Guinea pig veg?

[zeebeedee]

So DH and DS3 went to P@H for some fish to add to the tank, and came home with 2 adopted Guinea Pigs (plus cage, food bedding etc etc)

They are lovely but shy girls, now called Bluebell and Snowdrop! - no pics cos they only come out to grab the spinach and scuttle back into their bed/hide!

I have had piggies before when I was a kid, but wanted to check what kind of veg we should be feeding them in addition to their nuggets? P@H said not grass? and I know they're not supposed to have bulbs - onions etc - and limit the root reg and fruit as it's too sugary, but is that it? They've had loads of spinach so far, and some parsley and red pepper. Can they have cucumber? celery?

Also as a very occasional treat, pigs can have a bit of dry wheatabix, all of mine (except 1) adore it and sometimes in the early winter when it gets getting chilly before they come in, I'll mix it with warm water and they all demolish it.

This can also be done with plain standard oats with nothing extra added but water.

If you can ever get hold of corn husk it's practically Christmas for them. :D

corn husk? from corn on the cob? uncooked?

Thank you all.

I was confused about the apparent 'no grass' advice, as the piggies I had as a kid were out in the garden all summer and destroyed the lawn, but I can see DH and DS3 could have listed to 'no cuttings from the lawn mower' and come home with 'no grass'.

They do have loads of hay daily, sorry I didn't specifically mention that.

So, I'll supplement the spinach with cucumber, lettuce, broccoli, herbs and beetroot (which I have now) and get spring greens, corn on the cob and whatever is cheap in the supermarket next week!

Folk recommend against potato b/c Some people are afraid that cavies will get solanines, the (somewhat) toxic green bits of potatoes. Plus the rest of the potato plant is as poisonous to them as it is to us. And potatoes are high calorie.. they really don't need a lot besides hay, just a source of vitamin C; hay is their important food. Guess what has huge amount of vitamin C? I decided it's misinformed advice to ban all potatoes.

I fed our cavies lots of potatoes with no issues at all. The blighters sometimes nibbled the leaves of a potato plant in the garden! No apparent harm done.

I sometimes encounter indoor cavies with no hay in their cage. Very :(.

Fortifiedwithtea- daisies? Mine eat them on the lawn. Is that ok?

I have free range pigs.

I have noticed that they generally turn their nose up at anything that's not good for them when foraging for themselves. They don't touch the daffs or other bulb plants, nor the daisies nor buttercups, not the foxgloves, euphorbia nor the arums. Everything else in the garden seems to be fair game though - even if they don't eat it, they will cut down stalks and make beds of leaves, they particularly like doing this with Japanese Anemones. They will destroy ferns and hardy geraniums and any herbs except for rosemary which they will occasionally nibble a leaf or two of.

They don't touch the rhubarb, go insane for raspberry but are not keen on the strawberry plants. They also like fallen leaves and can strip the bottom of a rose bush and a jasmine.

I have had to fence some of my garden off but they are incredibly good at getting through, the tiniest flaw in defence is exploited.

On the plus side, I never have to mow, my lawn is like a bowling green. And they recognise the sound of my car and come bounding up the lawn to greet me when I come home from work.

I love my pigs.

British Daisies are fine. . Humans can eat daisies. They taste like carrots. Try some in your salad.

Buttercups aren't good, that's fair. Mine probably nibbled some b/c cavies are daft & nibble most things, but only enough tastes to not try again.

corn husk? from corn on the cob? uncooked?

Yup from corn on the cob and always uncooked :)

I grew some corn and they loved the big leaves.

Mine eat
Flat leaved parsley - DH grows it to keep costs down
Cucumber is a great favourite
Any mixture of mild salad leaves (no rocket)
Green grapes (red ones are the devil's work)
Blueberries
Apple
Melon - especially the rind
Celery and celery leaves
Carrots - they also love carrot leaves and stalks, we buy ours from the local farm shop and also grow carrot tops on the windowsill (like you did at school)
Kale
Cabbage of any variety, but especially the dark spring greens
Corn on the cob husks
Cauliflower florets and Lo
Dandelions and dandelion leaves
They love my Hostas 😠😠
Grass, they go out any way, dry day. DH also fetches grass from local park and grows it in seedtrays

They have lots of hay daily and also hay cookies

My cavies are ver' ver' judgey that you went out for fish and came back with piggies "Do we even LOOK like fish"? they splutter.

