 Hey guys, it's Allison welcome back to the tiny herd where we talk about everyday pet care for guinea pigs rabbits and other small pets Today's video. I wanted to show you guys how to hand feed or syringe feed your guinea pigs So after I did my emergency kit video, which I will link down below and in the cards So if you guys want to check that out if you haven't already you have easy access to that So you can check that out, but after I posted that video I had a lot of questions about recovery food and what's in it and when you use it and that sort of thing So I wanted to talk through recovery food a little bit tonight And then give you an example Get one of the pigs out and show you guys how exactly you syringe feed a guinea pig. Alright to start off this video We're gonna talk about recovery food in general. So this is where we keep our recovery food in this little drawer So I'm gonna grab the couple different kinds That I have here and we can talk through them and talk through a couple of the other options so You can see here. I have these two different bags of recovery food these are both from Sherwood pet health you can see here and We used to use Sherwood pellets. So I picked up their recovery food as well. I still really like the recovery food It's very like formulated well for rabbits and guinea pigs Especially if they were having a health problem or needed to put on weight So we still use this you also can get Oxbow critical care. There is a flavored version. There is a fine grind version If you just like search for for oxbow critical care on Amazon You should find the couple different kinds that there are make sure to get the herbivore kind for your guinea pigs or rabbits, of course so we also have This appetite restore from Sherwood. I love this stuff It gets them eating again and it kind of gives them electrolytes and the vitamins and stuff that they need to kind of kickstart their body If they're not eating So that's a question that I got after my emergency kit video is what you actually use recovery food for and when to use it So recovery food is used when your pet does not want to eat So let's say you come home from school or work and you realize one of your guinea pigs is sitting in the corner You try to give them a carrot you try to give them some lettuce or whatever their favorite veggies are and they won't eat it They just turn their nose up at everything won't eat pellets won't eat. Hey won't eat veggies or snacks So if that's the case you need to start syringe feeding your guinea pig or your rabbit We're gonna talk about guinea pigs for the purposes of this specific video so You can't let your guinea pig go Hours and hours without eating the way their digestive system works is they're meant to be constantly Foraging and grazing. That's why it's so important for them to have hey 24-7 They always need to have something moving through their digestive system to keep it moving and keep it going properly So if your pet is not wanting to eat on its own you pretty much have to Force feed it using recovery food and you'll do this using a syringe an oral syringe Which I will get out and show you guys we'll be doing a full tutorial in this video I'll show you exactly how to do it how to mix it up and everything but that is the basics of What recovery food actually is and when you use it? All right, so to show you guys exactly how I mix this up So I have my food here The bag does have measurements on it I'm just gonna make a small amount tonight because this is just for Demonstration purposes, so I'm just gonna put a little bit of the powder in here We'll do that much And that's why I really love I think the oxbow comes in a Recealable bag as well, but it's super nice because it keeps it fresh So I have that little bit of powder in here, and then you add some water And then you want to mix it up really well All right, so this is mixed up really well. You can see it is a pretty liquid Consistency, it's a little thick, but it's it's pretty wet and I like it I like it to be this consistency because then it's still a little bit of solid food that they're getting But it's still easy enough to suck up in a syringe So I'm going to grab a syringe show you guys that and grab a pig and show you how to syringe feed All right, so I'm gonna show you guys this the best way that I can before getting a pig out But this is the syringe that I use most often for syringe feeding. I believe it's a 12 milliliter, I believe syringe it doesn't have measurements on it or anything because it's meant for like I think it's meant for catheters or something for dogs, but it has a nice big Tip I'm not sure if that's focusing or not, but it has a nice thick tip Which makes it good for feeding a Guinea pig it's still small enough to get in their mouth, but it's not so big that they Are upset about it if that makes sense. It gets plenty of food in their mouth But it's not like huge and uncomfortable for them So what you do to feed this is you put it down in your critical care and you just kind of like take your time Trying to show you guys how to do this, but you just Like if you have to give medication or something where you suck it up in the syringe You pretty much just do that. You just kind of have to move it around and take your time because this is a thicker Material so it's not gonna just all suck straight up like Medicine would like a liquid would so that's why if you make your critical care more liquidy It's going to be easier to put in the syringe But I have a good amount in the syringe now Try to avoid getting too much air in it You can see there is a big air bubble here, but it's up at the top So that shouldn't be a big deal because we'll pretty much be done by then But you just don't want to be pushing a bunch of air into your pet because that can cause a bloop so I have some in here that was quite a bit of the Critical care that we mixed up you know the recovery food we mixed up So I'm gonna grab a pig and show you guys exactly how to do this Okay, so I have miss Lily fluff here and I'm gonna show you guys exactly how I syringe feed So I'm sorry for the shaking camera. I'm gonna do this the best I can and Be able to show you guys so might be poor lighting might not be the best angle But I just want to show you guys this so what you want to do I Usually yeah, so She's not the best example Because she wants to eat it But this is what you do You take the syringe you put it in the side of their mouth. So like behind their front teeth and Slowly syringe food the food into their mouth see now she's not wanting to do it so She's still chewing so you'll be able to tell they're eating it because they'll be chewing like she is now You don't want to squirt way way too much in their mouth because then they could choke on it You want to give them enough for them to eat it? Without choking on it or anything like that. I prefer to pick up the pig like this because it just makes it a little bit easier See she's eating it there She's enjoying this you don't want to like hold them really tightly You don't want to rock them backwards because that can make it hard for them to eat But I'm literally just picking her up a little bit so that her front legs are resting on my hand So that she can't get away from me I can use my shoulder here to pull it behind her head So she can't back up and back away from me and then I can administer with this hand and this is how I do Recovery food. This is how I do medication Anything that needs to go in their mouth. This is how I do it She's being very good because she really likes critical care. She likes this recovery food. It tastes like her pellets So she wants to eat it. You're not gonna have this easy of a time Most of my pigs will not do this But I chose her because I wanted you guys to be able to see how this works Okay, if your pet does not want to eat like they're not trying to eat it like she is you have to Find a way to get it in their mouth. I know it's not easy. You can try a smaller syringe You can try putting baby food on the tip of it. You can try different things. It's not gonna be this easy I promise you she's really likes this and she's you know, not sick so She's having a good time She's just getting a little bit extra food tonight But this is what you do and then if you're giving medication I also like to then give some water and wash it down just to make sure they got their whole dose But again, just make sure that you go slow. You don't want to choke them If they're chewing that means they're eating it You don't want to squirt from one side of their mouths to the other that happens with medication sometimes when they don't want to eat it So those are my main tips Take your time You're gonna have to just take your time with a picky pig See she's she's about done here But they'll turn their head away like that when they don't want it and you just have to Go Until you get in their mouth Just like that see I got right in the side of her mouth She's absolutely covered in recovery food now So I'm gonna have to clean her up But if you have a sick pig that won't eat this is what they're gonna look like they're gonna be covered in recovery food They're not gonna be pleased But that's how you do recovery food guys. So definitely let me know If you have any questions, thank you Lily fluff for being a very good model for this But I hope you guys found that helpful Let me know if you have any questions So hope you guys found this video helpful Let me know down below if this made it a little bit clearer or if you have any other questions about hand feeding or syringe feeding Thank you guys so much for watching make sure to like and subscribe if you haven't already And I will see you guys in the next video. Bye