food/bedding

[agpiggy]

i was at the pet shop today with my dad buying fish and i went to look at the guinea pigs. in there tank/cages they have food as bedding and the rats have these pellet thingys! is it possible to use food as bedding or is this wrong?

 

[critterlover]

What kind of food were they using as bedding?

 

[agpiggy]

im not quite sure, it was a mix of somesort it had grains, thin bits of hay(not alot) and a few pellets and stuff and the rats had these dark pellets

 

[critterlover]

I don't know what the grains are. Maybe the hay was leftover timothy hay meant for eating? I think they like to snuggle in it too. Many beddings look similar to food pellets but are not meant for eating.That's what they use in the pet store I go to. Here's a link with 10 different kinds of bedding: https://exoticpets.about.com/cs/guineapigs/tp/tpbedding.htm

 

[agpiggy]

it didnt look like timothy hay and it had seeds in it too

 

[critterlover]

Maybe the hay was alfalfa or orchard grass. Alfalfa is fine if the pigs are under 1 year. Cavies aren't supposed to be given nuts, seeds, dried fruits etc. The seeds don't sound good. Cavies have been known to choke on sunflower seeds, for instance.

 

[agpiggy]

yeh i dont know how old the piggie was and yes seeds are bad!!!

 

[critterlover]

You can always mention it to the pet store next time you go. They probably sell guinea pig food with seeds in it so they don't know any better.

 

[agpiggy]

yeh i think i will! thanks heaps

 

[mncavylover]

I agree, the only way that you can ifnd out for sure is just to ask. There's no way that we can tell.

 

[piggielover92]

At one petstore that we go to, they use these dries sawdust pellet looking things. Could that be what you are talking about? I would ask them.

 

[Piglet]

food for pellets. Thats weird, its probably just some sort of bedding

 

[agpiggy]

At one petstore that we go to, they use these dries sawdust pellet looking things. Could that be what you are talking about? I would ask them.

not really they were like really dark but i dunno maybe?

 

[loves2travel]

i think i know what you are talking about, and it isnt food. Around here, we have something called Woody's Pellet Bedding. Its not edible, but it juts loks like a darker collored pellet. It is meant as a bedding. I think this is what you saw.

 

[mncavylover]

Any updates?

 

[CavyCrazyMom]

It's probably pellet bedding, not pellet food. There are about 5 different pellet bedding that I can think of off the top of my head, and a few of them could be confused with food pellets. Like yesterdays news, it's a dark pellet, kinda big and fat though. But there are all kinds of aspen pellets,and pine pellets...that's what I',m thinking it is. Food costs a lot, and I can't see that they would use it as bedding, you know? BUT..I don't think pigs should live on it at all! I think it's too rough on thier feet, so you might want to let them know (kindly) about it next time you're in. Some times people just don't know it's bad for them.

 

[Piglet]

Oh, it could be woody pet. That bedding looks like little pellets

 

[critterlover]

Pellet bedding is bad for their feet? I didn't know that. I just switched to
Crown Animal Bedding which is like Yesterday News and is made of pellets. What's
better for their feet?

 

[Piglet]

Pellet bedding is not always bad. When some pellets receive moisture they fluff out into normal bedding.

 

[CavyCrazyMom]

yeah, but if it fluffs that much you have to take it out or it'll cause mold and attract flies and such. I know that pellets do that, as I have to clean out my birds cages every two days (at work) and when I scrub the perches, I soak the pellets with the water comming off the perch, and not only does it take a lot of water to make it break up, but it stays wet too. I wish I could use pellets because they rock, but I would never recomend it for pigs as I do think its bad for their feet. think about it...if you had to walk on something half the size of your feet, wouldn't it hurt after awhile?? It has to be uncomfortable for them. I don't know...just my oppinion.