Have you ever thought about the food that your guinea pig is eating? The age and health of your guinea pigs rely a lot on what us as humans put into their food and water. Having the right vitamins and not feeding your guinea pig chemicals really help the overall health. The wrong food for guinea pigs can cause various issues such as UTIs, seizures over time, not enough vitamins, and the overall function of their body can not work as well overtime.
One company that I will recommend for anything will be Pet Select Plus. This company is based in the United States and is a non GMO organic company.
Pellets- Pellets are about 20% of a guinea pigs diet. The one that a lot of pet stores recommend have little extra pieces that are colorful. These little pieces are not good for them! An overall rule is if it has food dye, stay away from it! A lot of the fillers (items that are not the pellets) are not a need in your guinea pigs food and will not digest correctly. If you do not go with my recommended brand above then making sure that the pellets are timothy hay based is a good start to finding the one that is best fit for you. Depending on where you read, pellets are an optional food item for your guinea pigs. This is correct BUT you have to make sure that they are getting extra vitamin C, constantly eating their Hay, and adding lots and lots of fresh veggies to their diet. On guinea pig that is over 6 months of age should eat about 1/8cup of pellets a day. In most cases though if you just fill the bowl they will limit themselves.
Water- Having fresh water in a bottle specifically for guinea pigs is a must! I could not imagine going a day without drinking water. Personally, I add Vitamin C to my guinea pigs water. I will create a blog post specifically on the vitamins that guinea pigs should be getting. Blow is a picture of the Vitamin C that I use. For a 30oz bottle I only use 1/8tsp of this. My two guinea pigs finish the one bottle a week. As a personal preference, I only use the Vitamin C every other fill up. You can tell if your guinea pig is not getting enough based on the size of their eyes. If there eyes are starting to sink in then give them more hay, carrots, and Vitamin C.
Hay- There are a lot of different types of hay and each one means something else. Here are the top 3 that I recommend!
- Timothy Hay- This is a standard hay, there are different cuts on “Small Pet Select” for your different needs
- Alfalfa Hay- I recommend going to alfalfa hay if your guinea pig s under a year old. This hay encourages growth and is a great source of all of the vitamins guinea pigs need to grow into adulthood. If your guinea pig is sick I would recommend this as well to encourage eating and weight gain.
- Orchard Hay- If your guinea pig is not wanting to eat this is a great idea. Humans! If you are allergic to hay (like myself) Orchard Hay is hypoallergenic and it is wonderful!
Switching food- Switch guinea pigs from the “junk food” to pellets are a problem for most guineas and they go on strike, just know that this is normal. How I dealt with this problem when rescuing my guineas is I had only pellets in there for 48hrs. By then my guinea pigs were eating. If they are having the same problem with switching hay you can do the same. If more that 48hrs then I would mix a little of the old (25% old and 75% new) and slowly back off again. When switching over watch how your guinea pigs act and make sure their poop is normal. Some guinea pigs have sensitive a sensitive tummy and being careful not to make them sick is important.