Food

sozansound2

Post   » Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:01 pm


About how much, in grams, would you give you pigs loose leaf( green or red lettuce)in one day?

Same would go for bell peppers( green or red)?

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Mon Jan 20, 2020 9:13 pm


I can understand that you want to be more careful about diet after losing your guinea pig, but I feel like you're over-thinking it. Just aim for about a cup (total) of fresh veggies per pig a day. I feed mine roughly 1/2 cup of veggies in the morning and 1/2 cup in the evening. They get a variety that includes green leaf, red leaf, bibb (Boston) lettuce, and I rotate other lower calcium veggies like zucchini, carrot, red, orange and yellow bell peppers, small bits of cilantro, small bits of green bean, celery (with the strings removed), occasional bits of cucumber, and a little "grape" tomato. There is no science to it, really, and I don't weigh the amount.

There is no clear evidence that a low calcium diet alone will prevent bladder stones in guinea pigs. There are pigs who are fed a high calcium diet their whole life and never form a stone; there are pigs that are fed very careful diets (like mine) and form a stone nonetheless. The factors involved in bladder sludge and stone formation are complicated and poorly understood. It's widely recommended to feed a lower calcium diet to help mitigate the risk but, even so, there is no major formula.

Just do the best you can with it.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Jan 20, 2020 9:38 pm


Ditto Sef. It is the best advice we can offer.

sozansound2

Post   » Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:14 pm


Oh no, I don't want to come off in that way. I was just curious and also getting the hang on the calculator since I input them by grams. Just so I could get a better visual understanding on about how much.

Not saying what I give them is bad in any way. I am better when I get a visual and then do it with my own hands kind of person.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:09 pm


I don't know if this helps you at all, but this is an example of the salads I fix for our guys:

Image

Those bowls hold roughly a cup of veggies, so they get approximately 1/2 a cup twice a day; maybe a little less. The salad pictured above contains pieces of green leaf and Boston (bibb) lettuce, some cilantro, some slivers of carrot, a few bits of zucchini, a piece or two of green bean, and a few small chunks of red pepper. I'm sure there are others who feed a greater number of veggies and/or in larger quantities (and probably don't chop/dice the veggies), but that's what I do. I rotate the veggies from one day to the next for variety, depending on what I have.

sozansound2

Post   » Thu Jan 23, 2020 12:16 am


Ofcourse. Anything helps. I also chop up into pieces due to the fact I have found my female pig swallows but does not chew so she ends up choking more than my male when they ate. After cutting into pieces, it does not happen anymore.

So you feed half of that pan 2 times a day?

sozansound2

Post   » Thu Jan 23, 2020 12:37 am


Prefers to chew less so she can stuff herself more which I find halarious when I watched her during the first months when I got them.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu Jan 23, 2020 6:05 am


Yes, I feed half of the bowl twice a day. Each guinea pig gets his own bowl (the two who are paired won't share a big bowl, but they are fairly respectful when they each have one of these).

Again, not an exact science by any means, but just as an example.

sozansound2

Post   » Sat Jan 25, 2020 12:10 am


Ofcourse. Thank you, I appreciate it.

sozansound2

Post   » Sun Jan 26, 2020 12:23 pm


For the string bean, do you just give the whole string or do you take out the beans on the inside and that is what is given?

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jan 26, 2020 12:31 pm


I don't take the inner beans out.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:47 pm


One lettuce leaf and a quarter of a bell pepper is about half a cup. Substitute the bell pepper with a quarter of a large carrot or 2 baby carrots or a quarter of a small cucumber for variety and you have pretty much the same amount. You can use your best judgement to determine what the amounts are and get pretty close. If you're off by a little bit, it's ok, especially if you are giving them unlimited hay and the the teaspoon of pellets.

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