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Mineral and salt blocks

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Yes, absolutely NO salt or mineral licks. The salt licks are not needed any more than they would be for a human (would we chew on a brick of salt?) and mineral licks could cause your pig to end up with bladder stones.

Don't think there's any point in keeping this thread open as most people will agree on this one.
 
Right, thread unlocked. Here are the reasons why guinea pigs SHOULD UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES have a salt or mineral lick.

Guinea pigs, like many other animals, do not sweat. Much of the excess salt that the likes of humans consume is excreted through the skin. Guinea pigs do not have this option so it is the job of their kidneys to work overtime to excrete the excess sodium. Interestingly enough kidney disease is particularly prevalent in piggies at the moment and is a frequent cause of premature death.

Good guinea pig foods are fortified with the vitamins and minerals a cavy needs in the correct balance. There is no bias towards one more than the other. Salt, of course, would be an excess of sodium. There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest guinea pigs need an excess of sodium in their diet. In fact, the recommendation from research (Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals, 1995) suggests their requirement of sodium is 0.5g/kg which is more than met through the daily portion of dried food.

With regards to mineral licks the above applies as well in addition to excess calcium which is a particular worry because we all know that dietary imbalance of Ca/Ph can cause serious bladder issues including sludge and stones.

Add to that most pigs aren't even interested in them. Would you be? ::)
 
daftscotslass said:
Right, thread unlocked. Here are the reasons why guinea pigs SHOULD UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES have a salt or mineral lick.

Guinea pigs, like many other animals, do not sweat. Much of the excess salt that the likes of humans consume is excreted through the skin. Guinea pigs do not have this option so it is the job of their kidneys to work overtime to excrete the excess sodium. Interestingly enough kidney disease is particularly prevalent in piggies at the moment and is a frequent cause of premature death.

Good guinea pig foods are fortified with the vitamins and minerals a cavy needs in the correct balance. There is no bias towards one more than the other. Salt, of course, would be an excess of sodium. There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest guinea pigs need an excess of sodium in their diet. In fact, the recommendation from research (Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals, 1995) suggests their requirement of sodium is 0.5g/kg which is more than met through the daily portion of dried food.

With regards to mineral licks the above applies as well in addition to excess calcium which is a particular worry because we all know that dietary imbalance of Ca/Ph can cause serious bladder issues including sludge and stones.

Add to that most pigs aren't even interested in them. Would you be? ::)
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We have never used salt or mineral licks my piggies get all they need from their dried food, two portions of fruit and veg a day and of course unlimited hay. Both myself and OH dont add salt to our foods either :)
 
Salt just makes you feel thirsty as well. I did give Sunshine one when we first got him but he never touched it. I came here and read they were bad news.

But really would you want to go around licking salt! Ewww. If it isn't fit for me then the pigs don't get it! ;D
 
we don't have salt in our diet. jessie, zoe and faline the bunny have salt blocks but for 5 months they haven't even sniffed at them. so if the salt blocks are bad for them (we're in the dark ages here in oz) i will remove them from the cage. thank you lorna for telling me that as i had no idea O0 :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
I have never used them as I have always worried about the pigs getting too thirsty! That was before I even knew about bladder stones and excesses in a pigs diet. I never add salt to my food though
 
i got bob and munchie one when i first got them, and bob peed on it til it dissolved everywhere! shows what he thought of it.

ive never bought one since. found out a few weeks later they didnt actually need one ::)
 
Lez said:
i got bob and munchie one when i first got them, and bob peed on it til it dissolved everywhere! shows what he thought of it.
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ROFL 2funny 2funny 2funny
 
Guinea pigs DO NOT need mineral and salt blocks if you give them a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, hay, pellets and water each day.

It's all a commercial thing. Also those "Munchie bars" looking like Guinea pig cereal bars are not needed in their diets. They are full of sugar and fat....

Be also aware that the guinea pigs shouldn't have a lot of sunflower seeds - they are notorious to get them choking and also they are full of fat....something a piggy doesn't need. (I know the pigs love them though!)
 
Mine do have seeds at all, they aren't birds...well Twinkle is but thats another story! ;D
 
I agree with sunshine and twinkle - if its not good enough for me then its not good enough for my guinea. I had heard some seeds shouldn't be given to guineas because they can get stuck in between their teeth - I think it might be sunflower seeds though?
 
twinkle is not a bird O0 i got bob and munchie one when i first got them, and bob peed on it til it dissolved everywhere! shows what he thought of it. 2funny 2funny 2funny love that one lez. sadly here in south oz these salt blocks are very popular and are sold regularly. as are the cereal bars which my girls and faline the bunny love :smitten: thankfully to this thread i now know better so thankyou :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
You can kill them with kindness. When I got Sunshine I wasn't aware of this and he had a honey coated seed stick! :embarassed: And yoghurt drops, you think you are being kind! Now a treat is melon!

Mary, Twinkle tweats like a bird though. :)
 
I've had piggies for a few years now but I'm new to the forum, and this is an eye-opener to me! Why on earth do they sell these things if not only are they unnecessary, but could be potentially harmfull 666) 666)

I've had one in my piggies run for ages, but they basically ignore it - they obviously have more sense than I do! ;) I'm off to take it out now!

I've recently bought a baked earth block from P@H - part of their Naturals (?) range (the one with all the different dried plants eg Purple Cone Flower, Gingko, etc [my piggies love the parsley bell :smitten:]). I thought it might be good for gnawing on to keep their teeth worn down - any comments?
 
Linden said:
I've had piggies for a few years now but I'm new to the forum, and this is an eye-opener to me! Why on earth do they sell these things if not only are they unnecessary, but could be potentially harmfull 666) 666)
Click to expand...

It's simply because folk don't know better and think they need them because the pet shop sells them.
 
Oh and I'm sure i saw a thread which MaryH said she once saw a pig addcited to the salt and kept running back and forth to the salt lick :(
 
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