Over feeding

Tara95 said:
A little trick I tend to do if you really want to feed them something leafy and treaty and you really can't resist they can have a romain lettuce leaf or two extra. They can have romain lettuce daily, It doesn't have that many calories in so a few extra leaves every now and then wouldn't hurt (compared to spinach anyway,fruit and sugary veg such as carrots) I buy 6 large romains every week as it's just easy tbh as it's a daily vegetable and there's not too many they can have everyday and they love it. I give my 5, 1 bell pepper every morning religiously as it's one of the few vegetables they can have daily and it's full of vitamin C. I'm not saying you can't give them treats they can still have a bit of water melon on a Saturday for example and a carrot on a Tuesday or whatever. That's what I do I space the treats out and then give them for example perhaps a bit of corriander/basil/parsley in the evenings and vary this if I can. (Coriander is a rare daily one too) If I really can't stop myself and it's the weekend or whatever, I'll give them a small piece of cucumber each as well (which is also a daily vegetable) I also give them a bit of kale once or twice a week but try and limit this if I can. Best of luck! :)
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Do your piggies eat the whole Romain leaf. . My girls leave the middle hard bit just a little .Lol.[/QUOTE]
 
David Piggie Lover said:
Do your piggies eat the whole Romain leaf. . My girls leave the middle hard bit just a little .Lol.
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Yeah they do, they eat around it First, but when I come back in half an hour for example there's not a scrap of food left! I think it's because there's 5, there's more competition! Lol
 
Ok, I've not been as bad as I thought when I first started reading this thread BUT I've still been a bad piggie mum of 4! Far too much spinach, almost everyday! Carrots every other day and a small piece of banana once a week.....
I'd already reduced the pellets (one doesn't like them anyway!) which I give in the morning when I topup their hay and spot clean, I check them in the day and topup their hay then in the evening I topup their hay and change their water (normally they've drunk most of their 3 water bottles anyway!) spot clean and I do a whole pepper, a ¼ of cucumber, a leafy salad (most have spinach in) which is now being changed to a romaine lettuce, coriander and celery....NOTE not all of this is for my 4 guinea pigs as some of it goes to my rabbit and 4 pet rats with a tiny bit to my Russian dwarf hamster altho my kitten and puppy turn their noses up at the veg tho 🤷‍♀️😂
I will be giving them a little apple as a treat this Sunday as it's my puppy's first birthday 🎉
 
Sezzy16 said:
Ok, I've not been as bad as I thought when I first started reading this thread BUT I've still been a bad piggie mum of 4! Far too much spinach, almost everyday! Carrots every other day and a small piece of banana once a week.....
I'd already reduced the pellets (one doesn't like them anyway!) which I give in the morning when I topup their hay and spot clean, I check them in the day and topup their hay then in the evening I topup their hay and change their water (normally they've drunk most of their 3 water bottles anyway!) spot clean and I do a whole pepper, a ¼ of cucumber, a leafy salad (most have spinach in) which is now being changed to a romaine lettuce, coriander and celery....NOTE not all of this is for my 4 guinea pigs as some of it goes to my rabbit and 4 pet rats with a tiny bit to my Russian dwarf hamster altho my kitten and puppy turn their noses up at the veg tho 🤷‍♀️😂
I will be giving them a little apple as a treat this Sunday as it's my puppy's first birthday 🎉
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Weird . . My 2 piggies only drink out of a dish but pee for England . . Lol.
 
David Piggie Lover said:
Weird . . My 2 piggies only drink out of a dish but pee for England . . Lol.
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My 2 young boars had a bowl but they ran thro it and knocked it over soo much rather than drink it so I put up a couple of medium sized bottles (to stop them arguing more so than the water but they drink it anyway!). My neutered boar and female pair share a large bottle, they did have 2 but only ever drank from 1 so I took the other down
 
Sezzy16 said:
My 2 young boars had a bowl but they ran thro it and knocked it over soo much rather than drink it so I put up a couple of medium sized bottles (to stop them arguing more so than the water but they drink it anyway!). My neutered boar and female pair share a large bottle, they did have 2 but only ever drank from 1 so I took the other down
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Fussy ain't they. Lol. I will try again with a bottle. . 1 piggie used it other one I'm not sure . . But they both use the flat dish. . So I'm happy with that.
 
