Lettuce Varieties

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cavy love

cavy love

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I was looking into this issue recently to find an alternative to romaine, but found that romaine is exactly the same as cos lettuce - little gem, ruby little gem, or alternatives are also the same as romaine, for feeding purposes - little gem or gem lettuce are just smaller varieties of romaine/cos and the ruby versions are just red leafed versions. I've been trying to find 'red leaf lettuce' or 'green leaf lettuce' that is a staple in US supermarkets and suggested for piggies with romaine problems. These are a totally different type of lettuce from the above that I haven't yet found in any major UK supermarket. From what I can tell, it's most similar to what is called oak leaf lettuce or lollo rosso (for red leaf lettuce), but still not the same. The US red/green leaf lettuce is what's known as looseleaf lettuce. Round lettuce in the UK is equivalent to Boston/bibb/butterhead lettuce in the US, as far as I can tell, so still not the same. I want to try my piggies on something other than romaine and round lettuce because of bladder issues and because they don't really like round lettuce! Has anyone ever found these elusive red/green leaf varieties in the UK or oak leaf lettuce?

And if anyone is curious, I'm American, so the differences/lack of red/green leaf were a bit of a shock to me, and for references:
http://www.britishleafysalads.co.uk/...af-guide.shtml
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesgu...idesaladgreens
 
How about feeding different things? Spring greens, peppers, celery and corriander are good and popular with piggies.
 
mine have a variety of lettuces and the ones you have mentioned are sometimes in the lettuce mixed bags. we get ours from sainsburys.
 
I give mine green leaf lettuce and sometimes red but you can also use things like carrots cucumber bell peppers into the mix :)
 
I should clarify - I'm only looking for a lettuce replacement as a base for their meals. I'm attempting to get a correct Ca : P ratio for my bladder pig, and already feed things like coriander, parsley, bell peppers, cucumber, cherry tomatoes. (And indeed, they do like them!) :) Am also trying them on spring greens this week, but I don't want to feed too much/use it as a base because I have some sensitive tummies, which may or may not be prone to gas (we'll find out soon).
 
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Some farmers markets and places like wholefoods should have it. It does seem to be difficult to find though.
 
I use lettuce as base but tend to opt for Cos/Romaine. I also use the pre-packed stuff containing lollo rosso, rocket etc

However I also on occasion use iceberg (it's not toxic!) - whilst of little nutritional value it has water content and bulk fibre. In fact, they had it tonight to bulk up the delicious celery/apple/green pepper/carrot/fresh sweetcorn/corn leaves dinner I had prepared for them.

HTH
x
 
piggyfan said:
Some farmers markets and places like wholefoods should have it. It does seem to be difficult to find though.
Click to expand...

Yes, unfortunate, really. We don't have a Whole Foods here - though the one in London is amazing! I wish I had a garden in these instances.

Will have to have a good look at those pre-packaged lettuces next time I go shopping!
 
I always thought iceberg was a big no no as it can cause diarhea.Have never given mine it
 
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