Feeding the guinea pigs at TEAS

I have just started a little feeding routine, where I cut a chunk of cucumber, and dice it up into little cubes, and then scatter feed it everywhere around the cage, it really really gets my two pigs excited to use their sense of smell, and hunt for their food, I do the same with nuggets. I'm doing the same with my rats now too but not cucumber. bowls are too I know where it is, and il just sit in one spot and eat, and the other pig won't get a look in
 
Very interesting!

Just a couple of quick questions that popped into my (newbie) head for clarification if possible...
1) Do your piggies have the powdery white calcium deposits in their wee with this diet? I am meaning the powdery only, not gritty or sludgy. It is just that I read some places powdery is normal, and then others say even that should result in diet tweaking.

2) Do you still make a very conscious effort of trying to observe the calcium:phosphorus ratios when do your vege mixes?
 
Siikibam said:
So do you generally feed kale more often than is recommended? And is it the salad leaves that have more water content? And how do you feed the herbs? Sorry for so many questions! 😁
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I probably feed kale around 5 times a week! I buy the bags of mixed salad leaves and tip them into a washing up bowl, I then add in flat leaf parsley (I feed that around 5 times a week too), coriander, I chop up some carrots (around three times a week), peppers, cucumber (every so often) and sometimes I add some dill too and broccoli is also fed occasionally. Some of them also love basil, but a few of them aren't so keen. I swish it around with my hand and then feed it to the pigs. I don't use bowls and because I just throw handfuls into each cage, some get more of one thing than another, but that changes day by day. When I feed them later, I will take some pics, to give you an idea of how much they get. For anyone who thinks this reduces the amount of hay our piggies eat, think again! I actually think ours eat much more, as I fill the cages to the top with hay each evening and by morning, there is little left. However, we do have a couple of guinea pigs who struggle to eat lots of hay, due to having very misaligned teeth, but they manage grass well, so they get fresh grass and readigrass. I very rarely feed spring greens!
 
Piggy_Trio said:
Very interesting!

Just a couple of quick questions that popped into my (newbie) head for clarification if possible...
1) Do your piggies have the powdery white calcium deposits in their wee with this diet? I am meaning the powdery only, not gritty or sludgy. It is just that I read some places powdery is normal, and then others say even that should result in diet tweaking.

2) Do you still make a very conscious effort of trying to observe the calcium:phosphorus ratios when do your vege mixes?
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To be honest, I don't examine or obsess about pee and as I use puppy pads with a thick layer of hay on top, then I don't really get to examine urine too often, although white calcium deposits are completely normal in guinea pig pee.

As I mention, in the post above, there is no weighing out of foods and looking at calcium:phosphorus ratios! They get a mixture of everything that is thrown into the washing up bowl.

I feed very few nuggets and in the summer months, the piggies spend most of the day eating grass. In the winter, I pick grass for them, but we are starting to run out and it isn't of such a good quality now, so I feed readigrass more through the winter months.
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
I have just started a little feeding routine, where I cut a chunk of cucumber, and dice it up into little cubes, and then scatter feed it everywhere around the cage, it really really gets my two pigs excited to use their sense of smell, and hunt for their food, I do the same with nuggets. I'm doing the same with my rats now too but not cucumber. bowls are too I know where it is, and il just sit in one spot and eat, and the other pig won't get a look in
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I am passionate about allowing animals to demonstrate species specific behaviour and I think you are doing a great job in changing how you feed. As you know, my cat is fed entirely with puzzle feeders, allowing her to use her hunting instinct. I feel this way of feeding is so good for her physical and mental wellbeing and scatter feeding works the same for guinea pigs.
 
One of our guinea pigs was recently poorly and wasn't eating as much as normal. He was also not emptying his bladder properly and was needing to have his bladder expressed frequently. He started to get sludgy and gritty urine within days. Now he's back to good health, eating lots of wet veg again and his urine is clear and there is no more sludge. I think this really demonstrates how too dry a diet isn't good for bladder health. It is the same with cats, who suffer from urinary issues. I care for a cat who had frequent episodes of cystitis and blocked bladder. Since Simon told the owners to completely remove biscuits from his diet and just feed wet food, he hasn't had one episode of cystitis since.
 
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I totally agree with the cat biscuit thing, one of my sons cat has had bladder issues for years, a new vet told him to ditch cat biscuits altogether, the cats bladder problems have stopped, he has had no problems for 2 years now.
 
