Help! Confusion Over The Best Nuggets/pellets Available

Claire5012

Claire5012

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I've had my 1st pig for only 4 days now and he's doing great. He's 2 months old and a rescue and was on pets at home nuggets before I had him so I bought a bag because I didn't want him to have a new home, a new owner and new food all at the same time. I've been doing so much research into what are the best nuggets to get and when I think I've made up my mind I read a negative about them and I have to search all over again. My head is spinning! At the end of the day all I want is the best for him without spending a fortune as I've seen some of the brands are very pricey! Could anyone help me please? I will be finishing this bag of food off before I move on and gradually do the switch over so I'm not in an immediate rush to go out and get any but I was just wondering what your opinions are. Thank you in advance and sorry about babbling on :roll:
 
I'm afraid none of the UK pellet UK brands are "ideal" .

I remember being recommended some "better" brands - but my guinea pigs wouldn't eat them .

I assume you've seen our comparison thread ?

Nugget Comparison Chart
 
It is very confusing trying to find what's the best! After you've read the nugget comparison it's sometimes easier to decide going by not just the recommendations but what you can afford!
Mine are currently on Burgess Excel, Supreme Science and Supreme Science Grainless as I am gradually changing them over to eating the grainless pellets. Mind you, they still prefer the Excel! It's now said though that the grainfree pellets are best for piggies but they are the most expensive!
 
Please don't panic. While many of the nuggets are not ideal you are not necessarily causing harm by feeding p@h pellets. When times were tougher for me I bulk bought p@h pellets to be more cost effective and never had any problems as a result of diet. If we say p@h is the equivalent of feeding your child Coco pops and the best pellets are all bran then I reckon I'm around cornflake or rice Krispie level
 
Yes I have seen the tread which got me into looking up particular brands. I read burgess has molasses and Lucerne if I remember correctly and harvest feast I was interested in also but the calcium information is a bit vague. I also looked into other brands but the main ingredients are alfalfa and it seems each brand has it downfalls from what I can see. I was also looking into grain free but like you say they are very expensive!
 
Lol with the cereal references! That does make me feel better :D I will defo be changing brand after that bag tho
 
alfalfa is the same as lucerne.grainless are thought to be better for piggies with bladder problems.i feed a selection of pellets.mine have not come to any harm. maybe go with what suits your budget and piggies.:)
 
Plus you need to remember that what we think is the ideal pellet, may not be what our piggies think is the ideal pellet!
Here in Switzerland the 'Bunny' brand is very popular, and all of my piggies came with a bag of Bunny food.
I lost count of how many time I tried to get them interested in this food - but none of them (I have four) have ever shown the slightest interest in eating a single Bunny pellet!
I then found a grain-free pellet that I was super happy with and the piggies loved - 3 months later it was discontinued. :rant:
So these days I actually feed them two different pellet types - both are pretty good, and one is grain free, and most importantly everyone eats them :D
 
There is no right or wrong nugget, it all depends on your budget and your pigs, taking into account any health issues they have. Obviously most of the time we are going to recommend the grainless pellets, but they are expensive!
 
Ok thank you. In that case my nearest store sells two types of food that I would entertain and those would be the natures feast and the burgess excel. Which of those two do u think would be best? They're both in my budget and don't seem too bad
 
My choice would be Natures feast, but we don't have the calcium content for that yet.
 
I changed from P@H nuggets to Harringtons Optimum and my 5 piggies love them. I bought a 2kg bag in Wilko on Sunday for £3.45. Not sure if they do it online though.
 
Do I admit 2 of mine came to me addicted to Gerty and I can't get them to eat anything else? I'm past coco pops - I'm handing them chocolate pancakes in the car on the way to school!

My babies eat burgess - I would love them to eat science selective but hey ho..........
 
I use a mixture of pellets, Rosewood naturals, JR grainless and Versele Laga. I might also mix in some Selective grainless too. I have personally found that a mix of a few brands helps to stop them being fussy but it might just be coincidence! They eat all of them but seem to prefer the Versele Laga as it always goes first.

I'm always on a budget as I'm a bit poor haha but I must admit I don't find them too expensive as you really don't need much to feed (I always feed less than the guidelines). Good quality hay is the most important thing for their diet anyway :)

I personally find grain free favourable as I hope to eliminate the risks of things like bladder stones and other illnesses in the future (and hopefully reduce vet bills!). I've done a bit of animal nutrition training and it's been found that with most animals (us included) that wheat free diets are best. But of course it's what suits you and your pigs!

How many do you have? If it's just the two then bulk buying can help too. I have five so it costs me a bit more than if I had two, but I've now stocked up on 23kilos of various pellets that will last me forever and it works out mere pennies per day whereas when I was buying 2kilo bags from shops it was costing me a fortune.

Sorry for the essay, I hope any of it helps :))
 
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