Veggies and Hay

wheek!guinea

wheek!guinea

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Mar 21, 2020
Messages
103
Reaction score
71
Points
235
Location
United States
Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum and hope to share my love of guinea pigs with you all. Currently my boar Glacier is 2 months old :luv:

Questions:

1. I have researched a lot and found many different answers on the frequency and types of vegetables to feed guinea pigs. Is red leaf lettuce and green leaf lettuce ok to feed daily? If you could leave your daily/weekly vegetable meals down below, I would also appreciate that!

2. For a guinea pig of Glaciers age, is a full cup of vegetables still okay? Or 1/2 cup considering his age?

3. Is 1/8th of a cup for pellets standard for all ages?

4. What brands of hay and pellets do you trust the most or have found your piggies love?

Thanks so much for any help/advice. 🐹
 
Yes to red leaf and green leaf lettuce (not iceberg). Pellets are a tablespoon per day. A cup of veg is absolutely fine. Just make sure that he has access to plenty of hay 24/7.

As an example, I feed a lettuce leaf, pepper and cucumber daily. Then if I have it, they’ll also get a bit of celery, slice of cucumber, a green bean and a sprig or two of coriander.

Does your boy have a friend? They really shouldn’t live alone.
 
Siikibam said:
Yes to red leaf and green leaf lettuce (not iceberg). Pellets are a tablespoon per day. A cup of veg is absolutely fine. Just make sure that he has access to plenty of hay 24/7.

As an example, I feed a lettuce leaf, pepper and cucumber daily. Then if I have it, they’ll also get a bit of celery, slice of cucumber, a green bean and a sprig or two of coriander.

Does your boy have a friend? They really shouldn’t live alone.
Click to expand...
Oh wow, so 1/8th is definitely too much! With his age, would you recommend Alfalfa hay over Timothy hay? He definitely has access to fresh hay and water all day! He seems to like the hay on the floor more so than in the basket.

Also no friends yet. His cage is definitely big enough for 2 or 3 pals though :)! I wanted to make sure that it was a good choice to introduce friends without stress or any fights. I've also read that it's okay if they don't live in pairs, as long as you're giving them enough 1 on 1 time. However, this didn't seem right.
 
Please do not keep him on his own even with lots of 1 to 1 time with you (Thought you know this due to your apprehension). He definitely needs a friend of his own kind. Guinea pigs are social animals and need to live in pairs or groups. If you do get him a friend, he can only live with one other boar - boar trios end in failure 90% of the time. You could have him neutered and he could have a female (or two) to live with (six weeks after his op) or you could take him to a rescue that does boar dating so he can find a friend he likes.
 
KathT said:
Please do not keep him on his own even with lots of 1 to 1 time with you (Thought you know this due to your apprehension). He definitely needs a friend of his own kind. Guinea pigs are social animals and need to live in pairs or groups. If you do get him a friend, he can only live with one other boar - boar trios end in failure 90% of the time. You could have him neutered and he could have a female (or two) to live with (six weeks after his op) or you could take him to a rescue that does boar dating so he can find a friend he likes.
Click to expand...
Is it good to keep them close in age? I'm guessing there is a hierarchy, and that's why they fail in pairs?
 
Welcome to the forum.
Hope you find it helpful and fun.
We would love to see pictures of Glacier.
Hope you can find him a companion soon.
My boar is neutered and lives very happily with my 3 sows
 
wheek!guinea said:
Is it good to keep them close in age? I'm guessing there is a hierarchy, and that's why they fail in pairs?
Click to expand...

Age shouldn’t matter a whole lot; character compatibility is really the deciding factor. If possible, I would see if any rescues near you do “dating” where you can see if they get along before adopting.

Falling out is, as I said, more of a personality thing. Putting two dominant boars together generally doesn’t work out since they both want to be top pig, so it’s really just about finding a good match :)

As for your fourth question, Oxbow is a well-trusted brand for hay and pellets. Small Pet Select also has a great hay selection.
 
Robin_ said:
Age shouldn’t matter a whole lot; character compatibility is really the deciding factor. If possible, I would see if any rescues near you do “dating” where you can see if they get along before adopting.

Falling out is, as I said, more of a personality thing. Putting two dominant boars together generally doesn’t work out since they both want to be top pig, so it’s really just about finding a good match :)

As for your fourth question, Oxbow is a well-trusted brand for hay and pellets. Small Pet Select also has a great hay selection.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much! I'm really excited to go adopt him a friend. I hope he finds a best friend in the bunch
 
Regarding pellets, I feed 1/8 cup of pellets daily per piggie. One tbsp scoop at breakfast and one tbsp scoop at dinner. Plus 1-1.5 cups veg daily per piggy, being careful about gassy (kale, broccoli, cabbage for example) or sugary (apples, carrots) veg/fruit and being mindful about calcium in the veg. Dark leafy greens have good nutrients to offer. You can also Google "vegetables with vitamin c for guinea pigs" (ie. Bell pepper, parsley). If their pee leaves behind more calcium deposit (white powder residue) than normal, I scale back on calcium rich veggies a bit for a few days.
 
Pellets should be one tablespoon a day and no more.
good luck finding a friend for your piggy 😊
 
I use the grain free science selective pellets but alfalfa based pellets are ok for piggies under a year old. I only have two piggies and there's not many humans in my house either so a lot off veggies would go to waste if I was to provide the rich varied diet that some piggie parents manage to give. for this reason I usually buy mixed bags of salad lettuce which I provide a handful of per day and 1 or 2 other veggies per day and try to provide 3-4 different veggies per week. we have a small salad plate that I pile high with veggies for their dinner.
 
Alfalfa is up to four months only. But many on here (myself included) have not fed young piggies (younger than four months) any alfalfa hay or pellets.
 
FF481BA9-DF53-4F4C-A3F4-04B0CD4EEF1A.webpHere is an example of some veggies I fed my piggies today - it includes cucumber, romaine lettuce, celery, corriander, tomato, carrot (which is only an occasional treat as high in sugar), broccoli. Also don’t worry I don’t just have one guinea pig.
 
Be careful with the tomato. An occasional treat. And broccoli can cause gas so not too much either. Cute piggy :wub:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top