Balanced diet for guinea pigs?

[squigpopwinchoc]

Hiya, I have an IC guinea pig as some of you may know. I am looking to reduce the calcium content for her in her diet so that it may help her symptom of squeaking when peeing/pooing. I have read on here about the diet that includes gem lettuce, celery, coriander, spring greens (I am going to use cabbage), green bean and pepper. I usually feed all 4 of my piggies all of that except cabbage and green bean and feed them kale and parsley/carrot instead. how slowly should i introduce the cabbage and green bean? I don't want to give them diarrhea or anything. Also, are these veg okay to feed an IC guinea pig everyday? I'm doing as much as I can to help her symptoms. Quite a few of my piggies are also have white,chalky pee so i really want to try and reduce the calcium as much as i can but i have also seen a youtube video that you shouldn't feed healthy guinea pigs a low calcium diet? thanks for reading

 

[Siikibam]

Kale and parsley are high in calcium so shouldn’t be fed often. Given you’re trying to cut down on calcium I would not feed them. If you do, maybe once a month and a very small amount each. Carrots are high in sugar so should be an occasional treat.

Pellets and water are the largest contributors to calcium so filtering water and keeping to a tablespoon per piggy per day goes a long way.

Cabbage should be introduced slowly. A small amount once a week. But I wouldn’t give much even when they’re used to it - too much can cause bloating. Green beans you don’t have to introduce as such. Give them a bean each maybe once or twice a week and see how they go.

 

[Piggies&buns]

You simply introduce a new veg slowly, a small amount at a time to give their system time to adjust.
The green bean is fine, but cabbage can lead to gas so you need to be careful using it. Kale and parsley are high in calcium so need to be kept to one type once per week only, or cut out altogether if piggies are having issues with calcium.
However, pellets and unfiltered drinking water contain most calcium. Even the lowest calcium pellets contain more calcium than kale, so keeping pellets limited and ensuring all water is filtered will go a long way to keeping calcium intake down. It’s fine to keep calcium low, not completely cut it out, but if you are seeing lots of calcium pees regularly then you will want to act to amend the diet.

 

[squigpopwinchoc]

Thank you for your replies. I am going to cut out parsley, kale and carrots for that matter. I was advised this week to start using filtered water which arrived yesterday and I started using that. I have 4 piggies, so if I put 4 tablespoons in their bowl everyday will they share it equally? I am used to just filling the bowl to the top and topping it up about once every week. They have pets at home nuggets as it is the only one they will eat. Do you have any other reccomendations for a better spring green to use instead of cabbage? Thank you guys for replying

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you for your replies. I am going to cut out parsley, kale and carrots for that matter. I was advised this week to start using filtered water which arrived yesterday and I started using that. I have 4 piggies, so if I put 4 tablespoons in their bowl everyday will they share it equally? I am used to just filling the bowl to the top and topping it up about once every week. They have pets at home nuggets as it is the only one they will eat. Do you have any other reccomendations for a better spring green to use instead of cabbage? Thank you guys for replying

try scatter feeding the portion of pellets amongst hay, that way they are kept occupied using natural foraging and everybody gets some. Do remember though that pellets are the least healthy and least important part of the diet - mine are only given pellets a couple of times a week, they just don’t feature highly at all - lots of hay is what they really need.

You can use spring greens - they are a mild form of cabbage, but again, it doesn’t matter if you can’t get hold of it, it isn’t essential. My piggies get spring greens once or twice a week only (i buy spring greens as my rabbits also like it)

 

[Siikibam]

I would scatter feed the pellets. It’s good for them in terms of enrichment and mimics what they’d do in nature - foraging.

 

[squigpopwinchoc]

thats great thank you I will try scattering the pellets. Sorry for another question but i read about the balanced diet on here that you should leave out the gem lettuce if your piggie suffers from bladder issues but my girl with IC loves gem lettuce, is it a necessity to keep the squeaking to a halt or can i keep feeding? I also found a packer labelled 'spring greens' on sainsburys, will I be able to feed that instead of cabbage and how slowly should i introduce it? thank you

 

[Piggies&buns]

thats great thank you I will try scattering the pellets. Sorry for another question but i read about the balanced diet on here that you should leave out the gem lettuce if your piggie suffers from bladder issues but my girl with IC loves gem lettuce, is it a necessity to keep the squeaking to a halt or can i keep feeding? I also found a packer labelled 'spring greens' on sainsburys, will I be able to feed that instead of cabbage and how slowly should i introduce it? thank you

The guide is a guide not necessarily a one size fits all. All you can really do is see what works for your piggy.

I would give a small piece a couple of times - an inch square piece maybe. You are watching for anything causing a tummy upset (soft poops) and if that happens you need to stop all veg the gut can rebalance.

 

[squigpopwinchoc]

The guide is a guide not necessarily a one size fits all. All you can really do is see what works for your piggy.

I would give a small piece a couple of times - an inch square piece maybe. You are watching for anything causing a tummy upset (soft poops) and if that happens you need to stop all veg the gut can rebalance.

thank you for your reply i will try it and let you know the outcome.