Am i over-feeding my guinea pigs?

Question

i have 2 guinea pigs and my moms says im over feeding them there are always pellets and timothy hay available in their cage and i give them fruits and vegtables twice a day. am i overfeeding them?????

Answer 1

The only thing that really needs to be limited in a guinea pig's diet is the pellets. Young, elderly, or underweight pigs can be free-fed pellets, but others should get about 1/8 of a cup of pellets a day. They should definitely have as much timothy hay as they can eat - it's essential for their digestion.

Vegetables are also an essential part of their diet - my pigs each get about 2 cups a day. Fruit is good, too, but vegetables should make up more of their diet than fruit.

It sounds like you're doing a good job keeping them well-fed and healthy. If you notice them putting on a little weight, you can cut back on the pellets, but really, guinea pigs are meant to eat quite a lot for such small animals.

Answer 2

idk

Answer 3

YOU SHOULD FEED THE WHEN YOU GET UP AND WHEN YOU GO TO BED.I FEED MY GUINEA PIG ALWAYS HAS TIMOTHY HAY AND FOOD IN THE DAY. SO YOU SHOULD FEED THEM MORE.

Answer 4

i think u r abit ye not to be rude they should only have 1 bach of fruit and vegtables a day and feed them and wait till the food runs out then feed them i think that u are

Answer 5

Probably. You should give you guinea pigs unlimited timothy hay, 1/4 cup pellets and only 3 servings of vegetables a day. And cut down the amount of fruit you feed them too, like, once a week. Fruit has a lot of sugar in it and can make your guinea pigs diabetic (Fact) They will also ignore the vegetables because of their sweet tooth. To check if they are over weight, weigh them on a kitchen scale. They should weigh close to 2lbs if they are adults, but NEVER under. 2 pounds and 6 oz is too fat, 2 lbs is right, but for an adult, 1 pound and 5 oz is too little. Go to a vet if this happens.  Here is a website that helps you and gives more details on that:

P.S You might want to also take them out for exercise everyday, but don't put them in guinea pig balls/exercise wheels because those can cause spinal injuries and ultimately kill them...I don't know why PetSmart still sells them...

Answer 6

You should probably give them the fruits and vegetables spaced out like some in the morning and some in the evening, but i don't think you are over-feeding them.

Answer 7

I work at a guinea pig breading center, and a bowl of food in the cage is never bad, hay and water should always be available. If your pigs seem fat, then try to lesson the food, or just put the bowl in in the morning for two hours, then put it in for two hours in the night. Hay and water should always be availible, no matter what.

Answer 8

it depends on your guinea pigs age. it is alright to leave pellets and hay available in their cage, but if you notice that they are getting too fat (easy to check. just hold your guinea pig and squeeze gently. you will be able to feel the body.) cut down the amount of pellets. hay can be unlimited amount. I've had 2 guinea pigs before as well and also faced this problem. one of them was round and plump and eats too much. so just cut down the amount of food.

Answer 9

truthfully, you can never really OVER feed a guinea pig. They love to just eat and eat and drink and drink all the live long day! Besides that, they don't do much at all! if your putting in fruits and vegies twice a day, and stuff like that, they should be good!

Answer 10

twice is the correct amount but it is also fine to feed them just once if you don't have time and it is great that you always have pellets and timothy hay in there. you sound like a great cavy owner =)

Answer 11

You should always have timothy hay available to your guinea pigs.  Fruits and veggies once a day should be plenty, especially if you're feeding them a high-quality food.  As far as overfeeding them, as long as they're not getting extremely fat (g.pigs are pudgy-looking anyway), you're probably fine.  The only bad part about putting too much food in the cage is that they may climb up into the food dish and use the bathroom in it and then you have to throw it away.

You're probably fine in how you're feeding them, but if you cut back on the pellets you're not going to hurt them.

Answer 12

Ok, Expert guine apig adivce coming up,

If you have 2 boars, fresh food every night, grass to graze etc,

top up their seed bowl every night, water bottle every morning,

2 sows, fresh food every night but abit less than boars, seed bowl every night water every morning etc,

sow & boar, seed bowl every morning & night as they have a slight race to eat it, as the male might dominate the sow, frsh food every night & graze during the day.

Guinea pigs actually only need fresh food every other day.