Feeding Your Piggy

 

Guinea pigs eat around 16 hours a day so it is vital that they are eating the right things! A good diet is very important for a piggies health and wellbeing. The guinea pigs natural habit is to roam amongst wild vegetation where all their dietary and many medical needs are met. The key to feeding fresh food is variety! If you feed your guinea pig too much of the same thing too often you may come accross imbalance of vitamins and minerals or a build up of gas. Guinea pigs cannot be sick, so problems in the gut can result in bloat which is painful and sometimes fatal for the guinea pig.

 

Guinea pigs basically need a constant access to hay, a good quality dried food and a good variety of fresh fruit and vegetables every day. Guinea pigs cannot make their own vitamin c so the fresh food is essential, a diet of just dried food can cause kidney stones if fed in excess. The hay should be  good quality and sweet smelling, damp or mouldy hay will just make the guinea pig ill. Fresh food should be clean and anything left over removed before it goes stale. Grass clippings from the mower should not be fed as it will make the guinea pig very ill.

 

There is very little benefit to feeding guinea pigs shop bought treats, fresh herbs or branches of apple, pear or hazel trees are much more nutritious and will be far more appreciated by your pet. 

 

Fresh, clean water should be available at all times in a water bottle. The bottle will need to be cleaned out every day- especially the spout!  

 

Good Foods

1 cup of mixed fruit and vegetables a day

 

Asparagus

Broccoli

Brussel Sprouts

Butternut Squash

Celery leaves and stalks

Carrots

Cauliflower

Cabbage

Corn On The Cob

Cucumber

Courgette

Cress

Green Beans

Kale

Peas In Pod

Parsnip

Rocket

Radish

Spring Greens

Spinach (in moderation)

Sweet Peppers

 

Herbs

 

Basil

Coriander

Dil

Mint

Parsley

Thyme

 

From The Garden

 

Apple tree branches

Blackberry Leaves

Chickweed

Clover

Dandelion

Grass

Hazel Branches

Pear Tree Branches

 

Fruit

 

Apple (in moderation)

Apricot

Banana

Blackberries

Blueberries

Cherries

Cantaloupe Melon

Currants

Grapes (in moderation)

Honeydew Melon

Kiwi Fruit

Mango

Nectarine

Orange

Pear

Plum

Peach

Raspberries

Strawberries

Tomato (NOT leaves)

 

Do Not Feed

 

Potatoes

Iceberg Lettuce

Rhubarb

Anything from the garden you are unsure about

 

 

 

 

 

Remember

 HAY!

 Guinea pigs should never be without it.