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Nutrition What do you feed your guinea pigs on a daily?

miniver

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Bearded dragon! Very interesting.

I appreciate the chance to discuss all the choices we make for our pets' care, even with all the differing opinions. I wouldn't know about all the options available if it were not for forums like this one. I can't imagine what would happen if we all listen to some of the "pet stores" out there.
 

ZiggyPig

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Shieme

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@CavyTV, I can see your point on pellets. I tried quoting you but my iPad decided it didn't want to select the portion I wanted, LOL. The current ones I use don't swell, they fall apart but I have seen that reaction. It's like the pellets are trying to fill their tummies up. I know that's what dry dog food does. It's like bread does to us.
 

CavyTV

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Some pellets swell more than others. You can test this by putting some pellets in a small bowl of water and leaving them in there for maybe 10 minutes. You'll notice they double or even triple their size.
 

Shieme

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I have. My current pellets just fall apart nicely. Oxbow didn't. They swelled twice the size but was very smushie (misspelled). As I said before, each to their own. We as parents to our fur babies have to decide what we think is best. Some things though are totally wrong (not pointing to you), like buying petstore treats. I know we agree on that! Honey, sugar, molasses and seals, no no. And yogurt treats.
 
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bpatters

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There is no link between pellets and bloat. Swollen pellets do not cause bloat in any way, shape or form.

Bloat is production of gas in the intestines caused by fermenting food when the movement of the intestines slows down or stops. It can be aggravated, or even initiated, by feeding foods that alter the balance of good/bad bacteria in the gut, such as an overload of sugar or of too many gas-producing vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, kale, etc).

There are two things to worry about with pellets: 1) Do they have colored bits/nuts/seeds in them? 2) Are they too high in calcium? A good quality pellet (KMS Hayloft, Oxbow) will have neither.

There's also no guarantee that not feeding pellets will prevent urinary stones. I lost a pig to a bladder stone that hadn't had pellets in years, and was on an otherwise low-calcium diet. If the pig is genetically prone to stones, there's really nothing you can do to prevent them.

Those of you who feed your pigs pellets can continue to do so with the assurance that they will not cause your pig to be bloated.
 

pigmommy89

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I've fed pellets for 18 years and never had a problem. I'm more concerned about missing an essential vitamin or mineral by relying on myself to prepare a fully balanced diet of vegetables.
 

CavyTV

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It's nice hearing others' opinions. We do what we think is best for our little furbabies. I personally like to keep it "natural" for my own and even if some believe pellets are not linked to bloat or bladder stones in any way I will still choose to believe otherwise and the same goes for everyone else as we are entitled to our own opinion. What matters is that we are giving the care, love, and attention our precious piggies deserve. I don't know about you guys, but my guinea pigs are one of the most important things in the world to me and I'm always thinking about them. They are like my children, just with fur lol
 
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