A Standard Guinea Pigs Diet

Like any other animal, guinea pigs need food and water to survive on. But what exactly is good for them? That is where I come in. I have been caring for guinea pigs for almost 9 years now, and I am pleased to share my experiences in diet with you.

Guinea Pigs Need...

• Dry food/pellets
• Timothy/meadow hay
• Veggies and fruit
• Water

Read on to find out exactly what your cavy needs to survive on.

Guinea pigs need some type of vitamin C enriched pellet to keep healthy. Timothy pellets, Oxbow and Gerty Guinea Pig are all good kinds of dry food for your guinea pigs. You should never feed your cavies rabbit food as this usually has virtually no vitamin C inside it and can cause problems in the bottom area.

Pellets shoudl be fed once a day in the evening or morning. It depends on how big your bowl is, but half a big bowl to a full small bowl should be fine. If you have 2 guinea pigs, it is best to get 2 bowls and put the correct amount of pellets in each one.

 Guinea pigs obivously need unlimited water to survive. A common mistake is putting the water in a bowl, but these can easily get knocked over and soak the cage and the guinea pigs or urinated in and then drank to infect themselves. Cavies should have easy access to water bottle that is changed once a day. The water should be cold, fresh and have no chemicals or anything added in it.

 Guinea pigs need unlimited Timothy or Meadow hay to survive. One of the most common guinea pig mistakes I see is people giving hay as a treat or not at all or giving straw instead. As well as providing vitamin C for your cavy, hay ensures that it get's enough fibre and helps with the digestive system. They also like to snuggle up in it when they go to sleep.

Straw is bad for guinea pigs because of the lack of vitamin C and the sharp edges that could easily poke a cavy's eye out.

A mix of Alfalfa and your guinea pig's usual hay should be given to pregnant and young guinea pigs.

Guinea pigs NEED 1 cup (USA) or a big handful of veggies every day, along with some additional fruit once a week. Like humans, guinea pigs don't make their own vitamin C and to avoid dying of scurvy they must have some vegetables a day. Fruit can only be fed once a week because of the high sugar and acid levels and the risk of sores and scabs they can cause around the mouth. You should be giving your guinea pigs a range of different veggies every day to make it interesting for them. How would you like to have virtually the same lunch/dinner every day for the rest of your life? Not much. Cavies can have a lot of different types of fruit and veggies, but some are poisonous for them so I have a list here (from www.guineatastic.webs.com) of what they can eat.

· Broccoli - Can have quite a bit but too much cause gas.

· Carrot - A lot of this will help stregthen and grind down their teeth which continue to grow all through their lives.

· Kale - Lots of this Vitamin C rich vegetable a day will really help with raising the Vitamin c level up.

· Romaine lettuce (not iceburg lettuce) - Iceberg is too watery and isn't at nutritious as romaine which they can eat a lot of and they love it!

· Celery - Try to give them less of the long parts and more of the leaves as there is a small chance the strings may get caught in their digestive systems.

· Fresh dandilion leaves (from garden) - Can eat plenty of these. WARNING!! Any products used on the grass such as WEED KILLER can KILL THEM!!

· Fresh grass (from garden) - Can eat plenty of this and you should get a run so they can munch and graze all day long! WARNING!! Any porducts used on the lawn/grass such as WEED KILLER can KILL THEM!!

· Baby tomatoes - Only a few a week and remove the seeds first!

· Parsely - Contains LOADS of Vitamin C and you can give a lot of this a day.

· Cucumber - Can eat lots of and is juicy and yummy for the pigglers!

· Apples - Only give in moderation - my guineas love it but it is a shame it is too sugary for them to eat everyday!

· Pears - Same instructions as apple.

· Seedless grapes - Green or red grapes. HAVE to be seedless becuase they can choke on the seeds. Only a few of these a week.

· Satsuma pieces - Only a few (the same as most fruit) as they are sugary and acidic and this can hurt their little lips. If you spot any sores or scabs then stop feeding them immediatley. Must be without pips.

· Corn on the cob - Dried corn is unhealthy for them , so only give fresh corn and not much of it.

· Banana - Only a few slices once a week (same as any other fruit).

· Green Beans - Any other beans could be posionous. Can eat quite a lot of these.

· Strawberries - Only one or two a week (same as any other fruit).

· Baby Sweet corn - Not much of this and must not be cooked.

· Melon - Watermelon, Honeydew and most others can be given but give very sparingly as it contains lots of sugar and water.

· Cauliflower leaves - Can eat quite a few of these

• Bell peppers - can be given 1/8 a day, avoid the seeds.