Guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, chinchillas, and more... at Spikes and Houles we have food for everybody. These “pocket pets” are ideal for people who live in smaller homes, don’t have time for a more active animal or just like a lower maintenance pet. But while they are lower maintenance – it’s still important to ensure they’re getting adequate nutrition. When choosing a diet for your pet, look for a complete feed. These will be packed with all the vitamins, minerals and fiber your pet needs. Commercial pellet food is the chow of choice for the smallest pet rodents, including rats, mice, hamsters and gerbils. (Rabbits, chinchillas and guinea pigs also like the occasional serving of pellets to balance out the hay and produce they eat.) Look for fortified pellets, which regulate calories and provide balanced nutrition.
Keep in mind that hay should make up about 75% of the diet of guinea pigs, chinchillas, and rabbits. The fiber in hay helps these critters maintain a healthy weight and is good for their teeth. We carry both alfalfa varieties of hay, and timothy. Timothy hay is lower in protein and calcium, which is beneficial to pets depending on their life stage, while Alfalfa is higher in protein and calcium, which is good for young, pregnant, lactating or overly active animals that need more calcium. Make sure you are taking your pets' age into consideration when deciding their diet.
Many of these smaller animals benefit from fresh fruits and vegetables. Veggies should make up about 20% of their diet. This does not need to be provided every day as the plant fibers take a little longer to digest than their usual hay or pelleted feed. Our recommended veggies are kale, collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion, zucchini, broccoli, and carrots. And once a week an introduction of fruit rounds out their diet... we suggest banana, honeydew, or cantaloupe. If you find that your pet is not eating the fruits or veggies you can adjust their diet to compensate for that. Do not leave fresh food out for more than 6 hours to avoid accidental stomach aches, and to prevent overeating.
Just because these guys are small does not mean they do not enjoy treats and toys! Small rodents love to gnaw and there are treat sticks designed to satisfy that desire. For hamsters and gerbils consider adding a mineral wheel. Big and small, we have it all, stop into Spikes and Houles today and browse our selection for small pets.
