Vegetables

Care Information
Choosing a pig
Food and Hay
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Vegetables
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SECTION 4
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Title 3
Title 4
Title 5
Title 6

As guinea pigs cannot manufacturer their own Vitamin C it is vital that you provide them with 10-30mg/kg a day. To help reach this target you need to feed at least one cup of fresh vegetables day. Fruits are high in sugar so they should only be fed once or twice a week. Different types of vegetables that you can feed and how often are shown below:
Daily:

• Lettuce- Romaine, Green leaf, Red leaf, Round, Curly, Chinese, Endive and Radicchio are all examples of lettuces that you can feed. (NEVER feed iceberg lettuce, it has high water content and can cause diarrhoea if given in large quantities.)
• Carrots- Carrots are high in sugar and Vitamin A; therefore you should feed only two baby carrots per pig.
• Tomato- About two baby tomatoes per pig. Never give the leaves or stalk!
• Bell pepper- Bell peppers are high in vitamin C and each pig should get about ¼ of one a day. All colours are fine; favourites tend to be red and orange.
• Cilantro/Coriander- This is a herb and is the best one to feed daily.
• Chard, Red or Swiss is most commonly preferred
• Zucchini/Courgette- These are not favoured by many pigs but are a good daily vegetable.

Every other day foods:

• Parsley- Parsley is very high in Calcium and can cause bladder stones if given in excess.
• Celery- You can feed both the stalks and leaves. Make sure to cut up the celery into small pieces to avoid choking.
• Cucumber- Very high in water provides no nutritional value.
• Dandelion greens
• Summer and Winter squash (all varieties)
• Chicory Greens

Limit to once or twice a week:

• All fruits.
• Other herbs such as Dill, Thyme, Rosemary etc.
• Sweetcorn on the cob
• Turnips
• Collard Greens/Turnip Greens/Mustard Greens
• Spinach

It is advised to avoid vegetables such as:

• Cabbage
• Brussels sprouts
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Pear
• Banana
• Radishes

These should only be fed as a treat; many can cause serious bloat if fed in excess. Bloat can kill! Also avoid Potatos, meat products and diary products.

The most important thing to remember is VARIETY

There are some things sold by petshops that they state "helps promote good health" these include:

• Vitamin C water drops
• Mineral licks
• Salt licks
• Treats
• Multivitamins

All of these should be avoided. Vitamin C degrades in the water very quickly and the taste can make you pig stop drinking. Mineral and salt licks are not necessary and they can be dangerous if used in excess. Treats contain sugars and fats that are very bad for guinea pigs. Multivitamins can be lethal to guinea pigs, you risk overdosing them on the other vitamins!

Cavy spirit, a great site

www.cavyspirit.com

Guinea Lynx, a medical site

www.guinealynx.com

Petshub, a great forum

www.petshub.com
 

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