https://www.chewy.com/ware-critter-pops-small-animal-fun/dp/123703
Are these things necessary to keep the teeth in good health? They also eat pellets, veggies and vitamin C cookies from Oxbow
Hi
Hay, hay and more hay is what keeps the dental and the digestive system balanced and also takes the normal healthy life span from the lower end to the upper. A good diet can really make a difference of 1-2 years.
Guinea pigs have evolved in grasslands on a diet that is around 80% based on silica-rich and highly nutritious but tough grass fibre. The growth rate in their crucial grinding back teeth has evolved against the highly abrasive silica in the grass fibre (it is one of the fastest in all rodents) and their digestive system is designed to break down the grass fibre in two runs through the gut.
The 4 incisors at the front are self-sharpening against each other in a balanced dental system and are used for picking up and cutting. They should ideally have an even end and should not be pointing inwards. If you have slants, jagged edges or overgrowth, this is usually a sign that there is a pain issue on one side, restricted movement or overgrown back teeth.
Vegetables, pellets and treat all together only replace the supplementary role that wild forage used to have. Please do not overfeed and keep it closer to what they used to eat with pellets only making about 1 tablespoon per piggy per day to encourage them eating as much hay.
Instead of treats, concentrate on feeding enrichment activities like sprinkle feeding to tap into the foraging instinct, offering different hays (timothy, orchard and meadow for the main diet) and other speciality hays as treats, including some softer hays like some meadow or orchard varieties for romping in or add some dried or fresh forage etc.
Chewing toys are an enrichment but a log tunnel is generally healthier for gnawing on and has more purpose. In my own experience, most pet shop toys get ignored and a number are ignored. I would stay off anything with artificial colouring - that is clearly aimed at the buying owners but not at animal welfare.
Here is more very practical in-depth information and ideas:
Long-term balanced general and special needs guinea pig diets (looks at diet as a whole and at each food group in detail)
Enrichment ideas for guinea pigs
Here is the access link our very helpful New Owners information resource. Over 15 years of experience on this forum with tens of thousands of questions and personal owner experience stretching back in some cases half a century have gone into our various guides. We have made them a practical but how-to precise and easy follow as possible, addressing the most commonly asked questions and encountered problems. The guides format allows us to enlarge and update our guides at need or as we have time.
You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need as will take different things from some guides at different levels of experience:
Getting started: Essential information for new owners
