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cavy problems

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Jacob

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I have two guinea pigs and I've been finding it most difficult to find suitable pellets for them. All I can find are those typical guinea pig mixes (made up of corn, oats, wheat, peas, alfaalfa, soy) which is like feeding your guinea pig hamburger and fries :( Finally I found one vet that was selling pellets, made from alfalfa, not the best but better than a mix, I would prefer pellets made from timothy hay, since alfalfa pellets should only be fed to young guinea pigs. Well I sent them an order yesterday and they told me they are not selling the pellets any more and offered me Gerty guinea pig mix instead. I told them that food was rubbish, thanks but no thanks.

So I don't know what to do. I can't go pelletless because I don't have enough fresh salad available. I don't want to feed my guineas hamburgers and fries either :( Iceland is really strict about importing pet food and I would need a certification from a vet if I was to order online from another country. I guess I will just have to feed them a mix and then build a hurtle course for them to run through to burn the extra fat so they wont get chubby.

As you can see they are not the slimmest sisters around :p





 

RandomWiktor

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Can you not feed a diet of mostly timothy hay supplemented with smaller ammount of other grasses (orchard grass, oat hay, alfalfa, etc.), then feed some fresh? A high quality pellet will be mostly timothy hay anyways. It is my understanding that grasses should make up the majority of the diet, then a bit of fresh veg and fruit. Most folks I know with guinea pigs feed only a very tiny ammount of pellets (a quarter cup at most), and I would think with sufficient variety it wouldn't be essential.

Another idea: Do they sell any zoo cavy diets online in Iceland? I'm guessing you have zoos, and many zoo pellets are pretty high quality. Might be a little pricey but if you feed mostly hay and fresh you shouldn't need to use much.

Does Iceland lack brands like Oxbow? I'm assuming no but figured it was worth asking.
 
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akijoy

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We have 3 guinea pigs, and they eat Nutriphase Gold and they thrive on it. Do you have that brand there? But they eat also timothy hay, and tons of fresh veggies: celery, carrots, and Red peppers, which is packed with vitamins that they need. Maybe my pellets also are like hamburger and fries?!? but they are very healthy. They definitely prefer the fresh stuff.
 

Ranyart

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build a hurtle course for them to run through to burn the extra fat so they wont get chubby.

LOL - I think the chubby ship has sailed!
They are really adorable and look very comfortable. Are they as sweet as they look?
 

Jacob

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Can you not feed a diet of mostly timothy hay supplemented with smaller ammount of other grasses (orchard grass, oat hay, alfalfa, etc.), then feed some fresh? A high quality pellet will be mostly timothy hay anyways. It is my understanding that grasses should make up the majority of the diet, then a bit of fresh veg and fruit. Most folks I know with guinea pigs feed only a very tiny ammount of pellets (a quarter cup at most), and I would think with sufficient variety it wouldn't be essential.

Another idea: Do they sell any zoo cavy diets online in Iceland? I'm guessing you have zoos, and many zoo pellets are pretty high quality. Might be a little pricey but if you feed mostly hay and fresh you shouldn't need to use much.

Does Iceland lack brands like Oxbow? I'm assuming no but figured it was worth asking.
We don't have any zoos, believe it or not :) But I do feed them good quality hay that I get from a farmer friend of mine that owns a dairy farm. I don't know what types of grasses it is. I try do buy all the cavy suitable veggies I can find in the store, but sometimes it's only cucumber, pepper, tomatoes and carrots. I worry that I won't be able to provide enough variety of fresh vegetables if I go pelletless. It's true that a high quality pellet is mostly made from hay, but it also has added vitamins. I worry that they wont get their vitamins without the pellets.

We have 3 guinea pigs, and they eat Nutriphase Gold and they thrive on it. Do you have that brand there? But they eat also timothy hay, and tons of fresh veggies: celery, carrots, and Red peppers, which is packed with vitamins that they need. Maybe my pellets also are like hamburger and fries?!? but they are very healthy. They definitely prefer the fresh stuff.
My guines love fresh stuff, we mostly have European brands here that are a mix of fattening stuff for guines. I've never seen nutriphase...


LOL - I think the chubby ship has sailed!
They are really adorable and look very comfortable. Are they as sweet as they look?


