|
|
Post by bobbieszoo on Aug 30, 2015 4:24:46 GMT
Howdy all. I used to raise piggies MANY, MANY years ago and have been out of the game for a long time. Hubby finally relented and I picked up two little girls today. Wanted to double check on something...In "the old days", we always added a chewable vit. C to the water bottle. Should we still do that? I picked up a bag of the Carefresh Complete Food (and timothy hay), but not sure if I'll stick w/that in the long run. There was a coupon for a free bag on the Carefresh bedding. The Gerty Guinea Pig looks good, will have to compare better next time I need some.
|
|
|
|
Post by bazookagoof on Aug 30, 2015 15:26:27 GMT
In "the old days", we always added a chewable vit. C to the water bottle. Should we still do that? From what I've read, you probably don't want to do that. If a piggie finds the water tasting weird because of the vitamin tablet, it will stop drinking the water. I just try to make sure my piggies are getting what they need through their food (and some chewable treats with vitamin C in them.)  |
|
|
|
Post by jolovespiggies on Aug 30, 2015 19:12:49 GMT
Burgess Excel is very good food for for piggies love.
Hugs
JO xx
|
|
|
|
Post by 3piggles on Aug 30, 2015 19:54:29 GMT
No vitamins in the water. Vitamins should be in their food. Check www.guinealynx.com for their fruit/veggie chart. Avoid high calcium and high vitamin A foods. It's a great way to plan a piggy shopping list, and to know which of your foods you can share with them Cherry tomatoes are a good high vitamin C food for piggies. I give them one of the smallest ones possible. Oranges are also good sources of C. Again, one per day. If you use a large orange, cut one segment into pieces for the pigs. Small oranges such as Cuties can be served at a segment per pig. The acid in citrus and tomatoes can cause mouth sores, so minimal serving sizes. Oxbow Cavy Cuisine is probably the best in the US. Carefresh was more expensive, and if I recall correctly, had more calcium. Since too much calcium causes stones, which are not only painful, but can be fatal or at least really expensive to have removed, it's best to keep the calcium as low as possible. It's in the hay, pellets and a lot of treats, so they get more than enough. Post pictures of the girls |
|
|
|
Post by bobbieszoo on Aug 30, 2015 22:23:27 GMT
Post pictures of the girls Posted pics in the "meet and greet" section. Ain't they cute? |
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Aug 31, 2015 11:06:44 GMT
Hello and welcome to Wheekers and welcome back to the world of guinea pigs!
Any mixed foods aren't great - they contain stuff the pigs don't need and can also allow guinea pigs to feed selectively (just pick out the bits they like which may not be the healthy bits). Burgess is a decent UK brand (not sure where you are?), but it is alfalfa based and as 3piggles said, many people prefer to avoid feeds high in calcium in anything but young pigs as they can contribute to bladder/ kidney stones developing. Oxbow Cavy Cuisine is probably the best but it is more expensive, especially in the UK.
|
|
|
|
Post by jolovespiggies on Aug 31, 2015 19:50:34 GMT
Sorry, where are my manners? A very warm welcome to our happy family love. I will look for your piggies in the right section.
Hugs
Jo xx
|
|
|
|
Post by bobbieszoo on Sept 1, 2015 4:14:39 GMT
Hello and welcome to Wheekers and welcome back to the world of guinea pigs! Any mixed foods aren't great - they contain stuff the pigs don't need and can also allow guinea pigs to feed selectively (just pick out the bits they like which may not be the healthy bits). Burgess is a decent UK brand (not sure where you are?), but it is alfalfa based and as 3piggles said, many people prefer to avoid feeds high in calcium in anything but young pigs as they can contribute to bladder/ kidney stones developing. Oxbow Cavy Cuisine is probably the best but it is more expensive, especially in the UK. Yeah, after reading the ingredients, I wasn't too impressed, will not buy again. Though Carefresh food isn't the stuff w/all the "goodies", it does have a lot of corn, corn in the pellets and big hunks of it, which of course no one eats. We do have Oxbow here in the States. Expensive...gotta be better than the $100 a WEEK I spend on dog food! They only eat the best...most of them have issues of one sort or another. And we won't talk about the approx. $140 a month in bird food, which, as you know, birds waste most of, so our wild quail and what ever else it running about out there are well fed from what I dump every night and what ends up on the cage bottom keeps the rats at the dump very well fed!! So far, the girls are more interested in their timothy hay. Working on veggies, but I don't think they know what those are yet. |
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Sept 1, 2015 12:39:32 GMT
Your pet food bills are certainly high! Guinea pigs don't need many pellets - hay is the most important thing for them to be eating. So even if you buy a luxury brand, if they just have a small handful a day, it shouldn't rack up like the other pets' grub does!
If guinea pigs haven't been fed veg early on, they can be very suspicious when they're introduced. Hopefully with two of them, competition will egg them on to try stuff - even if they don't actually want something themselves, letting someone else potentially take it can be hard for them... Just keep on offering small amounts of a variety of veg and I bet they'll soon be tucking in, although none of mine like courgettes/ zuccini!
|
|
|
|
Post by 3piggles on Sept 1, 2015 18:56:28 GMT
The first ingredient should be Timothy hay. There are a lot of fillers in any dry food, to hold together the many ingredients. Alfalfa-based pellets are best for baby pigs and nursing moms, but not for older pigs who just don't need all that energy. It can be used to help a pig that is recovering from an illness that caused it to lose a lot of weight, but otherwise, try to stick with timothy hay. Hay is where you don't want to save money. All they hay they can eat, and Oxbow Western Timothy, Small Pet Select.com Western Timothy or KMS Hayloft.com Western Timothy are the best in the US. I don't know what's available in other countries. If you have a feed/grain store within a reasonable drive, they tend not to keep their hay in warehouses where it gets moldy before it reaches the shelves. I've bought moldy hay from Petco and Petsmart, but not from Blue Seal Feeds or Agway. Their prices are also sometimes a bit lower, because they do a lot of farm/agricultural business. Even if buying a bale of field hay from a local farmer is more within your budget, as long as the pigs get a lot of hay, it's better than too little of the best hay. Pigs also love to burrow in and bounce around the hay, so they appreciate any extra hay they get. I buy a big bag of Oxbow Cavy Cuisine for about $15, which lasts me about 3 months with 3 pigs. I buy about a bag of Oxbow Western Timothy every 2-3 weeks for about $20, and I buy bags of hay at the rescue for $4/bag, that last about a week. So about $37/mo, and I could do without the hay from the rescue, but the pigs really love it, and it helps the rescue I have yet to meet a pig that doesn't like Romaine lettuce. Mine also eat corn husks and silks, a cherry tomato each day for vitamin C, a small serving of Fennel/Anise each morning to keep their digestion healthy, cucumbers which they love, a leaf each of Belgian Endive at night as a bedtime treat, and the ends of carrots and peppers and other veggies I'm using in my meals. |
|
|
|
Post by melgo on Sept 9, 2015 23:39:42 GMT
My guys are like your girls bobbieszoo - They are most interested in their timothy hay and then absolutely go bonkers for cucumber! I agree with 3piggles on SmallPetSelect.com...they have good service and the best Timothy Hay. I buy their 60lbs 2nd Cutting Perfect Blend Timothy Hay for $79.99 (http://store.smallpetselect.com/60lbs-2nd-cutting-perfect-blend-timothy-hay-p6.aspx) but they do have smaller sizes too if that would be too much at once for you (don't know if you have any other little animals that would use it). |
|
