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Guinea pig/rabbit food

loopylou

Young Bun
Hi, can anyone tell me where I can get cheap, completed pelleted sacks of food suitable for feeding to both rabbits and guinea pigs and a rough idea of what you are paying for a sack and where you get it from! I currently use a mixture of Dodson & Horrell Horse cubes (£6/20kg) and Charnwood Mill guinea pig food (14.60/15kg) along with veggies & hay+++++++. They do very well on this mix but I want to increase the energy density of the diet to compensate for the cold weather without increasing the cost massively.
 
The places I got my guinea pigs from used to feed them Goat mix which I think is about 7 pound for 20kg mixed with Dodson and Horrell Fibre P which is about the same price. Their piggies looked very well on it, although I have not used it myself, mine are on Supa guinea excel.
 
Thanks Lind80 - I'll check out goat mix! I am also looking specifically for vitC enhanced food (i.e. especially for G.pigs) as I would like to increase their vit c levels also for the winter period. I used to feed supa guinea but the price became too prohibitive - at a guess I would say that I get through 30 - 40kgs dry food a month!!!
 
I wouldn't advise feeding goat mix. It has a high mineral content. The farm I work at had a goat that developed kidney stones due to the high calcium content. A guinea pig is a lot smaller and it coud cause serious problems. In my opinion you should stick to feeding a guinea pig food with a high vitamin C content. I am told that Allen and Page do a good guinea pig mix which is reasonably priced. As for the horse feed I would double check with a vet before feeding something designed for horses to rabbits. If it is just the high fibre cubes it may be alright but I would be cautious.
 
My understanding is that the digestive tract/nutritional requirements of the horse and guinea pig/rabbit are very similar and I checked the ingredients of the products for the cubes and am content that they meet the nutritional needs of a guinea pig/rabbit minus the g. pig's requirement for vit C. My piggies obtain a huge amount of green stuff so I have not been too worried about the vit c levels until now - no signs of scurvy noted and no evidence of a compromised immune system until very recently and that related to two out of 24 (although I think that related to them accidentally gaining access to medicated chicken feed) but I take your point and would be loathe for anybody who keeps their guinea-pigs in a less extensive habitat than mine (my are completely loose) to use this as their sole source of nutrition. The dried stuff has until now been used as a source of enviromental enrichment but I want to increase the energy density and Vit C levels to compensate for the fact that they are basically living rough in what will be very cold conditions (they do have access to a open, strawed shed if they want it).
 
The digestive tracts of a horse and rabbit are very similar. You are probably fine but I would'nt any feed ment for ruminants as there digestive systems are completely different. I would stick to rabbit or guinea pig food for concentrates. Horse concentrates are cereal based which are not easily digested and are designed to fizz up horses. So I would avoid them. If possibel you could monitor the weight of one or more and feed according to weight.
 
Totally agree BB re: fizzing up and cereal diets - I avoid all the diets designed for working horses for that very reason - me thinks there would be bloated buns an g. pigs all round my garden if I fed them that. No necessarily ditto ruminant diets but I would scan ingredients very carefully - I think it would depend on the diet as grass is probably the main ruminant diet and I wish my piggies had more of that :p
Feeding according to demand may depend on activity levels - all my piggies eat as much as they want and only one resembles a typical guinea pig - the rest are all lithe little things. Sometimes I think it is better to increase the energy density of the diet and sometimes to reduce it. I personally think that the energy density of commercial diets for rabbits/guinea pigs is often too great.
 
Just noticed that you are a veterinary nurse! I am a vet student at Liverpool. I just thought that was cool. I agree the energy is often too great in guinea pig foods. I would definately avoid Allen and Page goat mix though. Have you considered feeding Readigrass. It comes in huge bales and is good value. It is dried grass so has more nutrients and calories than hay. If you feed that over winter you may get away with feeding fewer concentrates.
 
Hello Loopylou, just realised that you're in Lincoln too. There aren't that many of us here from this neck of the woods!
 
Hi,
HS - cool. Whereabouts?

BB - enjoy vet school. I sometimes wish I'd gone down that route! I am guessing readigrass would be too expensive - I currently pay £2/bale and as I use loads to bed down the shed most is uneaten so I would probably resent paying more. What I really need is a cheap food designed for feeding pregnant guinea-pigs but can I find one... By the way, how much is readigrass and does it come in bales?
 
Readigrass does come in large bale sized plastic bags, certainly in Twickenham we pay £9.50 a bale for it and we are paying £5.00 a bale of hay.

Being more out in the country you would probably find it a lot cheaper where you are.

Janice
 
Alan and Page guinea food is £9.99 for 20kg. If you want just one feed for both rabbits and guineas I would try this - rabbits love it too (I give pieces of it to them as a treat), although being a mix it isn't as good for them as pellets would be. A&P natural rabbit pellets are only £5.99 for 20 kg, but guinea pigs really need guinea food.
 
hi

well I think it's too cold outside for piggies just now anyway, especially pregnant ones and babies, (those little pink feet!) but if you want to give them a cheap dietary boost there's Friendly estate grass, similar to readigrass at £11 a bale sized sack, although it is high in calcium - plus why not make them porridge with oats and boiling water once a day? - my rabbit loves this with a few pellets mashed in too - If you put human effervescent vitamin C tablets in the piggies water and change it daily, that should give them plenty of vit C?

What are you breeding them for?
 
Hey - I'm definitely not breeding g. pigs - far too many anyway :( but g pig food for pregnant piggies will have a higher energy density and I want that for winter to compensate for an increase in metabolic rate. Not too worried about the vitamin C content as they eat huge amount of raw veggies (inc. potatoes/carrots anyway + get some g. pig food from Charnwood mill anyway) and no sign of scurvy yet :D - just good to keep ear open for alternative/better sources...
 
hi

Ah well - they will burn off a lot of calories looking for their food then - just give it to them in a dish and let them eat it now it's winter? I didn't give my pregnant piggies any different food to build them up, just an extra handful of the piggy food they were already on - They don't want to be too fat or they will struggle to pull the baby out - Cheryl recommeded giving them a tsp of complan made up with water and soaked on wholemeal bread, but complan has milk in so I decided not to use it.
 
Hi Loopylou, I am not sure if you are aware that most plants that were grown from a bulb are usually toxic to a guinea pig, so these should be avoided. Potatoes are also harmful.

Janice
 
Thanks 4 the warning Janice - all bulbs been dug up and dispensed with in advance. Not too worried re: the potatoes as I've been feeding them to the rabbits/g. pigs for couple of years now without problems - prob feed about 2kg/week (but then spread between all the rabbits/g. pigs/chickens - & occasionally the dog - that doesn't go very far) but I do avoid giving them any 'green' ones as those are supposed to be toxic raw.
Elve - we might be worrying too much re: the cold. It has been absolutely bitter here in Lincoln (heating on all day/night) but the guinea pigs are still running round the garden at midnight. I keep going out to check as I keep worrying that it is too cold - I've added so much straw now to the shed it's ridiculous but they still choose to be outside hanging round the door in the hope of another tomato (or in No.1's case - a grape - she's a grape-o-holic and has to be rationed to one or two a week as they can be toxic in excess).
Porridge - I am off to try that now!!!
 
Hey - fogot to say - if anybody lives near Lowestoft - the guinea pig food that I have been buying is apparently a 25kg sack and if you collect 5 sacks at a time the cost is only around £8/sack!!! Bargain - unfortunately I live too far away though so have to have it posted :(
 
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