Guinea Pig Food

The lovely little guinea pigs do not require too much effort but give a lot of love in return. By paying attention to them, providing them with a stable environment, and meeting their dietary requirements, you will make sure that these pets remain healthy and playful for many years. In this article, we’ll discuss how to provide your guinea pigs with the best food items to maximize their health and well being.

Guinea pigs take in grass as their natural food. Their long colons help them adequately digest grass. However, such diet comprising mainly of grass may need to be supplemented. Romaine lettuce, apples pears, broccoli, strawberries, raspberries, zucchini, and oranges without the seeds are good guinea pig food supplement choices.

Timothy hay and other grass hay can also be given to guinea pigs together with food pellets. It is also important to provide adequate Vitamin C to the animals (in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables or supplements) since guinea pigs (like humans) hae a hard time synthesizing Vitamin C.

Here are some things to watch with your guinea pig diet:

It is important to provide a guinea pig diet that has a balanced proportion of calcium and phosphorus. Otherwise bladder stones and bladder sludge problems may arise.

Young guinea pigs (four months old or younger) need to be fed with alfalfa pellets. This helps meet their calcium requirements.

A whole lot of plants are regarded as poisonous for the guinea pigs. Hence they must never be provided to pet guinea pigs. Wild celery, lily of the valley, mayweed, foxglove, rhubarb, buttercup and ragwort are some of them. Besides, plants growing from bulbs like onions and tulips are also usually considered to be poisonous for them.

Sudden changes in diet may also not at all be well tolerated by the guinea pigs. They may even start starving. So, diet changes should be carefully made.