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Karen 19 years, 10 months ago.
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What is Ox Bow, is it avalible in England and how much does it cost. I have read alot of information on the web about how much of each food should be given. Is 90-95% dry food correct. At the moment mine are getting about 25-50% dry food 30-60% veg and 25-40% hay. I will try to get pellet food for them as the food does contain alot of coloured bits.
First, what are you feeding for supplements like vegiies, etc. Second, how much are you feeding the pig? Third, is the food full of addied treats that have colors and such to them? You may want to try a high quality food like Ox Bow.
I have 8 larger than average guinea pigs (compared to the others I have seen, also my vet thought they were big, not fat just large in length) althogh 1 of them is overweight, I have tried to diet her but her weight is steadily increasing, she does not seem to eat more than the others and she get daily exercise, although she just tends to follow me aroung or goes to sleep in a tunnel. I have cut fruit out of her diet, but I would like information on the correct weight for a guinea pig, as all the books I have state a different weight. What foods for guinea pigs are low in fat and how much of each can you feed. At the moment they are having between 100-200g of gerty guinea pig food and a variety of veg, including carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, spring cabbage, brussel sprouts (there not overkeen on them) broccaly, calliflower, parsnip and swede. I am trying other things but any suggestions would be great. Any information on how to diet a cavy would be a great help. Thankyou The Guys
Ox Bow is a high quality pelleted guinea pig (cavy) food (they also make a rabbit diet). There are many dealers of it in the UK. You can search for one at: http://www.oxbowhay.com/ This is a list of the nutritional requirments for guinea pigs: http://www.nap.edu/openbook/0309051266/html/104.html A diet should be about 18-20% protein, 16% fiber (though some are higher in fiber as in Ox Bow feeds and that is OK) and 1 gram vitamin C per kilo. Now note, the above and the infom in the link given is per kilo of feed and a pig will eat only part of that. Remember, Vit C degrades over time so you should still supplement with foods high in Vit C or with a vitamin supplement for pigs. Check out the fat levels in the feed and get the lowest one you can find. Also, corns and a lot of grains added in for human eye appeal can be higher in starch and such and lead to obesity. A quality pellet with supplements of greens and fruits daily is the best. In a food you want to avoid: Corn syrup High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) Sucrose Propylene glycol Food colorings (include FD&C reds, blues, and yellows) High sugar foods (corn syrup and HFCS) would be simialr to a human subsisting on a diet of fast food. Can lead to obesity.
Gradually reduce he’s meals and try to avoid treats also make sure he is getting he’s daily exercise e.g a run put in the garden. Try not to give him to much fruit and veg but if you do try lettuce as this is 80%water so this won’t make him put on any weight. Hope it goes well. 🙂
Lettice is toxic to GP and also if I cut back on the veg too much she will end up with scurvy. I have started to take her out at eating times and I am going to try an idea my friend sugested for cats, basically put the food in a box where the hole is only big enough for the others, with a bit of food outside the box. She is still not losing weight but she is no longer putting it on. I took her to the vet who just suggested the things I was already doing, I am going to take her to a different one as they do not seem to know that much about cavies (one vet told me FEMALE cavies some times pull out their fur and that he has never heard of a case of cancer in GP.
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