New Piggies - Food (especially Veg) Advice

[Ocelot]

I have two new young boys, we've had them for 48 hours. I've done tonnes of research about what to feed them and I'm finding it frustratingly conflicting. I've got the same dry food they've always eaten and they are eating a bit of that. Also same meadow hay, although I can't tell whether they are eating much of it at all. This could be partly because I've put too much of it in lots of places around the hutch so it's quite hard to tell. So far they've eaten all the types of greens I've given them (spinach, carrot, apple, broccoli, a little picked grass, dandelion leaves) but I'm giving them tiny quantities as lots of the advice is really conflicting about which things to avoid giving too much of, and about introducing too many new things to little/new piggies. So my questions are:
1) All the advice says a cupful of greens, but how much is a cupful!? Are we talking the American unit of measurement or about a teacupful or what? Could anyone give me an idea more in terms of how many leaves / pieces /slices /chunks of what stuff is a typical serving? I'm so wary of not giving them too much that I'm worried I'm not giving them enough.
2) What are the stock things that they can eat that we don't need to worry to much about them having regularly? (Although I know they need variety)
3) I know calcium needs to be watched but I think this is less of an issue with young piggies - can anyone confirm this? I know this applies to spinach and dandelion leaves

Thanks so much - this is such a great site - I've trawled the forums and found out so much useful stuff.

 

[Wiebke]

I have two new young boys, we've had them for 48 hours. I've done tonnes of research about what to feed them and I'm finding it frustratingly conflicting. I've got the same dry food they've always eaten and they are eating a bit of that. Also same meadow hay, although I can't tell whether they are eating much of it at all. This could be partly because I've put too much of it in lots of places around the hutch so it's quite hard to tell. So far they've eaten all the types of greens I've given them (spinach, carrot, apple, broccoli, a little picked grass, dandelion leaves) but I'm giving them tiny quantities as lots of the advice is really conflicting about which things to avoid giving too much of, and about introducing too many new things to little/new piggies. So my questions are:
1) All the advice says a cupful of greens, but how much is a cupful!? Are we talking the American unit of measurement or about a teacupful or what? Could anyone give me an idea more in terms of how many leaves / pieces /slices /chunks of what stuff is a typical serving? I'm so wary of not giving them too much that I'm worried I'm not giving them enough.
2) What are the stock things that they can eat that we don't need to worry to much about them having regularly? (Although I know they need variety)
3) I know calcium needs to be watched but I think this is less of an issue with young piggies - can anyone confirm this? I know this applies to spinach and dandelion leaves

Thanks so much - this is such a great site - I've trawled the forums and found out so much useful stuff.

Hi and welcome

Please give your boys some time to settle in and place any food nearby to their hidey. It is very normal that they do not eat fully at first; they will catch up soon.
You may find our starter kit of information threads helpful. It contains a very detailed thread about all aspects of the guinea pig diet including a detailed list of what, how much and how often you can feed which veg for a balanced diet and how to introduce it. We also have specified any advice in weight (grams) as an additional guideline that is unequivocal across the world, so that should help you getting started.
The kit also contains tips on how to settle in your boys and make friends with them in their own body language, as well as what to avoid.
" Starter Kit" Of Information Threads For New Owners

 

[Ocelot]

Thanks very much - not sure how I missed that! Really useful advice. I've read the pages about settling in and I'm taking it very slowly. We've not picked them up yet and they're just coming out to eat out of my hand.

 

[Ati Ebrahimi]

Hi there, My baby is only 3months old, he came home on Thursday & Yesterday he wasn't eating much, but this morning I caught him eating from his bowl, so I guess the more time passes they become more relaxed & start eating more.