Diet Are homemade baked yam chips okay for guinea's?

[MinxFnx]

My neighbor made some for us to eat and decided to share with my piggies and was wondering what cooked vegitables were okay for my boys or not....I don't think yams would hurt them if they were cooked but what about other kinds of veggies for my little ones?

 

[HannibalLecter]

There is no point in feeding cooked vegetables, they have lost both the enzymes & many vitamins/minerals they need and would only serve to lessen their hay intake. Just stick to 1 cup of a good, fresh, varied vegetable diet, that's all the treats they need.

 

[MinxFnx]

Well I was thinking more along the lines for them to have things to naw on for teeth purposes....but thanks for reminding me that the vegitables wouldn't really have nutritional value...

 

[HannibalLecter]

What keeps their incisors & molars down is hay, gnawing on other things do very little if anything at all to their strong teeth. A hay stuffed toilet roll, a hay filled brown paper bag or cardboard box would be better if they enjoy to chew on things.

 

[bpatters]

The main thing they need to keep their teeth worn down evenly is long strand grass hay. Cardboard or wooden structures can be placed in their cages, which may help wear their incisors down. But my two are 2.5 years old, have wooden fiddlesticks in their cage which have barely been touched, and their front teeth are fine.

 

[Dee_E]

Not trying to hijack this thread, but why does hay file the teeth better than other chewables?

 

[HannibalLecter]

Not trying to hijack this thread, but why does hay file the teeth better than other chewables?

The microscopic surface of hay grinds the teeth down, quite like sandpaper. Even if you would hypothetically get a pig to actually chew on a similar texture in a chew toy, it would only target the incisors and not the molars.

(broken link removed)

 

[Dee_E]

Thanks very much!

Fascinating!

 

[bpatters]

Actually, unless I'm mistaken, it's the silica in the hay that grinds the teeth down. That may be the microscopic surface of the hay, I don't know about that. But I was under the impression that it was just part of the hay.

 

[lissie]

The silica is on the surface. If you read the whole page, it says that texture is the silica.
It's pretty cool to see those close-up pics.

 

[Dee_E]

It certainly is, answers many questions!