Pellets

Mclayton

Mclayton

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello. So, just a little advice on pellets. Bubble & Squeak have a tablespoon (20g), of pellets each per day. The grain free ones. Now, all this is eaten in about 12 hours. Been advised not to feed more, but when you see them keep going to the bowl & nothing is there, its not very nice. They have loads of hay & the correct amount of fresh food everyday. Could I feed a few more pellets or what? Thank you
 
Maybe do half in the morning and half in the evening. That's what I do and I scatter feed it in their hay along with the veg. I've found mine prefer to be fed this way rather than a bowl, my bigger pig Blossom was hogging it and even when I tried 2 bowls she would patrol both of them. I get all piggies are different though.
 
No don’t feed any more pellets. Once their one tablespoon is gone for the day, then it’s gone. Instead, remove their bowl from the and top up their hay. Don’t give in!
If you give them more pellets each time they ask, then they will come to expect it, you will end up overfeeding pellets and consequently it can impact their health.
You were already concerned about calcium intake. Consider that even the low calcium pellets contain a lot of calcium so giving more would obviously makes things worse.

Mine do not get pellets daily. They get them about three times a week. They don’t ask for them because to them they aren’t a feature in their diet. However, they enjoy them when they get them. I scatter them in their hay so it becomes enrichment and foraging exercise for them.
 
Mine get half in the morning and half in the evening. I am another owner who scatters the pellets around the cage so they have to forage for them. If you feel you must use a bowl I would remove it when it's empty so they can't keep looking at it in hope.
 
Jenni85 said:
Maybe do half in the morning and half in the evening. That's what I do and I scatter feed it in their hay along with the veg. I've found mine prefer to be fed this way rather than a bowl, my bigger pig Blossom was hogging it and even when I tried 2 bowls she would patrol both of them. I get all piggies are different
Piggies&buns said:
No don’t feed any more pellets. Once their one tablespoon is gone for the day, then it’s gone. Instead, remove their bowl from the and top up their hay. Don’t give in!
If you give them more pellets each time they ask, then they will come to expect it, you will end up overfeeding pellets and consequently it can impact their health.
You were already concerned about calcium intake. Consider that even the low calcium pellets contain a lot of calcium so giving more would obviously makes things worse.

Mine do not get pellets daily. They get them about three times a week. They don’t ask for them because to them they aren’t a feature in their diet. However, they enjoy them when they get them. I scatter them in their hay so it becomes enrichment and foraging exercise for them.
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Thank you
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Are you actually using a tablespoon measure to scoop out the pellets? Make sure you do so to ensure you aren’t giving too many.
A tablespoon of the pellets I used to use weighed just 6g. (I now feed Piggie Parcels pellets but haven’t actually weighed how much 1 tbsp of those comes to).
 
Piggies&buns said:
Are you actually using a tablespoon measure to scoop out the pellets? Make sure you do so to ensure you aren’t giving too many.
A tablespoon of the pellets I used to use weighed just 6g. (I now feed Piggie Parcels pellets but haven’t actually weighed how much 1 tbsp of those comes to).
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I weigh them, as I looked online as to what a tablespoon is in grams, & it says its 21.25g. So, I feed 40g pellets each day for both.
 
Mclayton said:
I weigh them, as I looked online as to what a tablespoon is in grams, & it says its 21.25g. So, I feed 40g pellets each day for both.
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No, I would use an actual tablespoon to scoop it out rather than go by weight.
It may be that it comes to too much. As I say, one tablespoon of the pellets I used to use came to only 6g so is a far cry from the amount the packet recommends. If I had given them 20g then it would have been wildly overfeeding them by just over three times too much
 
Piggies&buns said:
No, I would use an actual tablespoon to scoop it out rather than go by weight. It may be that it comes to too much. As I say, one tablespoon of the pellets I used to use came of only 6g so is a far cry from the amount the packet recommends. If I had given them 20g then it would have been wildly overfeeding them by four times too much
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I don't have weighing spoons. Oh dear. Stupid Internet!
 
Piggies&buns said:
No, I would use an actual tablespoon to scoop it out rather than go by weight.
It may be that it comes to too much. As I say, one tablespoon of the pellets I used to use came to only 6g so is a far cry from the amount the packet recommends. If I had given them 20g then it would have been wildly overfeeding them by four times too much
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Just ordered some weighing spoons
 
Mclayton said:
I don't have weighing spoons. Oh dear. Stupid Internet!
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Each brand will fit differently, you can’t rely on the Internet
It may explain why you’ve been seeing a lot of calcium deposits if they are getting too many pellets.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Each brand will fit differently, you can’t rely on the Internet
It may explain why you’ve been seeing a lot of calcium deposits if they are getting too many pellets.
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This forum is helping me SO much! All my advice has been coming from a rescue manager, & she actually told me, the maximum I can give of pellets per day was 30g! She's way off then! Will increase the hay. That's the priority
 
I've just weighed a level table spoon of my pellets (a mix of Burgess and Science Selective) and they weigh 10gms, it was 36 pellets. I don't have any grain free ones but I don't think the weight will be hugely different, this will be a guide for you until you can get a table spoon.

