Gertie Guinea pig food

[grumpy89]

Hi. I had to buy some of Gertie Guinea pig food instead of my usual degu food cos the shop was out of stock. They recommended it for Degus and was sure I had seen on here people using it before, so thought it would be ok as an emergency.

Do people just use this as a back up, or is it ok for them as a main feed? Its sooo much cheaper than my usual stuff and was wondering if it is safe to leave them on this. They seem to love it - even the XtraVital didn't go down that fast!

[amie]

It's ok for them as a main feed, but I've found that there are bits of it that they won't eat.

[fred]

I would not recommend to use it as a regular feed. It has a relatively low calcium to phosphorous ratio (1.2) which may cause problems with their teeth if fed over a longer period of time (no worries for the one bag). I suspect that the bits they don't eat are alfalfa, which is calcium-rich; as a consequence the calcium to phosphorous ratio of what they eat may be even worse.