Hi everyone!
We have 5 adult pigs and 1 baby, I know baby's need alfalfa hay and pellets and that alfalfa contains too much calcium for adult pigs. Any advice on how to house the baby with the adult pigs when they both need different kinds of hay. Thanks so much!
Hi
It is a misconception that babies need different foods from adults that has been carried in from other larger pet species and eagerly picked up by business.
The actual amounts are truly minute and mostly covered by a good hay based diet. My babies or baby adoptees have never had any special diet and have frankly not suffered from it - I've just lost three of them over the last summer, all living to 8 years or very close to their 8th birthday after a healthy life, despite two of them having been born into horrible surroundings before they were rescued with their already pregnant again mother.
My current now 6 months old baby adoptee Dryw is not exactly looking deprived either at nearly a kilo of weight despite having been on a normal diet since 3 weeks of age.
Dryw/Wren's updates thread
If you REALLY feel the need to do something extra, then give 2 tablespoons of pellets or 1 tablespoon of alfalfa based pellets. Grass hay (which contains vitamin C, by the way as grass is actually rich in it) should make the mainstay of the diet and NOT veg and hay. The more grass hay your little one is eating, the better because it enhances overall health, minimises the risk of dental and gut problems and can 1-2 years to the life, allowing your piggies to live to the upper end instead of the lower end of the average life span.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Housing: make sure that you have more hides than piggies and they all have two exits, so your little one has somewhere to stay and can easily escape when she is booted out for the sake of dominance. Brace yourself that babies are vocal and ever so dramatic! The babies are going to be put at the bottom of the hierarchy rather emphatically and comprehensively with lots of submission screaming and complaints. You have to sit that out. If babies have space to escape, they cannot be hurt (not that adults would hurt babies) because they can literally run circles around adults.
You can find a group intro and several baby/youngster bonding videos and tips in our comprehensive bonding guide:
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Make sure that you have plenty of space to run around, jump on and have fun with.
Here are some ideas and videos:
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
'Popcorning' and 'zooming' - joy and exuberance (videos)
