Very Quick Question About Loquat Leafs

Walky

Walky

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
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Brazil
Hello. I have a Loquat tree in my house, and I'm wondering If I can give the leafs for my pigs to chew on. I recently ran out of hay, and no pet shop in the city has hay for sale until they contact the merchant again. They said next week they'll have it. It's a very small city.
But in the meantime, I'm looking for things that they can chew on that aren't bad for their health.
So loquat fruits are good for them, but I haven't found anything at all about loquat leafs. So, is it safe? Can Porca chew it with no worries?
WIN_20180103_15_40_40_Pro.webp This is the leaf
 
I would love to help you but I honestly have no clue. Hay is really important and you must find a substitute for it but maybe try something more like hay. Have you tried grass with NO treatment or pesticides? I find that to be the best substitute. Just don’t feed it instead of hay when it is available
 
I agree! Hay is really pertinent, few things are more important for a wholesome piggy diet than hay.

I imagine you could get away with hay-based complete pellets plus grass for a few days till Monday, but I'd recommend trying to obtain hay if at all possible - there have to be some online shops in Brazil, for instance. Do you know other pig/rabbit/chinchilla/horse owners or farmers in your area? You could ask them to lend/sell you 1-week supply of hay.

Hay is really vital for dental health. It's gently files down teeth by means of the small silica particles on the blades of grass. Considering that piggy teeth grow quickly and constantly, even a few days without hay could cause or exacerbate a dental problem.

Regarding your question, I don't know about Loquat trees, I'm sorry. What I'm sure of is that it can't be substitute for hay. You could try other tree branches (again, not as a hay substitute, but a forrage): apple, pear, quince, mulberry, beech and hazel are all well appreciated in the piggy cage at home. Steer clear of citrus, conifers and stone-fruit trees, as these are unsafe to eat.
 
Regarding that
Julia Rafferty said:
I would love to help you but I honestly have no clue. Hay is really important and you must find a substitute for it but maybe try something more like hay. Have you tried grass with NO treatment or pesticides? I find that to be the best substitute. Just don’t feed it instead of hay when it is available
Click to expand...
Is any kind of grass good for them, considering it has no pesticides? A have zoysia grass in my gardens, they sometimes eat a little when i put them ousite, but i don`t let them eat more than a handfull out of fear that it`s not the riht type of grass. Is it ok?
 
Walky said:
Regarding that

Is any kind of grass good for them, considering it has no pesticides? A have zoysia grass in my gardens, they sometimes eat a little when i put them ousite, but i don`t let them eat more than a handfull out of fear that it`s not the riht type of grass. Is it ok?
Click to expand...
Also, I`ve seen my dad sometimes adding some white little balls into the grass, saying it was for the grass to grow greener and healthier, but that was like half a year ago. Does it still counts as the grass being treated and it`s not suited for the piggie ? (sorry for the ample description, I have no idea how to describe that using english words lol, but I`m sure it was some kind of treatment for the grass)
 
Walky said:
Regarding that

Is any kind of grass good for them, considering it has no pesticides? A have zoysia grass in my gardens, they sometimes eat a little when i put them ousite, but i don`t let them eat more than a handfull out of fear that it`s not the riht type of grass. Is it ok?
Click to expand...
I have never heard of that type of grass. It is good that you don’t let them eat too much since you aren’t sure but I am not too sure either. I am not garden savvy and use regular grass if I ever sun out of hay. I honestly didn’t even know there were different types of grass so that just goes to show that you should probably ask someone else. Maybe try to look it up on other threads
 
Walky said:
Also, I`ve seen my dad sometimes adding some white little balls into the grass, saying it was for the grass to grow greener and healthier, but that was like half a year ago. Does it still counts as the grass being treated and it`s not suited for the piggie ? (sorry for the ample description, I have no idea how to describe that using english words lol, but I`m sure it was some kind of treatment for the grass)
Click to expand...
I believe a year should be long enough as long as the grass has been cut quite a few times. Again don’t take it from me, this has just been my personal expirience
 
Julia Rafferty said:
I believe a year should be long enough as long as the grass has been cut quite a few times. Again don’t take it from me, this has just been my personal expirience
Click to expand...
I see. I`ve just read in a post that after a few months, and after a few mows and rains, the fertilizer is not present in the grass anymore, only barely in the soil.
"...There won't be any remains of the fertiliser on leaves after a month, particularly after you've had rain. There will be fertiliser in the soil, but the grass will be transforming the nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and iron into lovely healthy and very tasty green leaves."
So i guess it's ok for them to eat the grass, considering it has been at leats 6 months since my father fertilized it? It's still not 100% clear, I'll do more research.
Here's the thread if you're interested: once-fertilized grass?

Edit: "While I think that the lawn company is correct that the ingestion is unlikely to be toxic (read: fatal); I think that any animal, and especially little ones like guinea pigs, can get an upset stomach from eating something like fertilizer." -- from a veterinarian on (.justanswer.com/veterinary)
 
"While I think that the lawn company is correct that the ingestion is unlikely to be toxic (read: fatal); I think that any animal, and especially little ones like guinea pigs, can get an upset stomach from eating something like fertilizer." -- an expert veterinarian on | justanswer.com/veterinary |, about a piggie who ate fertilized grass only 7 hours after the fertlizer being spread on it.
 
you're welcome! The research was useful for myself - until now, I hadn't realized how many species of grass can be toxic and potentially fatal to animals. A particular sub-species of Timothy grass has been known to kill an entire flock of sheep, for instance. And you can barely tell the difference between normal timothy and the toxic one! I'll now know I need to be extra careful when collecting grass for them...
 
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