Guinea Pigs - how much veg?

[Justguessing]

I'm looking for advice on how much veg to feed guinea pigs. I've been giving them a teacup sized portion daily in addition to nuggets and a constant supply of hay. But, a vet told me this week that veg is a treat and should only be given once or twice a week. Am I overfeeding them?!

we give our pigs more veg than once a week, prob daily. Carrots, cucumber dandelion leaves
always have meadow hay and pellets. Maybe I am overfeeding :(

I'm relatively new to pigs and would normally accept anything a vet advises. I thought I'd been following PDSA and RSPCA guidance though.

My (adult) son had guinea pigs several years ago. When he and they came to stay, he brought a covered run we put on the lawn, so they had free access to grass, and at night plenty of hay for their cage. They also enjoyed fresh mint and dandelion leaves.

As a long term keeper of guinea-pigs ( sadly now all across the Bridge but not from Veg Overdose ) I would say be guided by your guinea-pigs . They are experts at being guinea-pigs

First off - your pigs should have unlimited hay . At least a wedge of hay their own body size but more is better . They eat , play , sleep and pee in it .
Pellets not muesli
Fresh water that they will likely ignore .
They will get their Vit C from pellets and veg so you don't need Vit C in the water unless your piggie is ill . It can affect the taste of water and they don't like it .

Give a variety of veg .
Limit fruit , it is too high in sugar to be given regularly - can lead to diabetes in pigs , and can ferment in their gut causing yeast imbalance .

Carrot , swede, parsnip all high in sugar too

Dark green veg ( brocilli, parsely , kale , watercress ,cabbage ) are high in oxilates which can make them prone to bladder stones

Don't give iceberg but other lettuce is ok.
Slices of pepper ( loved red/yellow/orange didn't like green)

Ours loved sweetcorn in leaf, parsley , leafy bits of celery , leafy carrot,

Grass and dandelions when they were grazing , hand cut when they weren't .

We gave ours maybe 3-4 varities each meal , I used a metal dog plate for 3 adults (about 8" wide but shallow)

Other treats - watermelon rind with a bit of the flesh , banana with skin, strawberry leaves , cutted up grape , blueberries , tiny slice of apple .

Pumpkin and orange segments were spat out
Lambs lettuce was scorned
Kale was eaten only when there was danger of starvation ( inreality they weren't going to starve )

Keep a check on their pee and pooh .
Pee is cloudy usually , and plentiful
Pooh losenges are non smelly , non slimy (unless you see a first passing - the ones they skulk off to eat) and either scattered about as they walk'n'pooh or in a neat little pile where they sleep .
Size shape colour should be consistant . (Though one of mine did poohs the size of a Ferrero Rocher once a week or so, normal the rest of the time . One did triangular flat based pooh ...no idea why )
Loose pooh /liquid pooh is bad in piggies . If it doesn't resolve quickly its a vet visit .

Thank you 70, that's hugely helpful. I am now praying that I don't encounter a ferrero rocher sized poop anytime soon though.

My two eat everything I've been giving them and then squeak for more.

They have a water happy hour - guzzle it down between 5 and 6pm and then ignore it at all other times of the day.

We were told to give ours veg twice a day!!!
So they get a variety of veg every breakfast and tea time. Pellets and feeding hay racks are kept topped up (we add vit c powder to the pellets and use Timothy hay with dandelions in for eating) we then use meadow hat for bedding.

Mine get breakfast and dinner of fresh veg. Though almost every veg says it's meant to be given occasionally, I honestly don't know what is considered safe for daily use. Mine have kale usually with something else - bit of carrot, cucumber, pepper, herbs - apple just now and then.

I normally give some sort of leaf - romaine/kale/mixed salad/spinach then a couple of bits of another 2-3 veg so cucumber and pepper most days, sometimes herbs, and then a little bit occasionally of carrots (although through process of elimination they will only eat them if ribbons of carrot done with a peeler) broccoli, Celery, parsnip, strawberry stalks, blueberry, banana skin, swede, cauliflower leaves, tomato, (but not stalks as are poisonous) butternut squash, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc

Mine have veg daily. Often a child sized bowl with a mix of (but not all of) spinach, pepper, cucumber, carrot, melon, broccoli stalk, cauliflower leaves, florets. There are two of them.

Kale was eaten only when there was danger of starvation ( inreality they weren't going to starve )

Whereas in this piggy home kale is food from the heavens and apple sand carrots are strictly for starvation avoidance only. That doesn't stop them squeaking madly each time they hear the kitchen door though. They like any colour of peppers. Blueberries are popular but they only need one a week each to get the amount of vitamins that they need, however my guinea pigs inform me that the vet is wrong and actually they need a punnet a day each - in their dreams!

Everything 70 said is spot on, as always.

They are also getting a special delicacy for the first time soon - they love brown mountain ash leaves. All our other pigs have loved them so it'll be interesting to see what these two think of them, autumn is late this year though and our two trees still have berries and green leaves.

