Care of newborn guinea pigs involves providing food, cleaning their cage and watching for any sign of illness.
As they grow, guinea pig babies require additional sources of nutrition such as recovery formulas such as Oxbow’s Essentials Young Guinea Pig food for optimal development.
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Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
Guinea pigs require fresh fruits and vegetables as part of a balanced diet that supplies essential vitamins. It is best to offer these items only occasionally; their high sugar content could lead to obesity in their hosts.
Examples of healthy vegetables to offer your guinea pigs include baby carrots, romaine lettuce, sweet bell peppers (without seeds and core), kale celery cucumber. Just be sure to remove any stringy pieces that could pose a choking hazard!
Your guinea pig needs plenty of vitamin C in their daily diet; their bodies do not naturally produce this nutrient and it helps promote healthier skin, joints and blood vessels. Look for pellets specifically formulated for guinea pigs like Oxbow Western Timothy and Orchard Hay pellets with added vitamin C or Small Pet Select Sherwood Zupreem pellets with protected vitamin C added (which will last longer than store-bought versions). Also ensure they get some cruciferous vegetables daily!
Whole Grains
As with rabbits, guinea pigs cannot produce enough Vitamin C on their own and must consume it as part of their diet. Supplementation may help avoid the otherwise fatal consequence of vitamin C deficiency – scurvy.
Fresh fruit should only be fed occasionally as its high sugar content may disrupt the balance of bacteria in a guinea pig’s gut and lead to obesity or digestive issues.
Leafy green vegetables should form the centerpiece of any guinea pig’s diet, providing fibre and additional nutrients not found in hay alone. When selecting which varieties to feed your pet it’s important to vary them as different ones contain high concentrations (kale is particularly rich in calcium) while others offer an optimal ratio between phosphorus and calcium; cauliflower should also occasionally be offered due to its vitamin C-rich content.
Vegetable Juices
Even though whole fruits and vegetables are the optimal food choice for your piggie, if he or she isn’t eating much juice can help get their stomach into gear. Keep in mind, however, that juice contains moderate levels of sugars and carbohydrates that could alter his or her weight over time.
Vegetable juice options that may benefit guinea pigs include carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, kale and parsley. Cabbage can also be beneficial; just be sure to choose dark green leaves from cabbage rather than Iceberg lettuce as this contains too much calcium which could cause stomach issues in guinea pigs.
Make juices that are slightly diluted as this will provide your piggie with optimal nutrition without excessive calories. You could even mix some of these juices with pellets to form liquid feed for your pet pig. Water is essential for their wellbeing as it regulates temperature, cushions joints and provides energy through hydration processes.
Milk
Guinea pigs can consume milk as baby food, provided this is done under the advice of your veterinarian. Commercial products available to small animals contain high levels of sugar and artificial ingredients which could potentially harm young babies.
New guinea pigs should receive unlimited timothy hay and high quality pellets as part of their diet, in addition to freshly washed vegetables in amounts equivalent to 1/2 to 1 cup daily; leafy greens such as romaine, red and green leaf lettuces, turnip greens, mustard greens, kale parsley and cilantro make excellent choices; carrots tomatoes and zucchini should also be offered regularly.
Fruit should be eaten only occasionally to limit weight gain and intestinal bacteria imbalances that could potentially lead to diarrhea. A small serving of very high-fiber fruits should be fed each week in order to provide essential vitamins and minerals.
