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Guinea Pig help!!!

C

CottonMather

Warren Veteran
:wave:
I'm going to be getting a pair soon - just want to know what the best diet is? Is piggy excel any good (although, I think that the male piggy doesn't like it... so what are alternatives if he won't eat it?)
What toys do they like?
What veg goes down well?

sorry for all the questions - I've not had a piggy for around 6 years - and I'm sure things have moved on a bit since then!!! :D
 
The best piggie food is Cavy cuisine which is low in calcium, the problem is often that it can be difficult to get hold of depending on where you live. There is also Excel and Science Selective also make a pelleted food which are both fairly easy to get hold of.
 
Mine are on excel although im prob going to change to science selective when its run out, I got a huge supply of it from a friend for free and its lasting forever! They did prefer the SS to be honest. Ive fed excel for years but got free samples of SS a while ago and they really liked it.

All veggies, plants, herbs and fruits as you would rabbits :)
 
I agree about Cavy Cuisine being the best food. Unfortunately I have always found piggies to be picky eaters, and even if they like a dried food for a few days then they often go off it!

Mine love Oxbow timothy hay - they eat loads of it.
 
I wouldn't recommend the science selective piggy food, its alfalfa based which is not good for guinea pigs :roll: If you can get hold of it the oxbow cavy cuisine is brilliant, if not go for either wagg optimum pellets or excel guinea.
 
Wagg Optimum pellets from Asda are very good but the two I have won't eat it so they get Wagg Brunch which they love.

I also give them readigrass as well as unlimited hay and veg once a day - anything goes really, not found any veg they don't like :rolleyes: I guess their favourite veg is carrot (not good for them to have too much though), cucumber, melon and herbs. And if you trim the grass verge or your lawn (in my case as it's so long!!) they love grass
 
Hiya! :wave:

I can't help with the deit query, but just wanted to say that I'm collecting a pair of piggies on Tuesday too and haven't had pigs for a long, long time so you're not alone :lol: :wave:
 
I feed excel to mine and they love it and are huge hay eaters but aren't picky either mine will eat what hay the rabbits get:)

Mine aren't to big on toys either, toilet tubes filled with hay are good, teddies they can lie on as pillow they lie, dangly toys and bridges/tubes they can run in are a fave of mine.

I feed my 2 broccalli, spring greens, carrot, honey dew melon, apple, pear, kiwi, basil, parsley, corriander, cucumber, all colours of sweet peppers, cherry tomotoes once every few moths, strawberries, cherries. These are all faverites of my 2 but i don't feed all at once, they get a nice selection of vg and fruit once a day and i pick loads of fresh grass at night for the to.
 
Mine wouldn't touch the excel - I had to throw it away as only Derek ate it.

I give them mainly Wagg crunch, which is a mix, and some science selective guinea pig pellets mixed in - they all love it, especially the peas! I think it's a shame to give piggies a purely pellet food when they live to eat - nice to have some variety to pick through, and they have a dish full all day, unlike rabbits - mine eat a good handful or 2 small a day of this half and half mixture, plus veg and TONS of hay - they really love hay and dive into it with squeaks of joy when I dish it up at bedtime, they toss it over their heads, settle down in the middle and start munching :lol:

Be warned with the water bottles though - some pigs use it like mouth wash and the bottle gets full of food detrius every day - the spout needs a good shake under the tap or it can get clogged.
 
Ok - I have 2 sacks of oxbow cavy cuisine on their way, and bought 1 small bag of excel to mix in at first, as I know that the male piggy is on excel (albeit bunny excel)... I'll see what they think! Not sure when mr. piggy is coming, but mrs. piggy should be here fairly soon! :D
 
My piggies will only eat wagg optimum.
They have fresh picked grass in a morning with a good handful of oat hay.
For supper they have dust free hay and veg/fruit.
Mine love spring greens,corriander,parsly,celery,tomatoe,italian salad mix,beetroot,carrot,cucumber,mint,basil.
I also feed a little fruit they like apple,melon,kiwi,pineapple,banana,grapes and strawberry.
Come to think of it they is not alot they won,t eat:rolleyes: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
I will stick to excel then :lol:

Where did you order your cavy cuisine from?

If its cost effective I may do the same.
 
Piggies are adorable. My lot would only eat Wagg crunch. They love a wide variety of veg though, including celery, cucumber etc.

Toy-wise, my lot loved tunnels and boxes but didn't really 'play' like rabbits do. They have the most adorable range of noises, I miss being squeeked at in the morning!
 
Guinea pigs eat everything!!! I have 21 at the moment, and to be honest they eat me out of house and home!! They are on P@H nugget dry food, if i had less piggies I would feed them the excel nuggets. They have never turned their noses up at any dry food, I used to feed them Gerty Guinea Pig and have had this recommended by breeders.

They will eat grass and hay till it comes out of their ears, they are much sturdier than bunnies, mine eat lettice everyday and have never ever (in 26 years of having pigs) had a problem. carrot, greens, cucumber, celery, peppers, sunflower leaves, dandilion, etc etc.

And they are not like buns they can eat and eat and never really be 'over weight' mine have full bowls of nuggets twice a day, hay 3 times a day and greens twice a day (yes i have been told they are spoilt!, but they love me very much hehe!!)

Don't be worried if they don't eat everything you give them, they don't seem to become a full 'greedy guts' till they are about 4 - 6 months and have competition. :p
 
I read that message as Excel had been recommended by breeders. :? By the way, there is a Gerty now with no artificial colourings. It's the cranberry one, and they sell it at Bunny Basics.
 
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As far as toys go I would say don't get anything that wouldn't be good for them if they ate it!! My have chewed through plastic "pigloos" and also fabric stuff, so I would go for paper or wood based toys. Mine don't really "play" much as suck but enjoy running through "chubes" and also the fiddlestick type log toys made into a bridge.
 
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