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How Much? One bowl or two

Chrstyfrst08

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Cavy Slave
Joined
Jul 22, 2018
Posts
7
Joined
Jul 22, 2018
Messages
7
We have two females. When we got them they were eating out of one tiny bowl maybe the size of a 1/4 cup. I have gotten them a bowl each, but not sure exactly how much fresh fruits/veggies and pellets to give them. I have been giving them 1/8 cup of Oxbow Pellets for adult guinea pigs and chop up a small amount of romaine lettuce and a carrot. I also give them an occasional slice of bell peppers, apple, melon, strawberries, blueberries, etc. I have a whole list of things they can eat and serving sizes and how many times a week to give it, so I am trying to abide by that.

I ask because they never seem to finish their food and with the pellets, they are getting about a 1/2 cup of food a day. I want my guinea pigs to be healthy and happy. They have unlimited hay and water of course. Plenty of things to chew on and places to hide. Should I just be feeding them out of one bowl or is a bowl each ok?
 

piglover.nation

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Cavy Gazer
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Jul 11, 2018
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Jul 11, 2018
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They should each be having 1 full cup of veggies per day as well as 1/8 cup Timothy hay based pellets each per day. :) You can put all of the veggies in one pile, or in two separate piles if one of your pigs isn't getting a fair share. My girls share two bowls, one for pellets and one for veggies and they do just fine, except when Paisley wants the pellets all to herself. This is not a problem because she will only eat a few pellets and then leave and Bibi has her fair share. If one pig is getting the majority of food, then put it in separate bowls. I have two sows and a boar. The ladies will demolish all of their salad within an hour (except for certain veggies they are picky about haha), but my boar will work on his salad little by little throughout the day. If your pigs don't finish all of their salad, remove what they haven't eaten in the morning. I think if they finish or not depends on the pig. Mine rarely finish a whole bowl of pellets in a day (always remove any uneaten pellets or veggies the next day). I hope this helped!
 

wheekermommy

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Cavy Slave
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May 2, 2017
Posts
181
Joined
May 2, 2017
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So a few things, first question what brand of pellets are you feeding? You want high quality timothy pellets, no seeds or different color pieces. A good brand most use is Oxbow, there also is KMS you can order online which is good. Each of your sows should get 1/8 cup of pellets daily. I prefer to feed in different dishes spaced away from each other. If you have a large bowl you could share but mine prefer eating away from each other.

For vegetables you should increase bell pepper amount to daily and 1/8 bell pepper slice/sow. They need it for daily vitamin c. Another good source of vitamin c is cilantro. If you feed the Oxbow pellets they do have vitamin c as well but you should still feed either the bell pepper/cilantro. This is especially important if they are not eating all of the high quality pellets. For bell pepper you can feed any color but red has the most vitamin c (but also most sugar).

Speaking of sugar, fruits should be fed very sparingly. Fruits should only be given 1-2x/week at most in small amounts, such as a little piece of watermelon or one berry. Veggies on the other hand should be fed daily and 1 cup/sow. Some veggies can be fed daily others mixed throughout the week. Here are examples of the veggies I feed. Daily:red/green leaf lettuce, bell pepper, zucchini with either radicchio/endive,/escarole. Rotated throughout the week: corn husk/silk, dandelion greens, cilantro, parsley, carrot, cucumber, small fruit. I usually save fruit/carrots for awards after nail trims and their weekly weights :)

I divide up their veggies in two servings, one in the AM, one in the PM. I used to have bowls in the cage but now I just feed them in a pile. They don't seem to mind hehe

Just out of curiosity what veggie list are you referencing?

Oh and as for finishing the pellets don't be too concerned. The biggest things are them eating hay (it files teeth) and their veggies, especially bell pepper for vitamin c. Mine did't finish their pellets at first but once I switched to a high quality pellet they gobbled them up.



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