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General Separating bonded adult & babies for feeding?

acefebreze

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Hey all,

I have 3 bonded guinea pigs (1 adult and 2 babies) currently in a 3x4 C&C, so space isn't an issue for them.

In order to feed the babies alfalfa pellets and make sure the adult doesn't eat them, I'm planning to split the space into two 2x3's to separate the adult and the babies.

To prevent the adult from feeling lonely by itself, the dividing panels between the two cages won't be lined with coroplast. This is done to make sure that the adult can still smell/sniff the scent of the babies and vice versa, so they won't lose their bonded relationship.

Each 2x3 cage will have its own timothy hay, hideouts, fresh vegetables, water bottles, enrichment, etc.

Lastly, I've read online (and tried myself) to simply feed the babies the alfalfa pellets when they are out for floor time instead of separating the babies and adult permanently, but they are simply not eating enough alfalfa pellets and I'm worried they aren't getting the calcium they need.

I've also thought about giving the babies high-calcium vegetables like parsley instead of the alfalfa pellets during floor time to encourage calcium intake, but I still have a giant bag of alfalfa pellets left and it'd feel like such a waste of food to not use them and throw them away.

I've also thought about separating the cages only during feeding time. However, this method wouldn't work since the babies need unlimited pellets while the adult needs a fixed amount of pellets, and having them separated temporarily would be too much of a hassle as it would need to be done multiple times in a day to ensure that the babies have constant/unhindered access to their alfalfa pellets while the adult doesn't.

Any and all advice on my separated cage idea would be appreciated. Thanks!
 

spy9doc

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I have 3 bonded guinea pigs (1 adult and 2 babies) currently in a 3x4 C&C, so space isn't an issue for them.

I hate to tell you but this cage simply won't be large enough as the babies grow. Don't even THINK of dividing the cage for any reason!

Very young cavies don't absolutely need alfalfa pellets and will do fine on regular good quality ones. If you are concerned about wasting the pellets, donate them to a rescue. Insofar as calcium is concerned, yes, a sprig of parsley will give them extra calcium, but if the pellets are quality and you are feeding all of them a variety of veggies, they will be o.k. As a note, I don't believe in limiting pellets for cavies. They get too hungry between feeding times. Mine snack throughout the day, but I have never had an overweight cavy.

And, again, I urge you NOT to divide the cage and make it even smaller. Your cavies will suffer because of it.
 

acefebreze

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I hate to tell you but this cage simply won't be large enough as the babies grow. Don't even THINK of dividing the cage for any reason!

Very young cavies don't absolutely need alfalfa pellets and will do fine on regular good quality ones. If you are concerned about wasting the pellets, donate them to a rescue. Insofar as calcium is concerned, yes, a sprig of parsley will give them extra calcium, but if the pellets are quality and you are feeding all of them a variety of veggies, they will be o.k. As a note, I don't believe in limiting pellets for cavies. They get too hungry between feeding times. Mine snack throughout the day, but I have never had an overweight cavy.

And, again, I urge you NOT to divide the cage and make it even smaller. Your cavies will suffer because of it.

Thanks for the advice., and I'll keep the cage situation as-is.

Also, do you think it'd be okay to mix the alfalfa pellets and the timothy pellets in a 1:1 ratio for feeding all 3 guinea pigs?
 

bpatters

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Is the adult the mom of the two babies? If so, they can all have alfalfa pellets until a couple of weeks after the babies are weaned. But don't feed the mom alfalfa after that.

You can feed the pups the same timothy pellets as the mom and just take them (or the sow) out of the cage and give the babies a couple of small sprigs of parsley.
 

acefebreze

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Is the adult the mom of the two babies? If so, they can all have alfalfa pellets until a couple of weeks after the babies are weaned. But don't feed the mom alfalfa after that.

You can feed the pups the same timothy pellets as the mom and just take them (or the sow) out of the cage and give the babies a couple of small sprigs of parsley.

Nope! The two babies are twins, and the adult was adopted later.

So, you're saying I shouldn't feed the adult ANY alfalfa pellets, right?
 

bpatters

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That's right, no alfalfa for the adult. Just plop the pups in a laundry basket and give them parsley.
 

acefebreze

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That's right, no alfalfa for the adult. Just plop the pups in a laundry basket and give them parsley.

Would spinach work instead of parsley? I have my groceries delivered every week due to the quarantine-in-place situation with a limited selection of vegetables available (as can be expected since I'm not shopping in-person), and based on https://www.guinealynx.info/chart_print.html, spinach is the only high-calcium vegetable available (they don't have parsley).
 

Artista

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Would spinach work instead of parsley? I have my groceries delivered every week due to the quarantine-in-place situation with a limited selection of vegetables available (as can be expected since I'm not shopping in-person), and based on https://www.guinealynx.info/chart_print.html, spinach is the only high-calcium vegetable available (they don't have parsley).

I think spinach may cause gas. I don't eat parsley but get it anyway for my 2 mo old.
 

Kelsie

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My experience with giving spinach may have just been a sensitivity with my particular pig, but I once gave just a small leaf and she became sick from it. It made her go off of her food for most of the day. It seemed like once it worked out of her system she was fine. After that, I never gave her spinach again. That was the only vegetable that ever affected her that way.
 

acefebreze

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Spinach is high in vitamin A, and you have to be a little careful with that. You could get by with giving a little of it, but take a look here and see if anything else is possible:

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

Spinach and Organic Romaine Hearts are the only two I see that will make up for the babies' need for additional calcium. In order to not overload them with Vitamin A and oxalates, I'll just stick with the Organic Romaine Hearts as their daily calcium-enriching vegetable.
 

bpatters

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Once they get past the baby stage, take them off the romaine. While it's not significantly higher in calcium than other lettuces, in some pigs it causes excessive calcium excretion that can lead to bladder sludge and stones. It doesn't happen with all pigs, but with enough that I wouldn't want to run the risk with mine.
 

ItsaZoo

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I don't know where you live, acefebreze, but if there are still dandelions in your area, the leaves are an option for calcium and vitamin C. I'm in central MN and we still have dandelion greens here, but not for long.
 
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