Food wise - they can be contrary little creatures.
Mine save kale till their bottoms are in danger of seizing up and only eat it in protest against spontaneous starvation. But the girls didn't ike Gourmet Kale and pushed it to the side of their plate.

red topped cos lettuce
romaine
little gem lettuce
salad bags but they don't like lambs lettuce or rocket
cavelo nero
brocilli

watermelon rind

leafy carrots (regular ones at a pinch but they don't like peelings)
no to parsnips
my GP2 liked beetroot (to keep his weight up)
sweetcorn especially leaf-on.
mini corn
cauli
leafy celery
mint,parsley,coriander

small bits of apple
banana
my pig ate a segment of satsuma
blueberries
strawberry tops
tried samphire - huge no
love peashoots (I grow them in the kitchen)

they would kill for grass and dandelions. I sometimes cut some in winter , wash it and let it warm up for them

Guinea=pigs are lovely , you'll find yourself pouring over veg counters (Waitrose has good reductions )

70 They came back with fish too, 3 leopard and 3 zebra danios to put in the big tank.

So we have tried little bits of lots of things today, and they don't appear to have a sweet tooth between them, apple and grapes were refused in favour of curly kale. Cucumber went down well as did a slice of tomato!

They will already stay out and eat while we are watching them now, so I don't think it will be too long before we can have a photo or a cuddle.

Guinea-pigs are far far superior to fish (not as relaxing I grant you) but cuddlier , furrier, noisier , greedier.
They have a range of sounds - the squeaks, the purrs , one of ours sings (like a little bird chirping)
The popcorning

They'll also insist they Don't Like Water , but when you need to bath them, brace yerself ! Its a 2 person job and prepare to be sulked at for days until you get the parsley out .

I think my little sow GP8 is a P@H Pig , she looks very much like the smooth tricolours I see in there (but obviously old and lardy now , not sleek and pigletty)
Ours are all 4yo in the next couple of months , getting into MiddleAge .

See ... if you overfeed a fish it dies. My guinea pigs tell me it's not possible to overfeed them and they're just laying down fat for the harsh weather ahead.

As mine say "a plump guinea pig is a happy guinea pig"
None of this does my bum look big in this fur nonsense 🐹🐹

I'm really astonished at how much my 2 GP's can eat :)

Interesting that so may people here are feeding their GP's lettuce - the 2 sources I read up on before getting my GP's both said not to feed GP's lettuce as it causes diarrhea! - so I've been avoiding it.

Mine have some sort of lettuce daily for breakfast. Never had a problem but they only like mild types, not really keen on fancy stuff and will grudgingly eat the lettuce we grow for ourselves if they have to.
They prefer the supermarket bagged stuff and gem lettuce.

It's only iceberg lettuce that's not great for guinea pigs. Too much water content.

In terms of greens it's usually the darker the better. I like the mixed bags from asda 2 for £1.25.

They are addictive creatures. It's cleaning day for ours today, glad the weather is better, it has stopped raining.

plus stuff like apple cores.
Most advice says no apple pips due to cyanide.

They don't need too much fresh food as it can upset their tummies. They'll tell you this isn't true as they squeak every time they hear the fridge open!

Our guineas' favourites:
Corn on the cob
Carrot leaves
Strawberry tops
Celery
Spinach and kale (been advised not to overdo the dark green veg as it causes bloat)
Herbs

Mine never drink water (I offer water , they turn their snouts up)
So lettuce , as long as its not iceberg, not wilted and only a couple of leaves.

We give them loads of hay - in winter deep bedding , in summer I put it in loo roll tubes to stop them overheating themselves.

Excess dark greens can increase their risk of bladder stones - so kale, spinach, savoy cabbage , herbs,sprouts ( I think they're brassica or something)

We give a plate with 5-6 different veg and maybe 1 fruit , so lots of variety. They live to eat , not eat to live

I did read that water+hay+pellets (Vit C enriched) is all they need to survive but what a sad life that would be for a little animal.

Apple pips = cyanide

My vet said hay in / hay out that's all they need. I think my pigs would have something to say about that though.

Not sure if I've missed this but no to mushrooms.
Was it scruffy pig that would only eat greens? I still think of this when food supplies are low. Ours only eat green pepper and broccoli when they're starving ie not eaten for a WHOLE TEN MINUTES

Not sure if I've missed this but no to mushrooms.
Was it scruffy pig that would only eat greens? I still think of this when food supplies are low. Ours only eat green pepper and broccoli when they're starving ie not eaten for a WHOLE TEN MINUTES

supermarket mushrooms were fine for mine.
I also gave them grape leaves, and didn't worry about the apple pips.

Mushrooms growing randomly in the forest not safe.

Oxalic acid? In carrot tops & spinach - I once read reasons why these should be limited.

Was it scruffy pig that would only eat greens?
that was FernieB little Abby boy

In our house , if my guineas are having a plate of all-green salad / veg, its a "Scruffy Tea" !