Simon was saying that although hay should make up the biggest part of the guinea pig diet, it is very dry and in the wild, they would eat more vegetation, which would give them a far wetter diet, which would keep the system flushed through so much more effectively.
 
Merab's Slave said:
Thanks for all this information.
I’ve found this thread very helpful
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I'm really glad that you've found it helpful. I know that the way I do things, is very different from a lot of the recommendations, but it works for us and it works incredibly well. Our piggies, despite having a lot of other issues, tend to live normal life expectancies, with many living well beyond what would ever have been expected, especially considering their health problems.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I am passionate about allowing animals to demonstrate species specific behaviour and I think you are doing a great job in changing how you feed. As you know, my cat is fed entirely with puzzle feeders, allowing her to use her hunting instinct. I feel this way of feeding is so good for her physical and mental wellbeing and scatter feeding works the same for guinea pigs.
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Thnaks, off subject but that cat I told you about that went missing ( my local cat) he got reported to the rspca by somebody, and the owner got threatened with a small prison sentence, so she re homed him to a friend
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Thnaks, off subject but that cat I told you about that went missing ( my local cat) he got reported to the rspca by somebody, and the owner got threatened with a small prison sentence, so she re homed him to a friend
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Glad he's okay and it sounds like he may have a much better home now.
 
Piggy_Trio said:
Very interesting!

Just a couple of quick questions that popped into my (newbie) head for clarification if possible...
1) Do your piggies have the powdery white calcium deposits in their wee with this diet? I am meaning the powdery only, not gritty or sludgy. It is just that I read some places powdery is normal, and then others say even that should result in diet tweaking.

2) Do you still make a very conscious effort of trying to observe the calcium:phosphorus ratios when do your vege mixes?
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I've had a boar live to 7 with white powdery urine all the time. No bladder issues, never see a vet until he was in his late 6th year
 
ive started feeding mine like this,i also have not had any bladder problems with 24 piggies !what money i haved saved on pellets i used for veg.i do feed lots of grass in the summer.the scattering of food also seems to be fairer to the less dominant members of the herd.its is food for thought !
 
eileen said:
ive started feeding mine like this,i also have not had any bladder problems with 24 piggies !what money i haved saved on pellets i used for veg.i do feed lots of grass in the summer.the scattering of food also seems to be fairer to the less dominant members of the herd.its is food for thought !
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I have a dominant rat who would push the lesser one out the way of the food bowl and eat the lot, now I scatter feed, problem solved
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I'm really glad that you've found it helpful. I know that the way I do things, is very different from a lot of the recommendations, but it works for us and it works incredibly well. Our piggies, despite having a lot of other issues, tend to live normal life expectancies, with many living well beyond what would ever have been expected, especially considering their health problems.
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Yes this is all really helpful, and its brilliant to take the focus away from the weighing and measuring and giant bowls of pellets that some new owners get hung up on, and think more about what guinea pigs want to do naturally- nothing makes piggies happier than having a big pile of mixed leaves chucked in a big heap of hay and let them get on with it! Then you get to see that cute little digging-paws behaviour while they rummage for the best bits :)
 
Bill and Ted spend most of their time on grass in the milder months. In winter I go for out walking to find good grass to give on a daily basis. It’s their favourite food, they do eat a bigger percentage of veggies than normally recommended on the forum. I just can’t get them to eat 80% hay since their dental issues
 
PigglePuggle said:
Yes this is all really helpful, and its brilliant to take the focus away from the weighing and measuring and giant bowls of pellets that some new owners get hung up on, and think more about what guinea pigs want to do naturally- nothing makes piggies happier than having a big pile of mixed leaves chucked in a big heap of hay and let them get on with it! Then you get to see that cute little digging-paws behaviour while they rummage for the best bits :)
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I love all my pets for being animals and I love to see them behaving in as naturally a way as possible! It makes me so sad when I see new owners getting upset and stressed, because they aren't sure if they're doing it right. If the animal is happy, then I am happy too! Animals live for the moment and as long as it's good, then smile and enjoy them! I agree, there is nothing better than seeing them digging away for the bits they want! 😊
 