*sigh* I know, and can you believe it they are even bigger now! I blame my boyfriend, he is always giving them more pellets. They are really sweet but don't like to be held. So cuirous and always squeaking and cluck cluck clucking and have to supervise while I tidy up their cage.
 

Jadie

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Ohh they are soo cute! They sure look in great health!:D I'm sorry it's so hard for you to find food for them, you just want to do what's best! I thought Montreal was hard to find stuff lol
Of course we don't know what's going on inside. As you probably already know, guinea pigs don't create their own Vitamin C and they need to get this from the food they eat, this would be my biggest concern for them they would need a good quality pellet and veggies for that reason. Are oranges readily available there? You could add that to help the vitamin C issue, even pure orange juice wouldn't harm them and they love it. They really could technically go without pellets if you had good choice of leafy greens! Your right the pellets with the colors and seeds inside are pretty much junk food. The two best pellets in my opinion are Oxbow guinea pig pellets and Hagen guinea pig pellets. You would probably find Hagen easier. They also need good timothy hay to help their gut flora ...this would be even more important if they're not getting a lot of veg and pellets. What kind of veggies are available to you? What about an exotic vet?
 

Nikki

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:omg:, they are so adorable! I love their little beds... So freaking cute they are! I'm sorry I have no advice haven't had a piggie since I was 5, 31 years ago. :p
 

Jacob

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Ohh they are soo cute! They sure look in great health!:D I'm sorry it's so hard for you to find food for them, you just want to do what's best! I thought Montreal was hard to find stuff lol
Of course we don't know what's going on inside. As you probably already know, guinea pigs don't create their own Vitamin C and they need to get this from the food they eat, this would be my biggest concern for them they would need a good quality pellet and veggies for that reason. Are oranges readily available there? You could add that to help the vitamin C issue, even pure orange juice wouldn't harm them and they love it. They really could technically go without pellets if you had good choice of leafy greens! Your right the pellets with the colors and seeds inside are pretty much junk food. The two best pellets in my opinion are Oxbow guinea pig pellets and Hagen guinea pig pellets. You would probably find Hagen easier. They also need good timothy hay to help their gut flora ...this would be even more important if they're not getting a lot of veg and pellets. What kind of veggies are available to you? What about an exotic vet?
I know about the vitamin C, that's why I want to give them good quality pellets. I try to give them peppers daily (which are high in vit c). I don't have a good choice of leafy greens, I buy expensive salad mixes that don't have iceberg salad. But sometimes they are not available. So they get tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, small piece of carrot. They don't like celeriac or zucchini. I also give them fresh parsley and basil. It's just that as is I have enough problem finding them fresh vegetables and leafy greens and if I don't have pellets they need to get even more. I don't want my chubby guineas to be hungry :(

and there is no exotic vet where I live... I called the vet here once and I ended up educating her about guinea pigs :(

edit to add: They always have plenty of hay. I get good hay from a friend of mine who has a dairy farm.
 
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rockoko

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aww I love piggies!! :heart:
 

Zoey26

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Aw I miss having piggies! (I am highly allergic to them now) Although, I don't think I've ever had a piggie that could be described as slim...
 

hsmoscout

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Here's what a friend of mine from another site had to say:
The best pellet on the market for guinea pigs is Oxbow Cavy Cuisine. It's made of timothy hay and is stabilized so it doesn't lose it's vitamin c like other pellets do. I've attached a link that has a store finder to locate the nearest store that carries it. Kaytee Timothy Complete has a large amount of timothy in it, but also contains alfalfa. I try and steer clear of the alfalfa since it's linked to the formation of kidney and bladder stones. For guinea pigs under 6 months and nursing mothers, Cavy performance is recommended since they need some calcium for proper bone formation. Hope this helps.

Oxbow Animal Health | Find Oxbow Products
 

Jacob

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Here's what a friend of mine from another site had to say:

Thank you for asking around :) I used to be very active in the guinea forums but I'm not anymore. Before I got the guineas I read allot about their nutritional needs and what pellets where good. The best pellets available are Oxbow and Kleenmama's hayloft. Neither of which can be found in Iceland. Here they only sell the mixes, which are not good for them. The only pellets that I found where from science selective. They where alfalfa based, which is not ideal for grown piggies due to the reasons mentioned by your friend, but they where the only pellets I could find that was not part of a mix or with colorings in them.

I guess my piggies will have to settle for second best from now on :(
 
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