Diet Am I feeding enough?

[sarah0712]

So i've just my first piggies. They are having a full rack of hay in the morning and a bowl full of veggies, and then nuggets in the evening. Is this enough and am I feeding them at the right times? I try to make sure they always have plenty of hay and never run out. They do seem to be hyper all the time, up at all hours even with full tummies haha.

They also have vitamin C drops in their water

 

[bpatters]

Sarah, please don't put the vitamin C drops in the water. Vitamin C degrades almost instantly in water, and after an hour or so, does absolutely no good at all. Also, it may change the taste of the water so they don't drink enough. If they get enough veggies they shouldn't need extra vitamin C, and even if they do, you can take plain vitamin C tablet, crush it, and sprinkle it on their veggies.

They need a long strand grass hay all the time -- timothy, orchard grass, bluegrass or brome.

They each need 1/8 cup of good quality pellets per day (no colored bits or seeds in it -- Kleenmama and Oxbow have the best), about 1 cup of veggies per day, and an additional leaf of lettuce. Feeding two times is ok, three is better. They're foragers, and do better with smaller meals rather than larger.

What are you feeding them? See https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...y-nutrition-charts-poisonous-plants-list.html for what they can and can't eat and how often things should be fed.

 

[RubyRain]

She won't be able to get Kleenmama in the UK but I think maybe Oxbow is available.

The above list of veggies is great-you should read that.

The general rule is about 1 cup of veggies a day per pig. You can split that up as mentioned in the morning/evening or give it all at once but spreading it out is better.

And unlimited hay is the most important so keep doing that.

 

[bpatters]

Sorry, missed that she was in the UK.

 

[sarah0712]

They are having timothy hay. They have Pets at Home nuggets which they were on before I got them and they seem to love. The veggies they have are broccoli, cucumber, celery, carrot and parsley. They also have the odd bit of fruit every so often.

Will they be getting enough vitamin C without a supplement?

 

[SurfingPigs]

I would add cilantro (coriander) and green bell pepper to that list, and they definitely need some green or red leaf lettuce.

 

[SurfingPigs]

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

This link is a good reference if you are unsure of what else you could add to improve diet.

 

[bpatters]

Broccoli and cucumber shouldn't be fed more than a few times a week, and not much of it then. Both of them cause gas, and can result in a bloated guinea pig, which is a medical emergency.

They need red or green leaf lettuce and bell pepper every day. They can have cilantro very often, and parsley as well if they're less than six months old. If they're older than six months, cut back on the parsley because of the excess calcium. They need no more than a pinky-finger-sized piece of carrot a day -- it's too high in vitamin A and sugar to be given more often. You can also feed them a slice of tomato, endive, corn husks and silks, summer squash, and herbs -- dill, basil, etc. See https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...y-nutrition-charts-poisonous-plants-list.html for what you can feed them and how often.

Your diet as you have it listed does not have enough vitamin C for them -- the best places for them to get that are from green leafy vegetables.

 

[sarah0712]

Ok so now I'm confused.

I didn't know cucumber was gassy, I thought it was mainly water. They don't have much cucumber and broccolli but they love it.

So what counts as leafy veg other than lettuce? Seems like I am running out of things to feed that are readily available. Do herbs count as leafy veg? I looked at the table and quite a lot of the stuff I don't recognize. Don't know how readily available they are in the UK.

Didn't realise they would be so hard to feed, thought all veg had plenty of vitamin CI'm on a steep learning curve.

 

[sarah0712]

I am looking at adding green pepper, lettuce and cherry tomatos and reducing the amount of cucumber and broccolli. Would this give them enough vitamin C? I have now stopped putting the supplement in their water so am worried they're not getting enough :sad:

 

[grace&piggies]

Vitamin C supplements are just that - supplements. Only really needed when a piggy is sick and requiring nutrition to be supplemented in addition to a healthy diet.
If you are feeding them plenty of dark green leafy vegetables and things like capsicum which are high in vitamin c, alongside a pellet with stabilised vitamin c, you should have no trouble or cause for concern. Have a read of the links provided above, all the info is there

 

[bpatters]

The link I posted for you in answer #8, which you obviously haven't read, lists twenty-five leafy greens. Google is a very good way of finding out other names for things.

Lettuce, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, carrots and celery are not enough variety. You can add summer squash (I'll save you from having to google it -- that's courgettes), corn husks and silks, endive, green beans, small chunks of sweet potato, and many other things that are in the list referred to in post #8.

 

[sarah0712]

The link I posted for you in answer #8, which you obviously haven't read, lists twenty-five leafy greens. Google is a very good way of finding out other names for things.

Lettuce, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, carrots and celery are not enough variety. You can add summer squash (I'll save you from having to google it -- that's courgettes), corn husks and silks, endive, green beans, small chunks of sweet potato, and many other things that are in the list referred to in post #8.

As I said I have read the link. Most of those greens can't be fed daily which obviously I'm doing. Because veg is perishable and I don't have unlimited funds I'm looking for things I can feed everyday and things we eat in the house that they can have every so often.

We obviously call different things different names than the US. Sorry if this annoys you. Also some of the stuff above I have never really seen in shops. I don't how readily available in the UK, hence me asking. But nevermind.

There will be cucumber and broccolli in there as well. Surely 7 types of veg is enough variety?