gerty guinea pig

[sam burke]

Could anyone tell me if they have tried gerty and if they have had any problems with it i have been feeding all mine it but dont eat it all also i have heard some breeders give them horse pasture mix or herbal mix is this right

[eppingstrider]

I dont feed Gerty GP because my boys were started on Wagg, so I used that then weaned them onto something I could get more easily - although I've a new source so they're eating it again!

I did read somewhere (one of the good websites, I think) that some of the Gerty mixes are good but some have artifical flavourings/colourings that are bad for GPs. I dont think we've discussed Gerty mix on here before, not for a long time anyway, so a good idea to find out what people think.

[Hugs-Cavies (Doris)]

Gerty is one of the ones that I have heard from various places that does contain colourings that can cause problems.

I also know several people who have had piggies on Gerty who have developed bladder stones.

You may also find with a muesli mix like gerty that the piggies pick out the bits they like leaving behind other bits which you end up throwing away, a pellet mix is much more economical in this respect.

[PigPog]

I'd throw the Gerty out and replace it with a pellet mix. I stopped feeding mine on Gerty because:

1. The coloured pieces of biscuit are coloured with artifical colourings and, as Doris has said, there's one that is suspected of contributing toward bladder stones ("Sunset Yellow" I think I read somewhere).

2. My picky eaters aren't getting a proper diet because they're eating the bits they like and leaving the rest.

3. It's got bits and pieces in it that I don't believe are necessary in the diet (not to mention the colourings!).

Mine have been on Burgess Supa Guinea Excel pellets for a couple of years and every bowl is licked clean.

Some people do use horse feed but you have to be careful that it doesn't contain certain things that are used to bind horse feed together, such as molases. Mine occasionally have apple chaff as a treat but only extremely rarely because it's sweet and definately not good for a staple guinea pig diet.

I tend to suggest to people that they use a pellet brand of guinea pig mix because it's formulated for a guinea pig's digestive system and each pellet contains a similar level of nutrition. My favourite is Burgess Supa Guinea Excel pellets and I'm very happy with what I use. There are also some other great pellet feeds available and I'm sure some of the others here can tell you more about them.

[Hugs-Cavies (Doris)]

We use Charnwoods high vit C pellets and have done for some time, it all goes, bowls empty!

I do also mix dried grass (readygrass) with the pellets, this goes down well with all our piggies.

[sam burke]

HI thanks very much for all the great ideas a friend feeds hers on guinea excell i will get a small bag for now to see how they go with it thanks again

[eppingstrider]

I think Super Guinea Excel is a good choice - its easily available and the piggies like it! Fred & George are happy with it although they do prefer Wagg (now I can get it again - I offered both and they made a beeline for the Wagg, but then it was their first love!). Victor & Hugo came with a bag of muesli they'd been eating (Dorell and something?) but I mixed in some Guinea Excel and they polished it off, so I'm switching them over to it.

[sam burke]

thanks for all the lovely comments im going out to buy some excel will let you all know how thye get on with it

[eppingstrider]

Just to let you know that Victor & Hugo didnt eat much of their mixed-in SGE yesterday, and I think I moved the mixing on too far too soon.

I've gone back to a 2 parts muesli to 1 part SGE today and will keep them on that for a few days to let them have more time to get used to the change.

They do warn us that GPs dont like change!