now I wanted to make sure that I get the right pellets for them, but I haven't been able to find any without alfalfa. The only one I could find was Harringtons Optimum Guinea Pig Food, but it has all these weird ingredients. Sunflower Meal and Wheat Middlings? I'm so confused at what to do, I am from Canada, so I don't have everything, but please suggestions are needed.
 

magicpiggie

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Why don't you order Timothy based pellets online? If you can get oxbow. That's the best. ;)
 

Mandas

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Thank you @magicpiggie I found that brand at one of the stores.
 

lissie

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KMS is an online store for hay and pellets.
Ordering from them might be expensive to ship to Canada. I think they can (broken link removed), but not hay.
Here's the link: (broken link removed)
 

Mandas

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Thanks for the tips, I believe I'll stick with the oxbow brand and my local store :)
 

SardonicSmile

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I think Canada may have Living World Green Celluplus Adult (or young) guinea pig pellets.

I don't have a comparison to Oxbow of all ingredients, but the adult pellets are lower in calcium than Oxbow.

(broken link removed)
 

miniver

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I've never heard of these pellets but they look interesting. One concern is that they recommend 1/4 cup per day. That's twice what they should get.

*****
Feeding Guide:
Suitable for adult guinea pigs. Feeding requirements vary depending on breed and age; the average adult guinea pig will need approximately 20-25 g (1/4 cup) of pellets per day. Access to fresh hay and water should always be available to satisfy the demands of your adult guinea pig. Look for Living World Green Timothy Hay in addition to this diet. These are feeding guidelines; please contact your veterinarian for detailed feeding instructions.
Ingredients: Timothy grass, peas, tall fescue grass, orchard grass, potato meal, pea protein concentrate, whole flax seed, smooth brome grass, cellulose, canola oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols and rosemary extract), dicalcium phosphate, lecithin, calcium carbonate, yeast extract, choline chloride, DL-methionine, dried yeast, L-lysine, calcium L-ascorbyl-2-monophosphate, manganous sulfate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, vitamine E supplement, niacin, copper sulfate, d-calcium pantothenate, vitamin A supplement, riboflavin, calcium iodate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K), thiamine mononitrate, cobalt sulfate, folic acid, sodium selenite, vitamin D[SUB]3[/SUB] supplement, biotin, vitamin B[SUB]12[/SUB] supplement.
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein 13% (min), Crude Fat 3% (min), Crude Fibre 22% (max), Moisture 10% (max), Ash 9% (max), Calcium 0.4% (min), Calcium 0.6% (max), Phosphorus 0.3% (min), Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) (min) 595 mg/kg, Vitamin A 1,500 IU/kg (min), Vitamin D[SUB]3[/SUB] 600 IU/kg (min).
*******
 

SardonicSmile

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My piggies get these pellets and love them, they are just getting really hard to get over here.

I never really looked at how much they should get. My girlies get a bit in the morning and thats it, along with plenty veggies and 24/7 hay. They are both 4 years old now and seem to be doing quite well.
 

kairi26

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From what I've seen, many pet food manufacturers say that you should feed more than is actually recommended. Fish food is particularly bad about this. With the gp food, part of their recommendation might be based on the daily value of vitamins needed for a pig who doesn't get any veggies or vitamin supplements, and part of it may just be that they want you to waste food so you buy more of it.
 

Mandas

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Thanks Everyone! Has anyone heard of or used the little friends brand of adult guinea pig food?
 

SardonicSmile

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Thanks Everyone! Has anyone heard of or used the little friends brand of adult guinea pig food?

If you mean these
(broken link removed)


I would not feed them to my pigs. Its main ingredient is soybean hulls, and other ingredients are more soybeans...

And it is really high in calcium at 1,0%
 

frNzR4evr

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I am in Ontario, Canada, and I have been told that the KMS Timothy Hay & Pellets are the best quality, BUT last time I checked (July 2015) the cross-border shipping was prohibitive.

I buy Oxbow Timothy Hay 40 oz for $14 + tax and Oxbow Adult Cavy Cuisine Pellets 5lbs for $15 + tax online from https://www.renspets.com/small-animals/food.html?brand=4405 (free shipping on orders over $60) Oxbow's freeze dried Strawberry Treats 0.5 oz costs $7 + tax there

When you say that you want to have everything ready for them, you can find some comprehensive "starter kit" links that will keep you from omitting anything

Good for you, planning ahead like this, and adopting from the shelter! You'll find this forum highly addictive, I bet
 

lissie

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Based on their FAQ page, KMS can ship pellets anywhere in the world. They can't ship hay outside USA. You could email them for quotes.
 

gwennifer

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Hi, new member here - I have a question related to buying the KMS Pellets, so I hope you don't mind me asking it here instead of starting a new thread. I see I can purchase the pellets in a bucket with a scoop, which sounds ideal (since it's hard to find opaque, air-tight pet food storage containers and I see it's very important the containers be opaque in order to preserve the vitamin C in the pellets). However, the buckets are too tall to fit in my storage area. So I thought I could order just the 10 lb refill and find my own storage container. In researching other pet food storage, everything is listed by how many pounds of dog food they fit. I'm curious if volume-wise, dog food and guinea pig food would measure the same. Anybody have any experience? If anyone has bought the bucket of pellets from KMS before, can you tell me is it pretty full? Because I see the dimensions of the bucket, so if 10 lbs really fill it up, I'll see what volume of container I need to find in a different shape. Thanks.
 

pigger123

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Anybody have any experience? If anyone has bought the bucket of pellets from KMS before, can you tell me is it pretty full? Because I see the dimensions of the bucket, so if 10 lbs really fill it up, I'll see what volume of container I need to find in a different shape. Thanks.
10lbs of pellets fill the container all the way. Once I got a refill that didn't even all fit in the bucket.
 

frNzR4evr

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(since it's hard to find opaque, air-tight pet food storage containers and I see it's very important the containers be opaque in order to preserve the vitamin C in the pellets)

I have seen sturdy white plastic buckets with lids in multiple sizes sold at hardware stores for very low cost, probably less than the ones specifically designated for pet food storage

(also, I think it was exactly the right decision you made to ask on this thread instead of starting a new one, this conversation was on the topic)
 

kairi26

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As far as dog food to guinea pig food volume comparison goes, I put a 25 lb bag of guinea pig food in a container meant for 26 lbs of dog food and it filled about 2/3 of the container, maybe a bit less. It might vary between manufacturers, but guinea pig food tends to be more dense.
 

gwennifer

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Wow thank you all for the replies! I really appreciate the help.
 

J.Bosley

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Wahoo fellow Canadians! I am also in Ontario.

I use the Oxbow brand food and just grab it at the local pet store. It's not crazy expensive, though now I'm gonna check out that online store haha. Usually I buy whatever brand Timothy hay is on sale. It seems to last me quite a while between my Guinea Pig and my Rabbit (they are houses apart!!! No worries).

if you have any more questions just ask! Everyone on this forum is super friendly. I found all my supples for a C&C cage at Home Depot for decent prices too by the way. And welcome!
 
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