Guinea Pig Food Guide

[sammipunk]

Hey! I've noticed a lot of people asking what foods are good or bad for guinea pigs. Some time ago someone shared a VERY helpful list of what fruits, veggies, etc were good for pigs, bad for pigs, and lethal for pigs. With so many new members, and as far as I can tell the link/list not being on the info page, I thought I'd share again.

This list

Comments

[ihasstopwatch]

Yay for this list! Though I have a question.... The salad mix you mentioned - would something like spring mix work since it doesn't have iceberg lettuce as far as I know?

[saturdaynight]

You could always pick the iceberg lettuce out? Most mixes come in clear[ish] containers anyway, you should be able to see how much iceberg is in there before you even buy it. If there's too much to make it worth while then just move on to a different one.

Aaand your cat is cute.

[sammipunk]

Not every spring mix is created equal so the best bet is to read the ingredients from the bag and see how they match up to the list. Most of the time, I've noticed they're fine. :)

[nursemette]

Every source I have read has stated that cabbage is not good for guinea pigs.

[hearthand]

Cabbage won't kill a pig but it's very gassy and may cause bloat in some cavies in small quantities and is highly likely to cause bloat in large quantities. It's not very pleasant on its way out, either so I honestly wouldn't recommend it unless you wish to re fragrance your piggie room.

...

[hearthand]

By "cabbage won't kill a pig" I mean that it won't directly kill a guinea pig through being poisonous - but bloat/gas may turn into a potentially problematic/annoying/dangerous condition.

I personally avoid cabbage/turnip/broccoli due to their gassy effects on piggies.

[sherlock2040]

Once a year my piggies would get a sprout (they go mad for them), when that happened it was best to avoid the piggie cage for several hours until the noxious green cloud dissipated.

Mod

[hearthand]

Could you please reference where you got the original food guide from.

If it's from the source I think it's from, under copyright, it's required that reposts of information have a link back to the source to credit that source.

Once you've done that I'd be delighted to add such a valuable source of information to new piggie owners to our tags/memories. Thank you!
:)

Re: Mod

[sammipunk]

No idea. It was a list someone posted here years ago, and at the time it was widely distributed among members. If you or anyone else can pinpoint where it came from, I'd be happy to credit that source. :)

Re: Mod

[hearthand]

I have an idea of where it's from -- I think I also grabbed it from this community but I've "found" it later on. Let me get back to you on that.

PROCRASTINATION AHOY!

[xtheridgex]

The only thing is that this list doesn't take into consideration the ca:p ration, which is really important. For example, collard green are high in vit C, but have a horrible ca:P ratio.

[sammipunk]

Forgive me if I sound ignorant, but I need this in layman's terms. "ca:p" means nothing to me. :(

[caligogreywings]

calcium:phosphorus ratio. Calcium good, phosphorus bad, in general. Guinealynx is the best source for that ratio's calculations.

[sammipunk]

Aaaah, that makes sense. Thank you!

[sweetnovelist]

Now, I've heard that celery can be bad for piggies, on the account of its stringy consistency. I don't have personal experience with celery (I never keep it in the house), but can't guinea pigs choke on the celery strings?

Just for my information:-D

[xtheridgex]

i've always worried about that too, so i cut it up into pieces before offering it to the pigs.

[thalestral]

I always cut mine up into little pieces, can't remember where I first read to do that but it seems like a good idea :)

If you can get the celery with the leaves still attached in the middle, my girls think that is the best thing ever!

[ladyvivi]

Peanut once had a coughing spell after eating a little piece of celery I'd cut up, and so never again. I dun want to ever chance the remote possibility.