Considering New Diet

[samim21]

Since my last guinea pig passed of bladder stones a couple weeks ago, I've been wanting to work harder to improve my current piggies lives. I think I would like to revamp their diet, as my four year old is overweight and may have bumblefoot as a result (seeing the vet later today, hopefully its just dry skin!). I just got a 1 year old, and want to make sure I don't repeat past diet mistakes.

Up to now, my pigs' diet has consisted mostly of spring mix lettuce, occasional spinach, carrots, occasional blueberries, and very occasional melon. My late guinea pig and my older girl were both VERY picky eaters, but I'm hoping the newbie will be more receptive to trying new veggies.

So, here's what I'm thinking so far:

Daily: spring mix lettuce (red and green), zucchini (if I can get them to try it)
Alternating daily: bell pepper, carrots, cucumber, arugula
Alternating twice a week: cilantro, blueberries, parsley, apples, spinach

I also have some timothy hay growing in a patch in my backyard for their enjoyment, but am not sure how much I should be giving them. They get unlimited dry timothy hay, but I am unsure about fresh.

I want to give them each half a cup of veg in the mornings and half a cup at night.

Any advice on how much of each veg to give them would be appreciated, as I've read different things.

Thanks guys!

[GrannyJu1]

First, I'd cut out the parsley, cilantro and spinich. All 3 can cause problems for stone pigs.

Bell Pepper, carrots, cucumber are great everyday. Bell Peppers especially are good because they are a wonderful source of natural Vitamin C. In spite of what a lot of people say, carrots are NOT high in sugar and are safe on a daily basis, say 1 baby carrot per day per pig. As for cucumber, they are mostly water so are fine on a daily basis, also. I think arugula is a type of lettuce (someone correct me if I'm wrong) which would make it safe for daily feeding. There are a bunch of different types of lettuce with only Romaine being "bad". A lot of stone pigs have problems with it.

Then I'd give them fruit OR berries once a week.

As for the hay, unlimited is the general rule. If you grow your own, make sure it is rinsed clean unless you are absolutely sure other animals cannot get to the patch. I'm not sure if they should be limited on the homegrown stuff - as far as I know Timothy is Timothy.

[Lynx]

Good advice!! You covered it all!

[samim21]

Ok that's awesome. My older girl is suuuuper picky, so being able to give her carrots most days is great.

so new plan:

1 cup total of: arugula or spring mix, cucumber, bell pepper, carrots daily (depending on what I have I might just swap peppers and cucumber every other day, etc)

Blueberries or apple once per week

We usually give the carrots as a treat anyway, so I might continue with that as a snack for them.

TBH not that far off from what I've been doing, but I think the bell peppers will be a great addition if I can get them to eat em.

Is one color the best? Like would red bell peppers or green be more nutritious?

Thanks !!!!

[bpatters]

The peppers and the cucumber aren't equivalent. I'd give the peppers every day. They're the best source of vitamin C you can get, and pigs, like humans, have to C from their diet.

Red has the most C and the most sugar.

Here's a post I wrote for another forum on how to get pigs to eat veggies: https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/th ... vegetables

[samim21]

Ok cool. I'll try the peppers. Luckily for me, my new pig seems to not be a picky eater (ate some cucumber while Philly absolutely ignored it LOL). Philly doesn't love trying new veggies, but I will definitely try the chopping it up really finely thing. I have to cut back on Philly's pellets (she's a chubster and the vet recommended she lose a little weight), but I will sprinkle it in with her other veggies. I'll def try the burrito thing too! Sounds cute :)

Also, good news, vet said both piggies are in good shape (except for some weight on Philly) and what I thought might be bumblefoot is most likely just some dry skin (i.e. I overreacted a lot). More exercise and less pellets + some olive oil on Philly's tootsies (vet said this might help) and all should be well!

[bpatters]

How much does Philly weigh? I'd be willing to bet a considerable amount that she's not overweight. Guinea pigs are herbivores, and it's very hard for them to become obese unless they're fed too many pellets or have some mobility problem that keeps them from moving around.

Also, the recommended weights that are found in vet books are based on lab animals, not pets, and are lighter than most pigs. Every pig I've ever had weighed around 1300 grams or more, and I wouldn't have considered putting any of them on a diet.

[Lynx]

Read over www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html for a veterinarian's description of how to check the condition/relative weight of your guinea pig to see if it is a good weight.

[samim21]

She's 2lbs. It's definitely too many pellets. We were giving her and Pancake (the guinea pig that passed away recently) a lot of pellets in the hopes that Pancake would gain some weight (she was getting skinny because she was so sick). Vet said her weight could be a contributing factor to her issue with her paws (looks like dry skin and light irritation). Just gonna reduce the pellets back a bit and try to get her to eat some peppers (since they have been recommended to me so much by all of y'all :) )

And, of course, trying to encourage more exercise. She's a bit of a seditary piggy, so I've been trying to find more creative ways to giver her treats, grass, etc to get her to move around a bit more.

[bpatters]

Two pounds is definitely NOT overweight. But 1/8 cup of pellets for an adult pig is the maximum.

Use cold pressed coconut oil on the foot pads. Weight isn't a significant contributing factor to dry skin, but lack of lubrication on the feet is.

[samim21]

Ooh I didn't think of coconut oil. That sounds better than using olive oil. I'll give that a shot. Thanks :)

[bpatters]

You want the cold pressed stuff. Heat destroys the medicinal benefits.