Oh hay there and welcome. If you’ve recently joined club small-pet-parenthood OR have been a member for a while, there’s no harm in double-checking what you should feed your small pet.
After all – education is key and it’s vital that your tiny tots are getting the proper nutritional love they need. So without further ado, let’s get cracking.
SMALL PET SUSTENANCE 101
Just like the humans, dogs and cats in your household, ALL your small pets must be fed a good, great-tasting and high quality diet.
HAY
Hay is super-duper important and should make up 90% (i.e. the majority) of their diet. It’s high in fiber and helps them maintain a healthy weight, healthy digestive tract and healthy dental situation.
If unsure about LONG STEM HAY, TIMOTHY HAY and the lot, ask your vet for guidance.
PELLETS
Premium pellets are stellar at providing our small pets with ALL those vital nutrients they need to thrive; and are absolutely fantastic at helping prevent selective feeding too.
Because as most small-pet-parents are well aware, our tiny tots tend to pick out their favourite nuts and seeds (especially when fed muesli-type diets) and then casually stroll away leaving the rest. Not cool.
FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Many small pets love a scrumptious salad and many vets recommend offering fresh vegetables to encourage the wearing down of their continuously growing teeth too.
Try and give them a teensy-weensy serving of leafy greens / zucchini, shredded carrots every two days.
The occasional papaya, banana, berries or melon won’t hurt either. So pop these into their feeding regime about once a week.
TREATS
Oh my, let’s just get real for a second – who doesn’t like a treat?
Since our tiny tots absolutely adore to gnaw, investing in EDIBLE PLAY LOGS, chews and other small pet TREATS is never-ever a bad idea.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I FEED MY SMALL PETS?
Fresh food should always be available.
Feeding them top-quality hay, premium pellets and a tiny serving of fresh fruits and vegetables (NOT iceberg lettuce PLEASE) is all the rage. UNLESS, of course, your vet has recommended a specific diet for your small pet.
Since nobody is a fan of scattered, dirty and limp hay – consider investing in a RIMA RACK that can be attached to the side of the cage. It helps keep their hay on display and their cages clean. Eureka.
KNOW YOUR BRANDS
BURGESS is a leading UK manufacturer that has produced the finest quality foods for people, pets and animals.
BRAMBLES is a family owned British company that formulates foods that are nutritionally beneficial and don’t contain any added sugar, colours, or artificial flavours.
TINY FRIENDS FARM is a multi-award-winning small pet brand, providing pets with nutritionally balanced diets, developed by nutritional experts.
VERSELE-LAGA provides increasingly better answers to the needs and wishes of pet-parents and performance animals.
MARLTONS is South Africa’s No. 1 brand and is continually expanding their knowledge to deliver relevant pet care innovation.
LET’S CHAT ABOUT MUESLI
Best not to feed it.
Most muesli meals lack fibre and our small pets REALLY-EALLY need fibre in their diets. Muesli also encourages naughty behaviour like selective feeding and ain’t nobody got time for that …
AND DON’T FORGET THE H2O!
Fresh water should be available 24 hours a day. Hmm kay.
Your small pet’s H20 should also be replaced DAILY. If using a sipper bottle, check for blockages (specifically the end from which they drink) every day too.
Give those bowls, dishes and sipper bottles regular hot soapy water washes; and don’t be shy with your bottle-brush-scrubbing-action. Remember the sipper bottle tube is a well-loved vacation spot for nasty bacteria – just so you know.