[Gpdd] CARE - Food and bedding choices?

[Janna Hoskin]

Hi everyone! Thank you all for your advice when I was worried about Guido's
eating habits. He has picked up again and is eating his veggies and chatting
away to himself as he does so, which makes me quite happy. He is also coming
to the side of the cage when I stop to talk to him, which he did not used to
do - I dare say I will make him a sociable guinea pig yet! ;)

I just finished reading a bunch of information about feeding raw food to
cats. Ours is about two and a half, and I would like to ensure that she
remains a healthy animal for the duration of her life with us, so we will
probably be making the switch gradually over the next little while.

Of course, after I read that information, I went and cleaned the litter box
and followed that up with cleaning Guido's cage. That made me wonder about
the diet we feed our piglets. I know that the baked "treats" are just as bad
for guinea pigs as kibble is for cats. (Speaking of baked treats, does
anyone have any idea what I could do with a half-empty bag of timothy
pellets that has a bunch of those treats mixed in with them? Should I just
try to pick out the treats when I feed him and at least get my money's
worth?) The idea behind feeding raw for cats (and for dogs) is that you are
then feeding your pet in much the same manner as it would be eating out in
the wild. So my question is, does it really make sense to feed our guinea
pigs the processed pellets, even if they ARE made of timothy hay? I mean to
say, would it make more sense (and be more natural) to feed all hay, grass,
and fruits and vegetables rather than pellets? Does anyone here do this, and
if so, how do you manage it, especially if you live in a climate that has a
proper winter wherein there is snow and no fresh growth for several months?

And then, as I spread the aspen shavings around the base of the cage, I got
to wondering about what sort of terrain wild guinea pigs would have. Would
it be rock? Dirt? Moss? Their water, I am sure, would come from a stream,
not from a water bottle. What kind of a den or burrow would they live in?

I have it in my mind to build a deluxe guinea pig palace at some point in
the future, and if I ever get my chance, I think it would be fun to
incorporate as much of the wild into it as possible (minus, of course,
predators).

Thanks for any input or ideas! :)

-Janna & Guido (and Roy the cat and Juniper the fiance)

"Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be
normal." Albert Camus
"I want to remake the world; anything less is not worth the trouble." Karen
Cushman