Rodent food + Treats
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JR Farm Farm mixed drops
0.08 kg, 1 x
Rodents on a diet: How to make your sea piggy less piggy
9.6.2023
Translation: machine translated
Spherical guinea pigs and rabbits look cute. But their round furry bellies can have serious or even fatal consequences for the rodents. Find out all about feeding mistakes here. You'll be surprised.
Smooth and grey, tousled and multi-coloured, brown and spotted: the guinea pigs of my childhood had little in common visually. Just one big one: their bellies. Dimitri in particular seemed to me like a vacuum cleaner robot. It was almost as round and sucked up everything in its path. But why were he and his partner Lucy such lumps? We mainly fed them healthy carrots, lettuce and grains, didn't we?
Cornelia Christen, vet and specialist for exotic animals and pets at the small animal practice VetTrust in Winterthur, is often asked this question. Some of the rabbits and guinea pigs she sees are overweight or even obese.
Source: Darina Schweizer
How many rodents are too heavy, Mrs Christen?
I would estimate just under a third are overweight, and around three per cent are morbidly obese.
How do you recognise overweight?
A healthy guinea pig's body should lift off the ground when it stands up. If it stretches, it should not be pear-shaped, but long and slender.
And when is it morbidly overweight, i.e. obese?Often when it has breathing problems or a dirty backside because it can no longer clean itself. However, the most obvious sign is when it just sits in the corner. Many rodents get foot problems like this. Their pads are swollen or open. In the worst case, blood poisoning and death can occur.
That sounds dramatic. How can it even get this far?
Mostly it's ignorance. Even though obesity in rodents has decreased over the past 15 to 20 years, many people still have the image of a round guinea pig in their heads. As a result, they don't notice if it is too fat and continue to spoil it with treats, vegetables and fruit.
Rodent food + Treats
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CHF5.05 per piece for 4 units CHF11.80/1kg
Vitakraft Rollis for rodents
0.50 kg, 1 x
Rodent food + Treats
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Vitakraft Crackers +Honey 2s guinea pig
0.11 kg, 1 x
Moment, vegetables and fruit don't make you fat, do they?Not us. We can't fully utilise them. However, rodents have a different digestive system. They are complete metabolisers like horses. This is why sugary vegetables such as carrots or chillies can be a problem for them. Fennel, cucumber or cabbage are better. However, these should only be fed in small quantities at first and not on an empty stomach. Fruit is not recommended at all.
What do you recommend instead?
Hay and grass - what guinea pigs eat in the Andes, where they come from.
Do I need to take anything into account when picking grass?In principle, you can feed them anything. Only guinea pigs with urinary stone problems should not be fed grass that is too rich in herbs.
What do you think of the hay from our shop, would you recommend it?
In my opinion, it's not ideal. It is usually so compressed and dry that the quality is no longer the best.
Rodent food + Treats
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CHF8.– per piece for 3 units CHF17.80/1kg
Bunny Allgäu fresh grass hay with vital vegetables
0.50 kg, 1 x
Rodent food + Treats
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CHF4.85 per piece for 4 units CHF5.70/1kg
Vitakraft Vita Verde Alpine Meadow Hay
1 kg, 1 x
Which hay should it be then?
The very best would be fresh hay from a farmer who also feeds it to horses. As I said, their digestion is similar to that of rodents.
Why is hay so healthy for them?
Because they grind it and grind down their teeth. Nibbling on cereal grains or pellets doesn't do this, so owners often have to come to me to grind their teeth. But hay also has another advantage
That would be?
Grinding increases the flow of saliva, which ensures a stable stomach climate. This is particularly important for rabbits.
Why?
Because their diet is often too high in carbohydrates. As a result, they suffer from severe, painful flatulence. This can quickly become dangerous. Fortunately, however, many rodent food producers have realised this and sell grain-free food.
Rodent food + Treats
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CHF8.95 per piece for 3 units CHF7.34/1kg
JR Farm Farm Grainless Complete Guinea Pig 1350g
1.35 kg, 1 x
Rodent food + Treats
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CHF11.40 per piece for 2 units CHF11.90/1kg
Mucki Guinea pig menu grain free
1 kg, 1 x
There are over 200 different types of food available on Galaxus for guinea pigs alone. Is all of it bad?
You have to make a distinction. I would advise against grains, sticks, rollies, drops and pellets with grain. Grain-free pellets, dry pea and parsnip flakes and fennel seeds, on the other hand, can be fed in small quantities as a supplement to hay and fresh feed. Various herbal hay also provides variety.
Rodent food + Treats
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CHF3.60 per piece for 4 units CHF22.50/1kg
JR Farm Pea flakes for rodents
0.20 kg, 1 x
Rodent food + Treats
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CHF5.90 per piece for 3 units CHF6.50/1kg
JR Farm Pea flakes
1 kg, 1 x
Rodent food + Treats
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EBI Puur hay roll flowers + herbs
0.20 kg, 1 x
How useful are vitamin drops?
In drinking water, their effect fizzles out within 20 minutes. If you drip them over the food, they work sooner. However, they are not usually needed in a balanced diet.
Exercise is also important for rodents to lose weight. What should you look out for?
The most important thing is that they have a large cage with an exercise area.
How big should the cage be? The Animal Welfare Ordinance stipulates a minimum area of 0.5 square metres (1 metre x 50 centimetres) for two guinea pigs. And 0.2 square metres for each additional animal. Is that enough?
I recommend a lot more, at least two square metres for three guinea pigs - the larger the enclosure, the better.
What else promotes a healthy weight?
There should not always be a full food bowl in front of the rodents. It's better to encourage them to forage. For example, by spreading the food around the cage or feeding it several times in small quantities. More colleagues also ensure more movement.
Source: Darina Schweizer
In what way?
The larger the group of guinea pigs, the more frequent the interactions. For example, one has to move away or the other runs after another one.
What if you don't have room for more rodents?
Then you can also try lots of different activities such as clicker training. However, this requires a lot of patience and an animal that is not too shy. And even spending time with the animal is no substitute for living in a group.
Can you include rabbits in a group of guinea pigs?
No. They get along, but they don't speak the same language.
Do you speak the same language as the owners when you talk about their rodents being overweight?Yes, in almost all cases. I don't usually encounter any resistance, but rather astonished faces when we talk about the right diet. And often pity when they have to take away their pets' grains or favourite treats. But the change in diet doesn't have to happen overnight either.
How then?
For example, you only give kernels or a teaspoon a day on Sundays. And soon the rodents, which you always thought didn't like hay, will be eating it with pleasure.
Why is that?
Quite simply: would you start with the salad if there was a dessert buffet in front of you? (laughs)
What do you look out for when feeding your rodents? Tell me in a comment.
Cover photo: Darina Schweizer
Darina Schweizer
Senior Editor
Darina.Schweizer@digitecgalaxus.chI like anything that has four legs or roots. The books I enjoy let me peer into the abyss of the human psyche. Unlike those wretched mountains that are forever blocking the view – especially of the sea. Lighthouses are a great place for getting some fresh air too, you know?
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