Bill & Ted said:
Bill and Ted spend most of their time on grass in the milder months. In winter I go for out walking to find good grass to give on a daily basis. It’s their favourite food, they do eat a bigger percentage of veggies than normally recommended on the forum. I just can’t get them to eat 80% hay since their dental issues
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I just wish we could get away from this 80% hang up! The biggest part of their diet should be hay, but it doesn't have to be if they can't eat it for a short while, or even a longer time. Our Tilly probably eats 5% hay as it's a bit hard to eat when as Simon puts it, her incisors are in different postcodes! 🤣 I love that man's sense of humour! However, she loves her veggies, she forages in the hay for tiny nuggets and she loves grass! She wasn't able to eat anything normally for 18 months, prior to coming to TEAS, yet is a strong and healthy girl, with the biggest zest for life!
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I just wish we could get away from this 80% hang up! The biggest part of their diet should be hay, but it doesn't have to be if they can't eat it for a short while, or even a longer time. Our Tilly probably eats 5% hay as it's a bit hard to eat when as Simon puts it, her incisors are in different postcodes! 🤣 I love that man's sense of humour! However, she loves her veggies, she forages in the hay for tiny nuggets and she loves grass! She wasn't able to eat anything normally for 18 months, prior to coming to TEAS, yet is a strong and healthy girl, with the biggest zest for life!
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Oh and she arrived at TEAS weighing in at 625g and now hovers around the 950g mark! Tilly is what TEAS is all about!
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I just wish we could get away from this 80% hang up! The biggest part of their diet should be hay, but it doesn't have to be if they can't eat it for a short while, or even a longer time. Our Tilly probably eats 5% hay as it's a bit hard to eat when as Simon puts it, her incisors are in different postcodes! 🤣 I love that man's sense of humour! However, she loves her veggies, she forages in the hay for tiny nuggets and she loves grass! She wasn't able to eat anything normally for 18 months, prior to coming to TEAS, yet is a strong and healthy girl, with the biggest zest for life!
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Its true that many people get too hung up on exact ratios and amounts, and although rough guidelines are useful for new owners there's no one-size-fits all approach to feeding that suits everyone and everypig.
I feel that we feed a bit more hay and a bit less veg than some people because it suits bloaty Puggle better, she hasnt bloated in over a year now and has gained 200g since her last bloaty episode since we feed more hay and a bit less veg, but that is just for a herd where the slimmest piggy is a bloaty girl and not for everyone!
Just as a matter of interest last night after a post on another thread querying food intake I roughly calculated what mine eat over a month- looks like we feed 75% hay, 22% veg and 3% pellets.
Not that I've ever weighed or measured daily feeds and I dont intend to start doing now, but dividing what we buy in a month by the number of piggies and number of days thats roughly what they must eat! Which isnt 80% hay and isnt 50g of veg per day either, but they are still all quite hefty and in good health :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
Its true that many people get too hung up on exact ratios and amounts, and although rough guidelines are useful for new owners there's no one-size-fits all approach to feeding that suits everyone and everypig.
I feel that we feed a bit more hay and a bit less veg than some people because it suits bloaty Puggle better, she hasnt bloated in over a year now and has gained 200g since her last bloaty episode since we feed more hay and a bit less veg, but that is just for a herd where the slimmest piggy is a bloaty girl and not for everyone!
Just as a matter of interest last night after a post on another thread querying food intake I roughly calculated what mine eat over a month- looks like we feed 75% hay, 22% veg and 3% pellets.
Not that I've ever weighed or measured daily feeds and I dont intend to start doing now, but dividing what we buy in a month by the number of piggies and number of days thats roughly what they must eat! Which isnt 80% hay and isnt 50g of veg per day either, but they are still all quite hefty and in good health :)
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It’s all about what works for the piggies and for us too! I also think they’re capable of knowing what they need and what’s good for them. I find some avoid larger amounts of certain foods, even if put in their cage and maybe eat it over a longer period of time.
 
We do what what Debbie does in feeding the piggies. We feed them quite a lot of veggie salad leaves and plenty of cucumber and lettuce everyday. They also eat loads of hay but less pellets even though the bowls are always there. Yes we did have 2 piggies that suffered UTI and bladder/kidney stones in the past, but Simon have always ruled out that it was because of the food they eat. Although we give the current piggies less spinach now and stop giving them parsley. Hopefully the 3 piggies we have won't suffer with UTI and stones. Bunny who passed away on May 2018 had bladder sludge and stones. She suffered with mouth thrush due to taking too much antibiotics and this was stopping her to eat. We eventually had to put her to sleep because she really was not getting any food and nutrients because of the thrush.
 
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