Daily/weekly diet

Question
QUESTION: Me again hehe :).  I have heard so many different things about what to feed cavies, so I was wondering if I could send you my piggy's menu to see if I am on the right track :)  My main concerns were the wheat grass, fruit, and celery leaves.Thank you so much for all of your help!  

Ok here it is:
Daily:
  ⁃   Unlimited Timothy hay
  ⁃   Pellets: 1/2 Cavy Cuisine adult pellet and 1/2 KM's hayloft alfalfa pellets (I am trying to wean him off the alfalfa pellets as he is getting close to being 6 months old)
  ⁃   1 slice of cucumber
  ⁃   Pet grass/wheat grass (up to 1/5 cup, usually 4-5 days a week instead of daily)
  ⁃   1/8 of green pepper
  ⁃   1/8 of red pepper
  ⁃   1 baby carrot
  ⁃   1-2 leaves of romaine lettuce
  ⁃   Small wedge of tomato
  ⁃   2-3 celery leaves
  ⁃   1 small piece of fruit (cantaloupe, apple, grape, apple, melon, peach, nectarine) - doesn't always eat it

Weekly:
  ⁃   1/4 stock of celery (divided up and fed every other day)
  ⁃   floret of broccoli (divided into 2 days)
  ⁃   sprig of parsley (divided into 2-3 days)
  ⁃   1 slice of banana (I was feeding more often)

ANSWER: Ah, we meet again! Hey girlfriend!

I think you're overdoing the fruits and veggies.  Their nutrients should come from the pellets.  The others are just treats. Although there are folks out there who believe that alfalfa is not good for a pig over a certain age there is no documentation that backs that up. I relate it to the telephone game. By the time the game has ended the entire content of the subject is completely distorted.

The same phenomenon has occurred over what age a sow should be bred.  Getting off track for just a moment this is how it happens.  

Sometime after a year of age if not bred the pelvic ligaments will begin to lose their elasticity making delivery difficult and in some cases impossible. So the rule of thumb is to breed the sow prior to her first birthday.  

That could be when she's 11 months and twenty five days old.  Many sows don't conceive by then and still do just fine.  It's just a general rule of thumb.  Now we read where people are saying the pelvic bones will 'fuse' together at a year old, so breed them young. Before you know it they would have us breeding babies before they're weaned. The absurd rationale vs fact is that pelvic bones don't fuse. You can't fuse together two bones that never touch one another.

Back to the food issue:

Ask any breeder who raises show quality winning pigs and they will tell you their pigs are on alfalfa pellets from birth to death. Yes I know there are people out there who hate those of us who breed. They tend to clump every kind or breeder in the same category as puppy mills. Cavy food is formulated with the right balance of vitamins and minerals. Mine get very few veggies and when they do it's carrots or lettuce.

I will on occasion give them watermelon or cantaloupe rinds (that's the part they love the best) but mine are on a steady diet of cavy pellets and 4 Way grain, aka Sweet Feed made for horses. It keeps their coats in excellent shape and they love the grains because of the molasses in it. And yes, I'm one of those who spends a good deal of time in the winner's circle.

Guinea pigs are grazing animals. And what do grazing animals eat? Grass and hay. They don't find fruits and veggies popping up in a field. In their wild state they ate (and still do) the grains and grasses that grow in their natural environment. Yes they enjoy the occasional treats but it should not be a staple.

I don't like the idea of celery because of the strings that are not easily digestible. Tomatoes are too acidic and can cause sores in the mouth, as can apples.  In very small quantities they are okay, but on a daily basis I believe no.

If you want to give something on a daily basis give them Romaine lettuce and parsley. (And by the way,how on earth do you weigh 1/5 of a cup of anything?  I don't have measuring cups that small.)  With unlimited Timothy hay there's no need for Pet grass, other than to support the person who markets it. And good for them, they're making money at it. Nothing wrong with that.

So I suppose the bottom line here is that I'm saving you a lot of trouble and money by telling you to stop the apples, the celery and increase the parsley.  All the others are okay, but my concern is the replacement of proper pellets with additions of fruits and veggies.  So keep it simple.  Tiny amounts on a daily basis are okay, but just one of those things a day is sufficient.

And just to reiterate, the alfalfa pellets can be fed to any pig at any age. That's what they're made for.  I've had this conversation many times about alfalfa.  Oddly enough the people making the claim that it's bad for older pigs are pet owners who have no experience of background to justify it.

Whew, now that was a windy one wasn't it?  

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you, I really appreciate hearing your point of view.  That is great news about the alfalfa pellets, because my new guy really seemed to like them but I was concerned about given them to him because of what I had heard.  I will cut down on the fruits and veggies (although I may have to gradually do it with my younger one otherwise he may go crazy lol).  That should help me cut down on cage cleaning time!  He's like a little Pez dispenser now lol.  
      I had heard that no more than one sprig of parsley should be given weekly due to calcium content, I believe.  To your knowledge, is this true?  Also, my older one is very picky, and being that he really seems to like the wheat grass, I would like to give it to him on a regular basis as possible, being that he can get weird with his pellets and hay at times, too.  Do you have any opinion as to how often and how much I could give him the wheat grass?
   One last question (sorry!): the older one refuses to eat anything that I have sprinkles vitamin C on - is this okay, or is there another way to get him the vitamin C he needs?  Thank you again so much for your help!  Don't worry, I think I'm getting the hang of this so you shouldn't be hearing from me too often ;)

Answer
The best and easiest way to supplement Vit C is with Vitamin C crystals.  I buy mine at Trader Joe's.  A one pound jar is about $10. You only have to mix 1/4 teaspoon to a gallon of water.  It's tasteless and odorless (I've tasted it to be sure) and the pigs won't even know they've been tricked into drinking it. You need to be sure to give fresh water with the crystals in it every day. It doesn't really look like crystals at all, it's a powder.

I have a Vit C chart that lists different vegetables and their Vit C content. The highest in Vit C is parsley.  It also lists the quantity necessary on a daily basis to meet their requirements.  There is not a concern about the calcium issue in any of the veggies.  

I will send you a private message with my email address. When you respond you can give me your email I will send you this chart.  You'll find some surprises that you don't expect. For instance oranges w/o peel have only 10.38 milligrams of Vit C per oz.  Parsley has 48.75 mgm per oz. More bang for the buck with parsley.

Certainly the wheat grass is not going to harm "Pez" in any way.  It may put a dent in your budget but that's all. Obviously you know that the grocery store and Walmart type stores that sell guinea pig food with the colored fruit loops in it is not a well balanced diet. Those colored things are eye candy for owners but have no nutritional value for the pigs.  

Kaytee makes a very good product in their guinea pig food and is reasonably priced.  The issue with pellets and Vit C is that it degrades quickly (did I already tell you this once? If I did just disregard it now. For pet owners with only a few pigs purchasing 25 + pounds is not a good idea unless you're supplementing with another source of Vit C.  Kaytee sells smaller bags making it more practical.  

When buying in large quantities we buy feed that has the milling date on it, not to be confused with an expiration date. The Vit C is depleted within three months of the milling date. One way to help preserve that is to keep it in the refrigerator.  Also, don't store your pellets in a metal container.  The metal degrades vitamins very quickly.  I have 32 gallon Rubbermaid trash cans that I store my feed in because my fridge isn't big enough for 100 lbs of pellets!