If it's confession time I do give carrot regularly - but a wee slice each. It tends to be the sound of chopping that set mine off so they get veggies in the morning (packed lunches) and evening (dinner prep) in little bits. After a lot of pondering some years ago I decided I wouldn't limit pellets and actually none of mine have ever been that much into them that they've chomped all day. So despite free-feeding they do actually only eat about a spoonful. They all have a morning session and an evening session where they go to the bowl but the rest of the time they ignore it (or poo in it). I asked Blue Cross last week when I got the new sows what they were used to (they came with their own baggie of food) and they leave their bowls in too so I felt a bit more OK about it.

Saying that, I am vigilant about chalky wee deposits and if they appear I adjust what I offer in veg terms accordingly!

David Piggie Lover said:
I've had farm hay from local. . . But little bugs etc in bag has stop me
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DPL we had exactly the same thing and it was truly wonderful hay but the whole downstairs was infested for a while until everything died off! Lady over the road kept her girls outdoors and so it wasn't a problem for them - I was envious, I'll admit. But mine seem to like 'tiny friends farm' OK and they get grass too.

Hubs said once, "If you like watching animals eat, guinea-pigs are the pets for you!" and it's so true ☺

Although you could just as easily say, "If you like watching animals cr*p...... " I suppose! 😅
 
Free Ranger said:
Saying that, I am vigilant about chalky wee deposits and if they appear I adjust what I offer in veg terms accordingly!
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just as long as you are aware that even low calcium pellets contain more calcium than the highest calcium veg. So if you see calcium wees, then adjusting veg isnt always enough to solve it. Calcium absorption is complex and it only needs one little things to go wrong to throw things off and cause a problem.
 
Advice and tips always welcome ☺
George is so busy marking his territory these days he's draining his water bottle and those kidneys are working overtime! I've never seen so much pee. Zara is trying to out-pee him but she's going to have to admit defeat on this one. Louise seems to save hers for spraying at Zara.
 
the diet isn’t going as well as I thought I proper had it in my head that I’ll cut down but it’s so hard when they’re so cute and I’ve got a new pig so I love treating her. she’s so confident already around me my polly and penny wouldn’t eat food out my hand for 8 months after I got them they were very wary of me. she’s jumping up all the time after 4 weeks it’s too cute, I’ve deffo cut down on fruit though I give the tiniest bit of apple and a little bit of melon before cage clean. But I’m still giving 2 bags of mixed veg a day and giving my new girl half a carrot twice a day and a slice of cucumber twice a day each and some bell pepper. It’s so hard I love them so much I just want to treat them all day everyday. My old pig does not like being touched at all or picked up or cuddles she’s stubborn but my new pig likes coming out for cuddles I’ve never experienced it even my pig who passed hated being touched she was forever growling it’s so nice to be able to get my pig out in her blanket and stroke her I’m fully in love xx
 
I’m very sure you love them to the moon and back, but for their own health and well-being you really need to just cut back. Don’t be fooled by the begging wheeks and baby eyes.

2 bags of veg a day are way too much even for two pigs. Carrots should be a weekly treat - even then I wouldn’t give a big slice. If my piggies get carrot it’s usually the peel. But not very often. Fruits I wouldn’t give that often either. How often do you do a cage clean?

If you want to treat them you can give them different hay - timothy, meadow. That should be the biggest part of their diet. If they’re eating lots of veg they’re not likely to eat as much hay.

I know it can be difficult but you will have to really cut back and not give in to their every wheek.
 
Thanks for your reply it seems the bags of mixed veg are smaller than spinach so it doesn’t go as far so at least that’s a little plus. Carrots are her fav so it’s hard I might start doing half every other day to begin with. I clean the cage around 4 times a week every other day and clean the old food out every few hours. I saw some like meadow hey solid blocks in pets at home at the weekend and I didn’t pick them up ill nip again this week and grab them. I’m really trying xx
 
A leaf of lettuce a day is enough so look at cutting back on the salad bags. I’ve got four pigs and when I buy a salad bag I can stretch it to 3 days.

Cut the carrots to a small slice once a week. They’re favourites because they’re sweet - the chocolate of the piggy world. They will adapt very quickly to the change in feeding. Each time they seem to beg just top up their hay.

Fruit 4 times a week is also too much, no matter how small a portion it is. Is that a full cage clean four times a week? What are they bedded on?
 
I have 3 piggies and they get a Little Gem lettuce leaf each a day, quarter of a pepper between them per day, a half to1 inch chunk of cucumber between them per day and sometimes for variety they get a few rocket leaves or half a stick of celery between them. My girls have 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy per day and as much hay as they can stuff into their little mouths. All 3 of them are happy healthy piggies.
 
