Feeding Multiple Guinea Pigs.

[KenGYoun]

Hello! Good evening!
I have a question (somewhat flooded in a lot of explanation, sorry.)

Back in early July I started taking care of my cousin's 3 year old Guinea Pig, and he basically stayed with me but since her partner had just passed away, he was a bit lonely.
So last Friday (9th) I adopted a 6 month old female as they were getting along and he instantly became happier and chattier, he started to become more active, run away their cage, purr when we pet him, purr when she's around, eat way more hay than he used to, so it was a good idea but...

We usually feed them Hay throughout the Day, Pellet food at night, along with some one or two throughout the day as mini treats (which they go extremely insane for) and a Salad twice a day (morning, afternoon) [they're spoiled so they don't like eating stems or anything like that, so we cut up everything for the salads the way they like them), and I make 2 salads per time so each of them has their own but I've noticed either one (sometimes both) will start eating from the other's plate, after they each started eating from separate plates, there's time when they even steal the food straight from the others mouth.

So my question would be: Do they start to realize that each one has their own salad (basically identical in content, down to the same pet bowl) or will they simply continue stealing food from one another?

I'm wondering because I'm not sure if one is eating more than the other... they're both extremely obsessed with food (doesn't mater if they just ate or if they're in the middle of eating hay, the second they hear me walk in the room or they hear a bag they start vocalizing desire to be feed [she louder than him because she's younger]) but I'm not exactly sure if one is taking advantage of the other by eating more, I try to set the plates in opposites sides, but unless I can place them at the same time I have to basically put them next to each other or none will go to the other salad, and trying to pick them up to move them to the other plate doesn't sound fun for them (and, in general, neither of them like to be picked up very much, even if he's grown to like me, to the point [at least in my imagination] that he follows certain instructions I tell him).

Just this afternoon, they literally swapped which plate they were eating from, but I want to know if that's literally normal, or if it's just mater of adapting to respecting each other's eating spot.

Thank You in advance.​

 

[Piggies&buns]

First, Is the male piggy neutered?

What you are seeing is totally normal - they will never learn each has their own plate (they don’t know you make one specific one each) and they will always try to take food out of each others mouths. This is just what happens.

The best thing is to just throw veg and their pellets loose onto the cage floor and amongst a hay pile and let them move around search for it. It provides great enrichment and entertainment for them. It also means each is more likely to get their share.
Although it doesn’t matter if one gets more than the other for two reasons - 1. Veg is never their main food. 2. The other may get more the next day.

Make sure you weigh them once a week as part of routine care. Hay is their main food source, it makes 75-80% of what they need to eat in a day but you can’t gauge intake by eye. The weight checks tell you a piggy is eating enough hay and that is what matters most.

Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

I agree. I have many piggies and always scatter their veg and nuggets. It is a natural way for them to eat. They are grazing animals, like horses, deer and rabbits, etc, so have evolved to eat grass and move along as they nibble.