Questionable ingredients in pellets

luckyandsammy

luckyandsammy

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hello,
So I’ve been looking into pellets as the brand I used to feed my guinea pigs, Versele- Laga Cavia Complete has recently revealed its ingredients, and it turns out it contains something called sepiolite.
I’ve looked it up and I’m not too sure if this should be consumed?
I’ve looked up other foods to compare and to be honest, most of them don’t say what the “technological” additives are. This makes me concerned as I don’t want to be giving the guinea pigs anything harmful. I’ve looked at small pet select nuggets and they contain sodium bentonite, which again, seems a bit questionable to me.

Am I being dramatic, or could these ingredients be harmful? As far as I’m aware, they don’t seem to be used in human food…

Please tell me what you think, and let me know if you know a good brand of food that doesn’t “hide” its ingredients.
The guinea pigs are currently on burgess excel but I’m very eager to change it as I’m not a fan of the ingredients, and the guinea pigs have put on a bunch of weight since they started eating it (each pair only gets a small scoop, egg cup sized to share every morning).

Thanks!
 
I’m not sure about the ingredients but pellets don’t really need to be fed at all. And if you do feed them make sure it’s only one tablespoon per pig per day.

Hopefully someone will be able to help you with the best type of pellets. I feed my two Haybox pellets.
 
I don’t know about these ingredients.

I have moved my piggies to Piggie Parcels pellets. Piggie Parcels is a small business run by a member of this forum - lots of us get forage from her and she has recently formulated pellets. The pellets are purely grasses - my lot love them and I would recommend them to anyone!
 
luckyandsammy said:
As far as I’m aware, they don’t seem to be used in human food…
Click to expand...

Sepiolite has an E number - E562. Whether it is still used as a food additive for humans I've no idea, but the fact the E number exists means that at some point it was definitely used as a food additive for humans. Wikipedia, for whatever reason, is missing a good chunk of that information, but that doesn't mean it's dangerous.
 
weepweeps said:
I’m not sure about the ingredients but pellets don’t really need to be fed at all. And if you do feed them make sure it’s only one tablespoon per pig per day.

Hopefully someone will be able to help you with the best type of pellets. I feed my two Haybox pellets.
Click to expand...
I prefer to feed them as I’m worried about causing deficiencies!

Thank you for the suggestion, unfortunately mine didn’t like haybox and the bag ended up going off :no:
 
Piggies&buns said:
I don’t know about these ingredients.

I have moved my piggies to Piggie Parcels pellets. Piggie Parcels is a small business run by a member of this forum - lots of us get forage from her and she has recently formulated pellets. The pellets are purely grasses - my lot love them and I would recommend them to anyone!
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, I looked at those but they are a bit expensive and do contain some fillers like sunflower meal & beet pulp. They are on my to consider list though…
 
luckyandsammy said:
Oh yeah, I looked at those but they are a bit expensive and do contain some fillers like sunflower meal & beet pulp. They are on my to consider list though…
Click to expand...

I’m going to tag Piggie Parcels @Guineautopia as she may have some helpful comments about the ingredients and how much of a proportion these items that you are concerned about make up.
 
I dont know about sepiolite but in the UK pet foods do not have to list all ingredients (which is why, i think, they use the term composition instead), unlike foods for human consumption, so as pellets are a processed food it is highly likely that most will contain a variety of additives, just as processed human foods do, which is not to say they are harmful.
 
i believe piggie parcels are one of the best pellets out there,they are concentrated into a tablespoon.the correct nutrition ,where as other pellets you maybe need to feed a higher quantity of pellets to get same nutrition.i have ten piggies,ive feed these along with science selective grain free pellets.as far as cost I'm saving money with the piggie parcels pellets,need less of them.
i also feel you will find it difficult to find a perfect pellet.its really what suits you and your piggies,and budget.they really are a small part of the cavies diet.i hope you find some you like. :)
 
Piggie Pellets are amazing, my girls love them. I find them really good value for money as they're concentrated so don't need to use as much. I got 2 bags at the beginning of March and I'm only half way throigh the 1st bag, I only give one tablespoon between 2 a day though. They're nice and small so I sprinkle them in their hay and they are occupied for well over an hour foraging for them.
 
luckyandsammy said:
Oh yeah, I looked at those but they are a bit expensive and do contain some fillers like sunflower meal & beet pulp. They are on my to consider list though…
Click to expand...
Hi, Amanda here from Piggie Parcels 👋
Happy to help and answer any questions.
So first off I developed these pellets from the mind set of a guinea pig owner, I did not create a pellet with any cheap fillers.
Beet pulp is not a cheap filler. It’s been used as it’s a highly digestible soluble fibre which supports and promotes good bacteria. Helps promote gastrointestinal movement. Not only is this a natural prebiotic supporting friendly bacteria in the gut, it is also a valuable source of high digestible pectin fibre. 😊
Sunflower meal has been added as it contains highly digestible and palatable protein 😊
I literally developed these over two years and refused to look at cost to ensure they were the best.
I have a web page with lots of info you might find interesting including how they can work out cheaper to feed compared to other brands as you feed less.
Hope this helps 😊
Piggie Pellets
 
eileen said:
i believe piggie parcels are one of the best pellets out there,they are concentrated into a tablespoon.the correct nutrition ,where as other pellets you maybe need to feed a higher quantity of pellets to get same nutrition.i have ten piggies,ive feed these along with science selective grain free pellets.as far as cost I'm saving money with the piggie parcels pellets,need less of them.
i also feel you will find it difficult to find a perfect pellet.its really what suits you and your piggies,and budget.they really are a small part of the cavies diet.i hope you find some you like. :)
Click to expand...
Thank you 😊 it’s amazing how far they go isn’t it 👍🏻❤️
 
Jenni85 said:
Piggie Pellets are amazing, my girls love them. I find them really good value for money as they're concentrated so don't need to use as much. I got 2 bags at the beginning of March and I'm only half way throigh the 1st bag, I only give one tablespoon between 2 a day though. They're nice and small so I sprinkle them in their hay and they are occupied for well over an hour foraging for them.
Click to expand...
That’s so lovely to hear, thank you 😊
 
Guineautopia said:
Hi, Amanda here from Piggie Parcels 👋
Happy to help and answer any questions.
So first off I developed these pellets from the mind set of a guinea pig owner, I did not create a pellet with any cheap fillers.
Beet pulp is not a cheap filler. It’s been used as it’s a highly digestible soluble fibre which supports and promotes good bacteria. Helps promote gastrointestinal movement. Not only is this a natural prebiotic supporting friendly bacteria in the gut, it is also a valuable source of high digestible pectin fibre. 😊
Sunflower meal has been added as it contains highly digestible and palatable protein 😊
I literally developed these over two years and refused to look at cost to ensure they were the best.
I have a web page with lots of info you might find interesting including how they can work out cheaper to feed compared to other brands as you feed less.
Hope this helps 😊
Piggie Pellets
Click to expand...

And this is why my piggies and I love them!
 
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