Stocking Up Food For (guinea pig) Emergencies
This winter has seen the longest periods of cold weather in living memory. So many people were caught out by the first lot of snow before Christmas, this time they got wise and stocked up on food.
On Tuesday afternoon before the snow started coming down I popped out to the local Co-op to pick up a few supplies. However, the shelves were pretty much stripped bare of vegetables, milk and bread! A quick dash to Waitrose ensued and they didn’t have much more in the way of vegetables, but I manged to grab the last 5 bags of Kale, some Chinese Leaf and Romaine Lettuce for my own guineas and those at Reading Guinea Pig Rescue. The remainder of the food came from our local Exotic Superstore who supply lots of cheap herbs and veggies, so the job was done.
Guineas can survive without fresh food, but what they MUST have available at all times is nice fresh, green meadow hay to eat, play and sleep in. Hay should make up 80% of their diet, so if you run out in weather like this, what are you going to do? The answer is to make sure that you have at least 2-3 weeks supply of hay, dried grass (Just Grass / ReadiGrass), bedding and dried food to see you through until you can get some more. That way you don’t have to worry about running out when the roads are treacherous. Without hay, guineas can get problems with their digestive system and teeth. They also need a daily supply of Vitamin C as they can’t make their own. This is where dried food comes in if there is no fresh food available.
If you’re keen to have fresh grass for your guineas all year round, you can still grow cereal grasses during the winter months. Check out the Easygrow Cereal Grass and Wheekgrass from Planet Guinea. These can be grown indoors on a windowsill where there is no condensation.
Check out the Cold Weather Advice provided by Guinea Pig Welfare. Please make sure that your guineas have plenty of fresh hay every day and that they aren’t sitting on damp bedding in this cold weather.
Wishing you and your guineas a warm and safe time until the weather improves.
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