This is a specific conversation about Guinea pig supplies — the essentials — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A vet flag for obesity in a three-year-old Silkie is really worth taking seriously — guinea pigs at that age can pile on weight quietly, especially if they've been getting fruit, commercial treat sticks, or a muesli-style mix with dried fruit and seeds in it. The good news is diet is very manageable once you know what to cut. Before I point you toward something specific: is your Silkie kept with a companion, and what does their current daily diet actually look like — hay, pellets, fresh veg, any treats?
She's with one other guinea pig, they're both three. Right now they get unlimited hay, a small bowl of Selective pellets each morning, and then bits of carrot, apple, and whatever veg we have. Plus we give them those yoghurt drops sometimes as a treat.
inparticular.ai
That's a helpful picture. The hay and Selective pellets are actually solid — Selective is a good low-sugar nugget and you're right to use nuggets over muesli. The problems are the fruit and the yoghurt drops. Apple and carrot are both high in sugar, and yoghurt drops are essentially candy for guinea pigs — no nutritional value and quite a lot of fat and sugar. Those need to go entirely, at least while she's losing weight. For the carrot, swap it for leafy greens: romaine lettuce, fresh coriander, flat-leaf parsley, or cucumber are all low-sugar and most guinea pigs love them. On the hay side, I'd actually add a herbage mix to their setup.
What do you mean by a herbage mix? Is that different from hay?
inparticular.ai
Yes — hay is dried grass, which is great and should make up about 80% of their diet. Herbage is a mix of dried meadow grasses, herbs, and botanicals with no added fruit or sugar. It's more interesting than plain hay, which encourages guinea pigs to forage and graze rather than eating in big bursts, and the variety of herbs like chamomile, dandelion, and plantain are naturally low in sugar and good for gut motility. I'd recommend Burgess Excel Country Garden Herbage. It's a well-known brand, widely trusted by guinea pig rescues, genuinely low in sugar, and most guinea pigs find it much more appealing than plain meadow hay — which means your Silkie is more likely to graze steadily rather than waiting for the pellet bowl. You can scatter it around the enclosure to add enrichment too.
That sounds good. Should I reduce her pellets too, or just change the treats and add this?
inparticular.ai
I'd follow your vet's specific guidance on pellet quantities — they'll have weighed her and can give you a target. As a general rule, one level tablespoon of nuggets per guinea pig per day is the standard recommendation, and if she's been getting more than that it's worth pulling back to that amount. The bigger wins will come from removing the high-sugar items and making sure she's eating more fibre throughout the day. Weigh her weekly at home if you can — kitchen scales work fine — so you can track whether the changes are having an effect before her next vet check.
This is really helpful, thank you. I didn't realise the yoghurt drops were so bad.
inparticular.ai
They're marketed so convincingly it catches a lot of people out. The short version: if it's sold as a guinea pig treat in a bright packet, it's almost always worth checking the sugar content before giving it. Stick with the herbage, leafy greens, and unlimited plain hay and you'll be in a much better place. The Burgess Excel Country Garden Herbage is easy to find on Amazon UK and at most pet retailers — it's a straightforward swap that most guinea pigs take to immediately.
