Piggy Basic Diet
Guinea pigs need:
- Fresh clean drinking water continuously, checked twice daily. Ensure water doesn’t freeze in winter. Without water guinea pigs become seriously ill.
- Good quality hay always available which should constitute the majority of their diet. Their digestive systems need grass and/or hay to function properly.
- Fresh grass/vegetables as frequently as possible, ideally daily. They naturally graze, eating only grass/herbs/some plants (e.g. dandelion/groundsel) for long periods both day and night. Their teeth grow continuously, needing wearing down and keeping at the correct length/shape by eating grass/ hay/leafy green plants. Incorrect diets can cause serious dental disease.
- A fresh portion of grass-based guinea-pig pellets daily, as per manufacturer’s instructions. These provide essential Vitamin C, which is destroyed over time and quickly with exposure to air. Fresh pellets must be given daily. Don’t just top up the bowl; ensure pellets are used by the best before date. Guinea pigs have special dietary needs and must have sufficient Vitamin C in their diet.
- Fresh grass/leafy greens e.g. kale/broccoli (excellent Vitamin C sources) daily. Don’t give citrus fruits.
- To avoid sudden changes in diet; never feed lawnmower clippings. These upset digestive systems causing illness.
- Feeding quantities adjusted preventing them becoming underweight/overweight. Quantities guinea pigs need depend on age/lifestyle/general health. They become overweight and may suffer if eating more than needed.
- The amount they eat/drink monitored. If these habits change, droppings get less/stop or soft droppings stick to their back end/lie around the cage, consult your vet immediately as they could be seriously ill. Guinea pigs produce two dropping types – hard dry pellets, and softer moist pellets they eat directly from their bottom and are dietary essentials.
Pig Friendly Veggies
Try to feed different greens to your pets every day but make sure they are suitable for guinea pigs to eat. The sort of vegetables that people usually have in their homes that are safe to feed to guinea pigs are as follows:
Fruit should only be given in small quantities as a treat because it has too much sugar in it. The list below shows the type of fruit you can offer your pets but only in very small amounts as reward or occasional treat:
If you do introduce a new type of food to your pet guinea pigs' diet, it is best to do this gradually so as not to upset their digestive systems. Over the course of a week, you can slowly add the new food to their diets but keep an eye on their droppings to make sure it's agreeing with them. Any soft dropping then stop feeding vegies immediately.
- Beetroot – not the leaves or the stalks
- Broccoli
- Baby Corn
- Cabbage - red & green
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Corn-on-the-cob – the whole corn
- Courgette
- Cucumber
- Dwarf Beans
- Green beans
- Kale
- Mint
- PAC choi
- Parsley
- Parsnips
- Peppers (all colours)
- Pumpkin
- Radish
- Rocket
- Spring Greens
- Spinach (once a month)
- Sprouts (small amounts)
- Sugar snaps
- Swede
- Tomato (small amounts)
Fruit should only be given in small quantities as a treat because it has too much sugar in it. The list below shows the type of fruit you can offer your pets but only in very small amounts as reward or occasional treat:
- Apples
- Bananas
- Blueberries
- Grapefruit
- Grapes (Seedless)
- Strawberries
- Gooseberries
- Kiwi fruit
- Mango
- Melon – all types
- Orange
- Pear
- Pineapple
- Tangerine
- Water Melon
If you do introduce a new type of food to your pet guinea pigs' diet, it is best to do this gradually so as not to upset their digestive systems. Over the course of a week, you can slowly add the new food to their diets but keep an eye on their droppings to make sure it's agreeing with them. Any soft dropping then stop feeding vegies immediately.
What to not to Feed !!!!
Do not feed any of the list below to your piggy's as this could upset there digestive system and can lead to death if fed at anytime.
- Lemon
- Lime
- Cherry's
- Iceberg Lettuce
- Blackberries
- Rhubarb
- Potatoes
- Sweet Potato