Mine hate broccoli and cauliflower !
They love grass and dandelion leaves which I give them daily when possible. If not hay and dried food.
I give them carrots and endives, they eat that in moderation, same as apples.
They are vvv ce intelligent and seem to moderate their diet accordingly.
It's so interesting that only humans and piggies aren't able to produce their own vitamin C so need to obtain it from food

They are vvv ce intelligent and seem to moderate their diet accordingly.

We've had one intelligent pig but I have to say most have fallen into the 'nice but dim' category. I have noticed that ours know which plants in the garden they can't eat though but not which plants they should not eat!

It's about 50g per guinea pig per day and ideally that would include a Vitamin C rich vegetable and a couple of other vegetables. Unlimited hay, and a tablespoon of nuggets each per day. Check out The Guinea Pig Forum, it has all the information you could ask for and lots of people to answer any questions too.

Mine have veggies twice daily. Kale which is loved beyond anything else, carrot, celery, cucumber and pepper although one of them (we have 5) thinks pepper is the work of the devil. They also get a bag on dandelions daily which I collect on the way home from the school run and look like a mad woman in the process plus pellets and hay. We give them meadow hay for bedding but they tend to eat most of it so we resort to using straw and give them hay cookies. They love corn on the cob and in the summer they had strawberries and cold watermelon.

I grew shepherd's purse specially for them. (Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.) They also like runner bean leaves fresh from the plant, and carrot tops.
Also had 2 or 3 of seed trays for growing grass, and swapped them over every few days so they had fresh grass in winter if the couldn't go outside.
(wasn't a pig slave at all )

My 2 have a mug of veg every day.
They love salad leaves, celery, kale and dandelions most
Peppers and carrots are acceptable.
For a treat they love melon rind or strawberries
They also love their hay but are very fussy about the variety and won’t eat it once they’ve walked on it!

@Hersetta427

Mine have veggies twice daily. Kale which is loved beyond anything else, carrot, celery, cucumber and pepper although one of them (we have 5) thinks pepper is the work of the devil. They also get a bag on dandelions daily which I collect on the way home from the school run and look like a mad woman in the process plus pellets and hay. We give them meadow hay for bedding but they tend to eat most of it so we resort to using straw and give them hay cookies. They love corn on the cob and in the summer they had strawberries and cold watermelon.

Be careful with straw, it can damage delicate eyes and isn't recommended for guinea pigs.

Yep, what everyone else said. Unlimited hay, water and pellets, veg 2x daily and some fruit for treats.

Unfortunately, not all vets are clued up on guinea pigs. I live in Canada where they are viewed as an 'exotic pet' and thus need a specialist vet to see them

@Sithee

Yep, what everyone else said. Unlimited hay, water and pellets, veg 2x daily and some fruit for treats.

Unfortunately, not all vets are clued up on guinea pigs. I live in Canada where they are viewed as an 'exotic pet' and thus need a specialist vet to see them

They are classified that way in the UK too, luckily our local vet has small and large animal specialists. We are in a farming area so most surgeries are split into cow, horse and domestic vets but even then it's important to check.

Our 3 boys have a round Chinese tub filled twice daily unless they've been out on the grass then it's only once.
Favourites are kale, spring greens, most types of lettuce, cucumber, celery, peppers, carrots, apple, parsley, coriander, watermelon, dandelion leaves, corn on the cob and broccoli. We've tried spinach and courgette and they really don't like them.

Yes some vets seem to regard The Cavy as an annoying scrap of noisy fur .
The Vets we used were excellent with piggies , one ran a specialist guinea-pig clinic , the way he handled the pigs and asked the questions you could tell he had a genuine interest (if not love) of the little rodenty ones .

(If I was a Vet I'd refuse to treat swans ducks and geese . I'd foist them off to my partner Vet )

@70isaLimitNotaTarget

Yes some vets seem to regard The Cavy as an annoying scrap of noisy fur . The Vets we used were excellent with piggies , one ran a specialist guinea-pig clinic , the way he handled the pigs and asked the questions you could tell he had a genuine interest (if not love) of the little rodenty ones .

(If I was a Vet I'd refuse to treat swans ducks and geese . I'd foist them off to my partner Vet )

It'd be the eight legged freaks for me, I'd only be able to treat a tarantula with euthanasia via a large boot

Thanks everyone - a continued daily portion of veg it is. My pigs will be relieved!

You can technically feed guinea-pigs on a diet of hay , pellets and water . They'll have the fibre they need and rge Vit C from the pellets .

But what a sad life for a little animal who positively wheeks for joy when you open the fridge or who has their jaws working before their back paws touch the ground on fresh grass.
They love eating , love new things to try .
Parsley was inhaled by our pigs , our GP1 launched himself into the bag of parsley DH offered to him ( to take a piece )
GP1 used to chase DD along the ;ength of the run when she had watermelon .
It is the way to their hearts . Our pigs all had their own characters . Standing in the supermarket thinking
"Oh look , mint . GP4 loves that . And I can get baby spinach for GP5 "
If you're in The Range , Parsley Bells are great Christmas presents for piggies

I still nearly buy sweetcorn in leaf then remember I am pigless