What to feed guinea pigs and how often?

You should feed your guinea pig as follows, this is for one guinea pig:

Unlimited pellets daily that are 18% protein and have a high amount of Vitamin C with no seeds or other colored stuff in them.

Unlimited hay 24/7, under 6 months of age, pregnant and nursing it should be alfalfa as it is higher in protein and calcium and helps them through their growth spurt, the development of the pups and the production of milk.After 6 months they should be changed to timothy, orchard grass or any good grass hay you can find at your local feed and seed store.

!/2 to 1 cup of dark green leafy veggies daily such as kale, dandelion greens, chard, parsley, romaine lettuce, and red and green bell peppers. A mix of these will give them all the fresh Vitamin C they need.

Fruit should be fed only every 3 days as a treat only, as it is to high in sugar to be good for them and it is also high in acid and if fed daily will cause sores in the guinea pigs mouth.

Change the water daily to assure they are drinking ample water.

I have a 2 and half year old .. & a 6 week old baby together, both males.

I feed them a fresh bowl of Guinea pig muesli every day, its important to only give them guineapig food as rabbit food does not contain the Vit-C that guinea pigs bodies do not produce & there for NEED the vit-c that is in their food.

Along with this they get a large bowl of veg a day, a mixture of veg they can have alsorts like;

Carrot,

DARK green leafy veg including the leafs from cauliflower

Romain lettuce

Tomatoes - any sort

Apple

Pear

Strawberries - especaily the tops.

The odd segment of orange (once in a blue moon per say)

Curly Kale

Flat leaf and curly leaf parsley (One of my boys goes bonkers for the stuff!)

The tops of carrots

Broccoli

Peppers - any colour.. Red, green or yellow!

Cucumber (another thing my boys go mad for!)

Dandilions

Melon

Beetroot - dont be alarmed if it turns your piggy wee red though!

I hope that list gives you a rough idea on what they can eat ^_______^

They also like dried corn on the cob - petshops sell them, not expensive either.

& Remember to have hay available to your piggies 27/4, its good for their digestion & they need it for roughage in their diets.

ok firstly guinea pigs need unlimited hay and until they are a year old unlimited pellets, also fresh water every day and a variety of veggies everyday to.

they also need a large cage/hutch of at least 4ft by 2ft.

as there teeth and nails grow constantly they need hay to wear down teeth and time on concrete or nails cutting but not until they're more than about 6 months old.

they need at least 5 different veggies each day to help with there vitamin c intake (do not give them vitamin tablets or add drops to there water) they can have most veggies avoid potatoes, onions, leeks, rhubarb etc. green beans, celery cut into pieces no bigger than an inch in length. cucumber, lettuce not iceberg, cabbage, spinach baby corna dn sweetcorn, carrots tomatoes are all ok, but feed tomatos and carrots in moderation. fruit can be fed once or twice a week no more they are high in sugar.

mine also like, dill, coriander, parsley and basil. avoid chives.

also you can hand pick grass from outside, dandelions and dandelion leaves to. make sure they are free from dog, cat pee and poop and free from pesticides and fertilisers etc. dont use the bits from lawn mowers as these are not good.

also please do not use balls, wheels or harnesses etc.

enjoy your new pets :)

You're on the right track. Guinea pigs do like variety. Guinea pigs are an animal which cannot produce its own Vitamin C like we can and if not given enough Vitamin C in their diet, it can lead to Scurvy and numerous other skin conditions. A guinea pig should consume at least 10-30mg of Vitamin C daily. You can do this by giving your pig high Vitamin C vegetables like Capsicum, Kiwi Fruit, Parsley and Cauliflower.

Guinea pigs need forage food to help keep their teeth from growing too big. Forage foods include Hay, Chaff and Pellets. Hay not only grinds your Pig's teeth down to size, but the long hay strands help their digestive system keep moving. However, I do not supply Hay for my pigs because I replace it with Chaff (chopped up hay). It has the same positive effects as Hay and it isn't as hard for the pigs to eat.

Be careful not to feed your Guinea pig too much Calcium as a build up of too much Calcium can lead to bladder stones which are dangerous and deadly to Guinea pigs. Unfortunately I lost one because of this.

My guinea pigs are given chaff during the day and a plate of Cucumber, Kiwi Fruit, Carrot, Celery and Capsicum and have never given me any problems since I began doing this (except they won't shut up and stop running around in their cage until they get their veggies)! You can occasionally change the vegetables as long as they still consume enough Vitamin C.

Hope this helps x

My guinea pigs used to go absolutely mad for curly kale. They loved it - It's like crack for guinea pigs!

We used to feed them twice a day - fresh veg in the morning (varied, usually some leafy veg like Kale, carrots etc. Then hay in the evening.

i feed my guinea pigs twice a day in the moring i go and give them guinea pig food and loads of vegs and fruit, carrots, cucumber,spinage,cabbage,lettuce,broclie,apple but i give them half of some in moring and some in the evening and more food.

hi,

im in the UK and used to breed Guinea pigs for yrs ad show them and their diet is very important, as they cannot produce vit C for them self's like humans. as a rule they will not eat anything that is poisonous i used to have over 200!!

I would recommend feeding the a cereal mix for GUINEA pigs and NOT rabbits, the piggy food is enrich in Vit C and has lower levels of certain cereals (like oats) which can speed up there metabolism like in race horses and cause problems. they do love variety and i used to get all the green and fruit waste from the local greengrocers as they have to pay to sling it and it helps them and your pigs to .they love all root veg and leafy crop (cabbage, lettuce, etc) Don't give them potatoes, rhubarb, beetroot leaves( beet is fine leaves have a toxic chemical that they cannot process) or onions and be careful with citrus fruits. I found as did many others that if citrus was feed then this can burn the mouth leaving it dry and wart looking, caused by using a water bottler and not a bowl ( the bowl old fashioned now washed the lips with each drink but the bottle bypasses this) they also love hay and this need to be included for fibre to aid digestion and also to help keep teeth in order as the continually grow including the back molar you can't see!)

fresh grass weed like dandelions, sow thistles anything that's NOT in the Horse tail, fern (as these contain cyanide in the sap)Groundsul and columbine families these are all deadly to most animals including us and piggies! they love a varied diet and have likes and dislike like us, try what works for you and your Piggies ( there scientific name is: Cavia porcellus).

(P.S. if you ae in the uk and brought them from Pets at Home chain then the pellets they recommend are poor for the pigs health, basic grass pellets that have chemical version of trace elements added to this. pretty boring. try a cereal mix like gerty guinea pig with loads of variety of flaked pes, maize and locust beans they will love it. if from Pet at Home look out for very squeaky pigs this is often a sign of scurvy of the skeleton and pigs get it in the muscle to all cause by poor diet and lack of Vit C, also lack of Vit C can cause there skin to become red dry flake in crack and be very painful)

hope this helps and have fun

there is no such thing as a healthy diet without fruits and vegetables...

food for pet shop or carrots lettuce and if you go in the garden and find dock leafs they love them