The Scam with Nuggets

PiggyPack

PiggyPack

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This has probably been discussed to death here, but I wanted to just express my anger at the very poor amount of information given to new guinea owners about the correct amount of nuggets to give their pigs!

I can’t believe all in the pet food companies. More nuggets used, more bags bought, these owners aren’t told or no where does it advertise plainly guinea pigs should only have around a tablespoon each! It’s just baffling, the amount of overweight, guineas and health issues this will have caused!

If it wasn’t for this forum I would still be giving 3 heaped bowls a week! It was initially a bit scary watching my slightly obese piggies weight go down as I decreased nuggets a year or so ago, but my older guinea pigs have become so much happier and agile, their true healthy weight band is now known to me so I can monitor any health changes better! A hay based diet really is the key! And I’m so thankful for everyone who contributes to this forum! Your combined knowledge is just astounding!
 
Unfortunately most companies are in it for the money and aren’t particularly schooled on proper guinea pig diet. The more your piggies eat, the more money you will spend. I don’t know that this will change, except through educating piggy owners.
 
Siikibam said:
Unfortunately most companies are in it for the money and aren’t particularly schooled on proper guinea pig diet. The more your piggies eat, the more money you will spend. I don’t know that this will change, except through educating piggy owners.
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Yep 1000% I’m looking at you pets at home…
 
Sadly this is standard practice for many products - not just piggy pellets.
Things like washing powder are a classic example. The dose on the side of the box assumes you have an old machine and live in a hard water area and work in a coal mine, so need the absolute maximum amount of powder, when in reality you can easily get away with using far less.

With piggy pellets many manufacturers base their recommendation on the fact that pellets make up the majority of the diet, and they get limited nutrition from elsewhere (quality hay and fresh veg). For many piggies this is probably still their reality, but the beauty of places like this Forum is that it allows people to learn more about good pet care.
When we know better, we do better.
 
I have older pictures of piggies with full bowls of pellets and only learnt to restrict them when I joined the forum.
Now I’ve moved away from a bowl to scattering the pellets so the piggies have to hunt for them.
We learn here and pass on the knowledge when opportunity arises.
 
Merab's Slave said:
I have older pictures of piggies with full bowls of pellets and only learnt to restrict them when I joined the forum.
Now I’ve moved away from a bowl to scattering the pellets so the piggies have to hunt for them.
We learn here and pass on the knowledge when opportunity arises.
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I haven't used a bowl for nuggets for years. The only thing that I put in a bowl is forage at supper time.
 
I didn't know about those Piggie Pellets mentioned earlier, I might get some for my girls as I'm a bit cross with Burgess atm and would like to find a nice alternative.
I always put pellets in a bowl, just so I can monitor how much they are actually eating of it. They get eating hay in a bowl too, but the rest of the piggy palace is covered in deep hay so I'd struggle to see what they were eating if I hid food in the hay.
 
I don't worry about them not finding the food. They find it alright. They live for the pellets and veggies. They are appetites with fur. Mine just get the same hay for eating and sleeping. They don't know the difference, to them hay is hay. Apparently it tastes nicer too if "seasoned" with wee and poop!
 
Sue and Smartie said:
I didn't know about those Piggie Pellets mentioned earlier, I might get some for my girls as I'm a bit cross with Burgess atm and would like to find a nice alternative.
I always put pellets in a bowl, just so I can monitor how much they are actually eating of it. They get eating hay in a bowl too, but the rest of the piggy palace is covered in deep hay so I'd struggle to see what they were eating if I hid food in the hay.
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All my hutches are filled with hay and I throw pellets inside big piles of it - I can’t see whether it is eaten or not but it doesn’t matter whether they do or don’t. Mine only get pellets three times a week anyway
 
Also if you aren't sure how much your piggies are eating the weekly weigh in will tell you.
I never worried about mine because as long as their weights were reasonably stable I knew they were doing ok.
 
Betsy said:
It's not just P@H it's all nugget manufacturers with the exception of 1 (that I know about) and that is Piggie Pellets. This is owned by a Forum Member @Guineautopia. A lot of members buy forage for their piggies from her.
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Hi @Betsy I just wanted to say thank you for picking up on this. I’m first and foremost a Piggie owner, not a large company looking to make my millions. This is EXACTLY why I invested so much time and effort into developing the Piggie Parcels pellet, knowing they should only have small amounts. I also always tell people about the importance of hay and that pellets are just a complementary part of the diet. I’ve given so much information on pellets on a specific page on my website and I too hope that we can continue to educate new piggy owners. Thank you to all my supporters 😘❤️
 
Guineautopia said:
Hi @Betsy I just wanted to say thank you for picking up on this. I’m first and foremost a Piggie owner, not a large company looking to make my millions. This is EXACTLY why I invested so much time and effort into developing the Piggie Parcels pellet, knowing they should only have small amounts. I also always tell people about the importance of hay and that pellets are just a complementary part of the diet. I’ve given so much information on pellets on a specific page on my website and I too hope that we can continue to educate new piggy owners. Thank you to all my supporters 😘❤️
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My four piggies absolutely love your pellets - I’m about to put in another order!
(just seen your Facebook post about your handwritten notes - absolutely love them!)

I wish I had an alternative pellet along the lines of your piggy pellets for my rabbits!
 
I agree, it's a lot of nonsense and very frustrating that people are given this poor information, even by what you would consider reputable manufacturers.

I remember how surprised I was when I found out just how negligible a part of the diet pellets are. When I was a child we thought that you gave guinea pigs hay to sleep on and used to laugh when our pigs would eat their "bed". We really thought dry food was the main thing, and that food was not good quality because good quality guinea pig pellets were not available back then.

It's so frustrating that, although we can now buy decent pellets easily, they still don't have correct information about how they should be used. And the consequences can be fatal: obese pigs get bladder stones, and most owners won't catch them in time, won't be able to get surgery if they do, or the pig won't survive it.

It would be so easy for these pellet makers to fix this. But I get the impression that a lot of the guinea pig "knowledge" that you find out in the wild is coming from the fancy breeding and showing community, and if you look at the websites for breeding and showing groups, they're very old school in their care advice. Far too much emphasis on dry food, far too little on hay and veg.
 
Piggies&buns said:
My four piggies absolutely love your pellets - I’m about to put in another order!
(just seen your Facebook post about your handwritten notes - absolutely love them!)

I wish I had an alternative pellet along the lines of your piggy pellets for my rabbits!
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Oh wow that’s amazing thank you 🥰 it’s so nice to hear piggies love them ❤️ xx
 
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