How much fruit and vegetables for guinea pigs

[Fullofthought]

We have just got two male guinea pigs for the 1st time. They seam to really like kale how much should I be giving them to get the vitamin c they need.

First - gorgeous piggies

You need to do a balancing act with them .
Their pellets will be a good source of Vit C and fibre
They need hay (about their own bodysize but really , unlimited)
Fresh water

Then you look at the types of veg
Not too much fruit - they get fat , can risk diabetes , can make them loose
Not too much dark green - can make them prone to bladder and kidney stones
Not too much calcium rich (brocilli , herbs) risk of bladder stones
Not too much root veg (high in sugars)

No: potatoes, iceberg, mushrooms, stoned fruits, onions

They are complex little animals , they cannot make their own Vit C , they cannot be sick, they cannot go more than 7 hours without food or they risk liver failure .

Give them pellets not muesli-type dry food but keep them on whatever they were eating for now -if you do change foods , do it gradually mixing in some new pellets to the original ones .

Honestly - a flipping Gremlin is easier

I;ll be back anon , enjoy your piggies.

According to our pigs they need a full bag of kale every day. They have decided that if they stand on back legs and look cute each time they hear the kitchen door then they will get a whole bag of kale. This is not true.

Seriously, we give them a handful of kale once or twice a week, one blueberry a week (which the vet says is all they need for blueberries for vitamin C - naturally the pigs don't agree) and then they have apple, pear, spinach as and when plus bits of peppers when I cook - though they can only have raw vegetables.

As 70 says unlimited hay - ours will stand up and try and pull more hay out of the hay box next to their cage if they think they haven't been given enough as they are greedy munchkins. I put in a pile about the size of their combined body weight twice a day as they make beds in it as well as eat it.

A gremlin is certainly easy but not as much fun.

GP1 claimed that the biscuity bit in a strawberry Cornetto was recognised as being good for guineas ( because of the strawberry obvs ) and chased DD along the length of the run to relieve her of it .

We must've read different Cavy Care books to him

We have the pellet food and they have access to a hay box but I think they prefer it on the cage floor to eat. We have so far tried kale, sprouts, cucumber. They enjoyed all but sprouts. Will try carrots tomorrow. What's the noise they make like a squeek when getting stoked. It's a high pitched noise

We have had two sets of boys. The first boys would eat everything.
Our current boys are a lot more fussy!
We only give them the pellet type food
They love red pepper, green beans, apple and will eat a bit of kale
Won't eat broccoli or sprout leaves etc!

Ours demand daily kale but won't touch sprouts or parsnips. Today they've had kale and carrots.

Also-very cute piggies !

My DD swears that she has toilet trained one of the boys. She stroked them
And then he starts to squeak, she puts him back and he wees...

I feed mine a daily mix of mostly veg - carrot, cucumber, peppers, leafy bits (cabbage, cauliflower leaves, kale, spinach) celery and the occasional bit of fruit (a grape or two, apple, pear) hay and pellets. DH thinks they are greedy and tries to restrict their hay! But I ignore him.

You must, at some point, give them a whole corn on the cob to eat as a treat. Literally the whole thing with the silks and husk and leaves on. Watching them demolish it is a wonderful sight.

But not too often as corn is very sugary for them.

I wasn't so systematic... but yes to hay at all times. Then some high vit C veg which we only gave them once or twice a day. I didn't worry exactly what veg as long as some was high in vit C & we avoided the poisonous things (eg., rhubarb).

I can attest our cavies showed no ill effects from regularly eating (supermarket) mushroom peel, grape leaves (organic off our own vine), raw potato (not green) & a lot of other things that people fret about. They adored banana skin.

But mostly they got brassicas & carrot peels.

*their very fave was probably tomatoes

The whole “about their own body size” amount of hay always makes me laugh. My pigs are, well, pigs and think the right amount of hay is “more”.

Also, make the same noise when you feed them and they will eventually come when you call. I say “wick wick”, my friend clucks at them. Just anything you can do in the same tone. My two now run when I say “wick wick” and get very affronted if I don’t actually have food for them and just wanted to grab one for a nail check.

Mine will come dashing out for anything and anyone. Even if they're covered over if they hear someone nearby thry set up a chorus

One of ours puts his head up when you say lift up

this is surprising because he's otherwise as daft as they come

Mine will come over for nothing but the rustling of a salad bag. They will also only eat salad veg and maybe a carrot if it’s a full moon, autumn, raining or the sun is shining. They’re fussy buggers.

Our pigs don't really get much fruit apart from the odd melon skin and apple core. They get plenty of veggies. They aren't fussy. They like pepper, cucumber, lettuce, cabbage, sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower leaves, carrots. They get lots of hay and pellet food.

Oh mine come out if I walk down the stairs. Or get up from the sofa if they are really hungry, It’s just fun making them appear as well.

May be a daft question but is it ok if they cough once, he seams to be a little lethargic but is still eating. He is sat on my daughter's knee eating kale at the moment. And his brother weed on me

I don’t really know much of anything about sick guinea pigs. But I do know they hide their illnesses because they are prey animals so don’t want to risk being picked off. I’d maybe be a bit nervous if he seemed out of sorts.

In my experience they soon work out not to wee on you and will find ways of telling you that they need to wee - ours used to do it all the time but now they pull on our clothes when they want to go back.

Fullofthought make sure they aren't in a draft and keep your house warm as they don't do cold. I've never heard any of ours cough but they do sneeze from time to time, mainly because (I think - I'm no expert) they will dive nose first into a bunch of hay or will dig with their noses.

I think guineas are probably quite robust (or mine are) they have any old leftover fruit / veg, (more veg than fruit) a large handful of nuggets per day and a couple of fistfuls of hay. I often pick grass for them too (their favourite). In summer they free range in the garden and seem to know what to eat

Our old pigs used to go free range in the garden and they had certain plants that they always made a beeline for - dandelions first - when they wanted to eat and other ones when they wanted shade but they would steer well clear of the daffodils and would sniff at the daisies but never eat them. We don't let the ones we have now run free because we'd never catch two of them so they go out in a run. It's probably too small for them but when they go out they only sit and eat the grass so I think it's OK. If we put them on the carpet in the lounge they just go and sit under the sofa or chairs and only come out if tempted with some veggies.

I say we'd never catch them - we have one hyperactive pig and one that has always been very shy, presumably because he was abandoned.

What's the noise they make like a squeek when getting stoked. It's a high pitched noise

They have a lovely repertoir of noise , there are some really good YouTube videos but if you play them near your piggies be prepared for the "Eh"? faces from them (when we had GP3/GP4/GP5 we played some recordings , Gp5 (little Himalyan) went rambling off across DD bed to find these interlopers who were threatening to gatecrash their nice trio

There are various squeaks, purring, rumbling, little dove noises , chattering toothy grinding sounds and the weird 'singing' which sounds like a bird. There's no end of speculation what it means but I've heard it from pg sows, GP5 just hours before she died and (oddest of all) GP6 in his outdoor run while DD and I were three feet away leaning their house.

I know other small furries make noises but guinea-pigs are the chattiest (not appreciated at 3am when I;m trying to sleep and they're in the next room)

Here is a great guide