You must stay strong @pollyandpenny a 100g salad bag feeds 8 piggies here! One little gem lettuce also feeds 8 piggies, on a different day! A single red pepper feeds 8 pigs too!
I know it is cute to hand feed them and treat them, but seriously, obesity, arthritis, deformed twisted toes from lugging the chub around on those tiny feet, diabetes, heart attacks, bladder stones... this is all painful debilitating deadly stuff that a sustained bad diet can cause, that could halve their natural healthy life span.
In the old days when some of us had piggies as kids 30 or 40 years ago, they were fed high calorie muesli and lots of carrots- and then it was accepted that piggies only lived 2 or 3 years. Now we know they can easily live for 5-8 years... with a healthy diet!
 
Like @furryfriends (TEAS) I also feed a lot more veg than many others do (and grass in summer). I only feed nuggets (cold pressed, grain and soya free) twice a week 20g per pig and just once a week in summer. I feed them their veg in the morning. As guinea pigs do most of their eating around the hours of dusk and dawn I give them loads of hay in the evening which is the only food they have on offer during these important hours and they get through a lot. I change their water daily but they drink very, very little although their is marked increase in the amount they drink on the days they have nuggets. Tbh I don't over worry about the calcium in veg but am careful about the oxalate and never feed spinach. Also most days they have a small amount of carrot but as they are not getting readily accessible carbs via daily nuggets the calories are not a problem. I have done things this way for many years now and my pigs are not overweight or prone to bladder issues.
 
I have had a lot of problems with stones and bladder sludge in my guinea pigs. Last January I talked to an exotic vet who has started to research guinea pig diets as she is seeing far more guinea pigs with stones than she used to. She was horrified at how little veg my guinea pigs were getting and said their diet was far too dry. I have gone back to feeding a lot more grass and veg like I used years ago. She also said a low oxalate diet is far more important in the fight against stones than low calcium. Feeding a low calcium diet can cause other health issues and sometimes stones because it alters the way the body stores and uses calcium. She advised to avoid spinach, root veg and celery, to only feed kale very occasionally as a treat but not to go too mad on limiting other veg and to feed larger portions than I was. It's also a good idea to spread the veg out during the day not to just feed it once, particularly for poor drinkers. I think in the end it's up to the individual to do their research and decide what's best for them and their pigs, there are so many differing opinions on diet.
 
I just scrape everything out most cage clean days but then I do deep clean the base aswell regular with that Johnson’s pet spray. And I buy 10kg bags of saafe bed online as little tiny bags are 1.99 in pets at home and pigs have a bedroom each so it works out mega cheap. I do this so much because I’ve had a lot of ringworm on their ears but nothing for months thank god. I buy pets at home Timothy hey and I feel no way about getting every single bale out they’ve got and seeing which ones have more furry bits. I’m really shocked at everyone’s tiny portions I’m deffo cutting down it will save me so many trips to the shop for fresh stuff aswell. I am taking all this on board I want healthy pigs. Oh god I think I’ve had every issue with my pigs apart from bladder issues I’ve been lucky they’ve had a skip full of spinach. They’re happily eating hey now I’ve resisted giving them their bedtime munch they’ll have to wait until the morning xx
 
pollyandpenny said:
I just scrape everything out most cage clean days but then I do deep clean the base aswell regular with that Johnson’s pet spray. And I buy 10kg bags of saafe bed online as little tiny bags are 1.99 in pets at home and pigs have a bedroom each so it works out mega cheap. I do this so much because I’ve had a lot of ringworm on their ears but nothing for months thank god. I buy pets at home Timothy hey and I feel no way about getting every single bale out they’ve got and seeing which ones have more furry bits. I’m really shocked at everyone’s tiny portions I’m deffo cutting down it will save me so many trips to the shop for fresh stuff aswell. I am taking all this on board I want healthy pigs. Oh god I think I’ve had every issue with my pigs apart from bladder issues I’ve been lucky they’ve had a skip full of spinach. They’re happily eating hey now I’ve resisted giving them their bedtime munch they’ll have to wait until the morning xx
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I think it's all about finding something that works for you, nothing is set in stone and not every healthy guinea pig will have the exact same diet. But take what you can out of this, limit pellets (they're not even necessary, and if you cut pellets out you can give the guinea pigs more veggies-something I've been tempted to do but haven't because my piggies probably enjoy them just as much or more as they're only given in smaller amounts) I think it is widely agreed to limit higher calcium veg such as Spinach and Kale, etc. All I can say is my guinea pigs have been looking really good recently with the changes I've made, but to be fair I've made quite a few I can't just pinpoint it down to one thing. I do believe switching to high quality farm GREEN hay has made a difference. I buy this in bulk and they seem to really enjoy it, they never really used to eat their pet shop/garden centre meadow hay, they'd eat a bit but never seemed to enjoy it so I think I used to compansate for this by giving fruits and high sugary veg and large portions. I didn't know hay was supposed to be green. They've had this for about a month now and I believe this has made the main difference. The next change is I've virtually cut out all fruit, apart from the odd treat at the weekend. My guinea pigs still eat well, a large chunk of bell pepper, 3 large romain lettuce leaves, a portion of corriander each and some other herb. They also get a bit of cucumber in the evening if I think this is necessary. I'm trying not give anymore than this though. This works for me and it's probably about 1/4 of what they used to get around two months ago but the best part is there isn't any waste anymore! I used to constantly be taking excess fruit and veg out but now this never happens!
Best of luck! :)
 
