Guinea pigs need vegetables as an important source of essential vitamins and minerals, but this should never be their sole food source.
Certain vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage contain oxalates which may lead to calcium stones in your pet, so make sure that any raw onions or garlic aren’t fed to them directly.
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Lettuce
Lettuce is an ideal, nutritious vegetable to feed to guinea pigs as an effective means of warding off scurvy. Furthermore, lettuce contains high levels of Vitamin C for their wellbeing.
Red Leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce and butter lettuce are excellent daily snacks for guinea pigs to consume as part of their regular diets. Iceberg lettuce should be avoided due to its large amount of moisture; its excess can overload their system and lead to diarrhea in guinea pigs.
Guinea pigs require fresh Timothy hay every day in order to ensure their digestive systems function efficiently and prevent their teeth from overgrowing.
Carrots
Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin C, an essential nutrient in helping prevent diseases and maintain immunity, as well as combatting scurvy caused by insufficient intake. Furthermore, carrots contain carbohydrates to keep energy levels balanced for your pet as well as both insoluble and soluble fibers for digestive health.
Puffs provide a rich source of potassium, helping maintain fluid balance and lower risk for kidney and bladder stones. As with all foods, please feed these to your pig in moderation as overfeeding could lead to bloating, digestive issues or obesity.
Broccoli
Guinea pigs require calcium for proper functioning but too much can lead to bladder stones. Therefore, it’s best to restrict consumption of foods high in calcium and/or oxalic acid such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower – these veggies may be added occasionally but only in small amounts at one time.
Additional daily cruciferous vegetables that should be provided include carrot tops, dandelion greens, spinach, turnip greens and kale. Fresh leafy greens such as romaine lettuce, red or yellow peppers, curly or flat-leaf parsley is an excellent daily choice as well. Other non-cruciferous veggies that should be offered occasionally but not daily include tomatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini and apples (with no seeds).
Cabbage
Guinea pigs require a diet with a wide variety of vegetables to provide fiber and nutrients in addition to the mainstay of their diet, hay. While vegetables and fruits provide additional vitamins and minerals needed for their overall wellbeing.
Cabbage is packed with vitamin C, which provides your guinea pig with plenty of antioxidants needed to fight diseases like arthritis. In addition, cabbage provides calcium, vitamin K, and potassium – essential elements to their health!
Introduce cabbage gradually and monitor your guinea pig’s reaction. Excessive amounts may lead to bloating or diarrhea in some animals; additionally, its high oxalate content could even contribute to bladder stones in certain instances.
Red Peppers
Guinea pigs enjoy variety and keeping their diet interesting, so try offering different vegetables and herbs regularly. When introducing new produce or herbs gradually to prevent digestive upsets. Our guinea pigs especially like to munch on romaine lettuce, sweet bell peppers (including seeds and cores), cucumber, carrots, parsley, whole-leaf kale and celery!
Always wash vegetables and fruits fed to your guinea pig to remove any pesticide residue, while being wary of foods high in oxalate as they could potentially lead to calcium oxalate stones in them.
Turnip Greens
Turnip greens contain high concentrations of calcium, which isn’t an issue if your pig doesn’t already have bladder stones but may increase the risk of future stones formation if they do have a history.
Oxalic acid found in fruits can bind with calcium to form oxalate stones that can form, leading to many urinary issues like sludge in the bladder, painful urinating and infections.
As with kale, they provide essential vitamins and minerals – particularly Vitamin C – but should only be fed in moderation as part of an overall balanced diet that includes specially-formulated pellets, hay and fruits.
Watercress
Guinea pigs must consume a substantial amount of Timothy or Orchard hay in their diet; approximately 80% should come from these sources.
Vegetables should play an essential part of their diet. Leafy greens such as romaine lettuce, red and dark leafy greens, cabbage, kale, parsley and watercress make great daily veggies to add into their meals – as do carrots, broccoli and tomatoes!
Always offer your guinea pigs small pieces of vegetables each day and gradually increase the amounts as they become used to it. Overexposure of new foods may cause digestive problems in guinea pigs.
