Do you space out veggies?

[Spaniel]

Perry sets our routine because he is a very important boss pig!

Breakfast veggies 8-9am
Tea veggies 4-5pm

Grass a couple of hours after breakfast if it’s dry outside.

Loads of hay all the time.

Is it odd that he wants it all in a small window? From tea until breakfast they have just hay and don’t ask for anything else.

 

[Lorcan]

I don't have a specific time for veggies other than "after 11am". Little and often seems to work better, keeps them from yelling as much and then when they don't get veggies they get another small handful of hay, enough (again) to keep them from yelling for a bit. It works for them, it works for me because I'm here all day and can do that.

 

[Betsy]

What works best for you and Perry is what is right for your piggies and your routine.

My routine for my piggies is

7-8am Breakfast pellets
4-5pm Veggie dinner
10-11pm Supper time

In between they have to be content with hay, hay and more hay unless the OH is feeling like they need a bit of coriander (he is The Bringer of Coriander). He is very good and only gives them one bit each.

 

[Spaniel]

He asks very regularly for more hay too. He likes asking and interacting with us.

Left side of the cage is cleaned after breakfast and the right side (hay area) is cleaned 9-10pm when he decides it’s time Big nests of hay which they love.

Lola just goes with the flow

 

[Spaniel]

Our routine used to be very different but he was submissive before with Lily but is boss now with Lola. Maybe that’s why? He’s also older now as well so I don’t know if that changes things? He likes an earlier night now.

 

[Spaniel]

Now that the weather has changed Perry has changed the routine again, pushing things about an hour later

 

[Wiebke]

Perry sets our routine because he is a very important boss pig!

Breakfast veggies 8-9am
Tea veggies 4-5pm

Grass a couple of hours after breakfast if it’s dry outside.

Loads of hay all the time.

Is it odd that he wants it all in a small window? From tea until breakfast they have just hay and don’t ask for anything else.

Guinea pigs on their own are dawn and dusk feeders - they are most active and hungry in the mornings and late afternoon/evening. In between that, they will just nap and browse.

Veg, fresh and dry forage, pellets and any other treats (please nothing sugary, including root veg and grains) all together should only make around 20-25% of the daily food intake. Instead of treats, you can use pellets or veg to train for little things, like coming to you while you move around as exercise for lazy adults or to keep them distracted during grooming etc. but you need to then feed less of it during regularly meal times.
For enrichment and to stimulate browsing behaviour, it would be best to sprinkle pellets, veg of forage over the cage or to make them work a bit more to get at it, like forage, veg or occasional speciality hays.

 

[CherryCoke_x]

They get a small about of pellets AM (2 tablespoons approx), and in the eveneing, between 630-830, they get their fresh veg mix of 100g (50g each) xx

 

[PiggyintheMiddle]

Ours get 7 nuggets each in the morning (allows for some as treats during the day, alongside rose petal foraging as a treat) and then they have their veggies at around 5pm.

 

[PoptartShop]

I feed pellets & veggies around the same time every morning.
The pellets (1 tablespoon per pig) tend to last throughout the day for the other 4 pigs, but for one of my pairs, I am forced to give them half their pellets in the AM & half in PM because they will nose-dive & finish them within an hour if I give them to them all at once in the dish.
I rescued them & unfortunately it seems as youngsters/babies they didn't have access to food or got food bullied & one of them was basically skin & bones when I got her (now she's healthy as ever) so it's a habit they haven't really broken, them rushing to eat them, but splitting up the pellet feedings seems to be working quite well.

And of course they all get hay unlimited throughout the day/night.