Could you try weighing out the veg @pollyandpenny ? 50g is a good portion for one pig so you could feed 25g per pig in the morning then 25g per pig in the evening or 50g per pig once a day (whatever works for you). That way you know exactly how much veg they've had so you know when you should stop. It's hard to judge what a good portion looks like when all veg has different densities (for example 10g of cucumber looks very different to 10g of lettuce) so this could make a big difference.

If my 2 are begging for extra food once it's all gone I top up the hay and they forget all about veg :))
 
I thought they needed pellets but I’ve cut down I just put a small handful in the bowl in the morning I might do them every other day, I’m going to look into the fresh hey I think they would love it. my little polly goes mad for the furry bits and I like hand feeding them to her so I’d be a bit gutted if I got a box with just straw. Yeah that’s a good idea I’m going to weigh their portions I usually just tip like half or 1/3 a bag in the cage at a time but the past week my portions have gone really small I do feel like I’m being stingey but at least the new pig hasn’t got too used to massive portions as she’s only been here a few weeks, thanks xx
 
Like @furryfriends (TEAS) i feed my piggies a diet relatively high in low calcium leafy greens and herbs with a little veg (cucumber, pepper,etc.) but very few nuggets and only occasional fruit and high calorie veg. They also get lots of grass in the summer months.

I currently work in the same room where the piggies live and they beg for food every time i come into the room. However, i know it is not good for them to have snacks so they just get the odd handful of fresh hay, which they are always happy with. I keep a bag of 'posh hay' for this so i feel like i am giving them a treat. Maybe you could try this rather than giving carrot, which really isn't good for them.
 
pollyandpenny said:
I thought they needed pellets but I’ve cut down I just put a small handful in the bowl in the morning I might do them every other day, I’m going to look into the fresh hey I think they would love it. my little polly goes mad for the furry bits and I like hand feeding them to her so I’d be a bit gutted if I got a box with just straw. Yeah that’s a good idea I’m going to weigh their portions I usually just tip like half or 1/3 a bag in the cage at a time but the past week my portions have gone really small I do feel like I’m being stingey but at least the new pig hasn’t got too used to massive portions as she’s only been here a few weeks, thanks xx
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Do you mean the seed heads? My pigs love that also, there's lots with the Timothy Hay I buy! Am going to try them with fresh meadow hay too! But I was under the impression Timothy Hay is rougher with more seed heads and better for digestion :) you'll have to give both a try :)
 
Tara95 said:
Do you mean the seed heads? My pigs love that also, there's lots with the Timothy Hay I buy! Am going to try them with fresh meadow hay too! But I was under the impression Timothy Hay is rougher with more seed heads and better for digestion :) you'll have to give both a try :)
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I‘m using the seed heads as treats because I was giving them way too many „unhealthy“ treats (the curse of being home all the time :)):))). So everytime they beg for food during the day, I‘ll grab four seed heads out of their haybags and hand feed them. They are equally as happy - if not happier - as they are with any other treat!
 
Yeah I wasn’t sure what they were I tried looking on google but it didn’t give me a straight answer, polly is such a moody pig me hand feeding her is as affectionate as she gets so I need furry bits if I’m cutting down veg. Been looking at hey places I think it’s not the best time to order as it’s so close to Christmas I’ll get some ordered in January and I’ve only just bought 3 decent looking bales at the weekend from pets at home xx
 
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