guinea pig natural diet

Question
-------------------------
Followup To
Question - Okay, thank you for your quick response! Your answer has tweaked my curiosity even more. HEre are my next questions: My next question is do we just present the food and the animal will eat the appropriate amounts and types or do we need to pay attention to not giving too many carrots or grapes, etc?  You also mentioned to do dry food and to give hay. Do we just put hay into the cage? HMMMM ...why is dry food better if it is not found in the wild? A friend of mine puts her guinea pig out to forage in her classroom courtyard - an okay idea? Looking forward to your input,

Karen (and the 3rd grade class at Montessori Academy)

OUr son's 3rd grade class wants to plant a garden that will completely sustain their guinea pig for the year.  What do we feed it without having to buy feed?  We have access to wild dandelions and have been adding it already to the store bought pellet things they feed him.  This is where the idea came from originally.  We live in Texas, but can hopefully find varieties of plants that are ok in this climate.  The teacher is also okay with constructing a simple greenhouse to grow during winter months. We don't know what to plant for a healthy guinea pig. Your ideas?
Answer -
Hi Karen.

Although what you desrcibe is a great idea, I would always advocate giving a guinea pig dry food as well as vegetables.

Most veggies are ok. I feed mine carrots, cabbage, broccoli, grapes, celery, lettuce, cucumber. Also, hay is vital for the pig's digestive system. You should be able to grow most suitable vegetables in a greenhouse I suppose.

Hope that helps

Andy

Answer
Hi again

A Guinea pig will eat and eat as long as you allow it. Therefore I would suggest 2 meals a day, each half filling a standard sized guinea pig eating bowl.

I suggest one meal per day being dried food as they usually come with added vitamins and minerals.

Yes, a handful of hay in the cage each day.

As long as the guinea pig is safe from predators, he/she can be allowed to roam pretty much anywhere.

Andy