I don't actually feed that many pellets, mine get 12 a day each!
 
Mine only had about 12 or so individual pellets each when they were on burgess. I did give the science selective grain free for a short time and i also only gave them about 12 pellets of those If I remember rightly.

They are on Piggie Parcels pellets now, but they are concentrated and absolutely tiny (each pellet just being a couple of millimetres). They probably only get half a tablespoon if that per piggy (and only three times a week).
 
Mclayton said:
This forum is helping me SO much! All my advice has been coming from a rescue manager, & she actually told me, the maximum I can give of pellets per day was 30g! She's way off then! Will increase the hay. That's the priority
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Is this ok to give them? I usually scatter it in the hay twice a week
Piggies&buns said:
Mine only had about 12 or so individual pellets each when they were on burgess. I did give the science selective grain free for a short time and i also only gave them about 12 pellets of those If I remember rightly.

They are on Piggie Parcels pellets now, but they are concentrated and absolutely tiny (each pellet just being a couple of millimetres). They probably only get half a tablespoon if that per piggy (and only three times a week).
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Mclayton said:
Is this ok to give them? I usually scatter it in the hay twice a week
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Yes its fine to give them.

As I say mine only get pellets about three times a week and on the other days they get dried forage mixed in their hay instead.
I get my forage from Piggie Parcels which is a company run by a member of this forum. I highly recommend it
 
Piggies&buns said:
Yes its fine to give them.

As I say mine only get pellets about three times a week and on the other days they get dried forage mixed in their hay instead.
I get my forage from Piggie Parcels which is a company run by a member of this forum. I highly recommend it
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Could you please give me the link to the site? Will take a look
 
Piggies&buns said:
Yes its fine to give them.

As I say mine only get pellets about three times a week and on the other days they get dried forage mixed in their hay instead.
I get my forage from Piggie Parcels which is a company run by a member of this forum. I highly recommend it
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Is this a good one to get?
 

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Mclayton said:
Is this a good one to get?
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Anything from piggie parcels is good!
However, it’s going to come down to what your piggies like. Personally for a first purchase I would go with single bags so you can see what your piggies prefer.
I really like the look of the letterbox forage trays, however, none of my six animals like any of the the flowers so it would be a waste for mine. Mine love all the dried leaves - plantain , hazel, strawberry and raspberry, nettle, birch and dandelion. They also love the green oat and cucumber slices. i also buy the dried carrot but due to the sugars that is given only occasionally as a treat.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Anything from piggie parcels is good!
However, it’s going to come down to what your piggies like. Personally for a first purchase I would go with single bags so you can see what your piggies prefer.
I really like the look of the letterbox forage trays, however, none of my six animals like any of the the flowers so it would be a waste for mine. Mine love all the dried leaves - plantain , hazel, strawberry and raspberry, nettle, birch and dandelion. They also love the green oat and cucumber slices. i also buy the dried carrot but due to the sugars that is given only occasionally as a treat.
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Well, actually, mine don't really like flowers either, as there are few flowers in the 5 a day hay, & they don't touch them. Will try green oat & cucumber then. They love cucumber
 
piggieminder said:
I've just weighed a level table spoon of my pellets (a mix of Burgess and Science Selective) and they weigh 10gms, it was 36 pellets. I don't have any grain free ones but I don't think the weight will be hugely different, this will be a guide for you until you can get a table spoon.

I don't actually feed that many pellets, mine get 12 a day each!
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So, just to make sure I've read it right. So I can feed 5g of pellets each in a morning, & 5g each at night?
 
Piggies&buns said:
If 10g is what a half of the pellets you use works out to, then yes.
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They have eaten all their pellets for today, so bowl removed now. They are in their pen with plenty of hay & fresh food very soon. I split it into 2 servings. Morning & evening, & when back in their cage at 9, there will be more fresh hay & forage. No pellets. Is this ok now?
 
Mclayton said:
They have eaten all their pellets for today, so bowl removed now. They are in their pen with plenty of hay & fresh food very soon. I split it into 2 servings. Morning & evening, & when back in their cage at 9, there will be more fresh hay & forage. No pellets. Is this ok now?
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That sounds good.
 
Mclayton said:
I just hope Squeak doesn't eat all the pellets, leaving Bubble with none. He loves his food!
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If you are going to use bowls then position the bowls at least a body length apart.
This is where scatter feeding amongst hay can be useful. No piggy is able to hog them.
 
Mclayton said:
I am going to scatter feed, but knowing Squeak, he will find all the pellets before Bubble! 🤣
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Can I provide forage as well as pellets? Or is it one or the other? Sorry for all the questions. I want to get it right
 
Mclayton said:
So, just to make sure I've read it right. So I can feed 5g of pellets each in a morning, & 5g each at night?
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That's a rough idea of how many pellets you can feed for you while you wait for your spoon to arrive. My pellets may weigh slightly different to yours.
 
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