Sitemaps

What do guinea pigs eat2007-11-24 22:16:10

i was just wondering what types of foods do guinea pigs eat, i got a bunch of fruits and vegetables, but do they eat other things other then those. like do they eat flowers, if so which ones? do they eat leaves, if so what kind?

Answers:

Good-quality food and fresh, clean water must be readily available at all times. Commercially available pelleted chows provide all of the essential nutrients, as long as the pellets are fresh and wholesome when offered. Some guinea pig owners are tempted to feed rabbit pellets, assuming that they are roughly equivalent to guinea pig pellets, but this is not so. Unlike most mammals (including rabbits), guinea pigs require a high level of the vitamin, folic acid. Unlike rabbits, guinea pigs cannot manufacture their own vitamin C and must, therefore, receive it from an outside source. Interestingly, people and our primate relatives share this dependence on vitamin C from the food we consume. Pellets milled for guinea pigs take these special requirements into consideration and are appropriately fortified with these 2 nutrients, among many other essential ones.

Guinea pig chows generally contain 18-20% protein, 16% fiber and about 1 gram of vitamin C per kilogram of ration. Even when the fresh pellets are properly stored in a cool, dry place, about half of the vitamin C content is degraded and lost within 6 weeks of manufacture. Therefore, the diet should be supplemented with vitamin C as follows: 200 milligrams of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) should be added to about 1 qt of drinking water, made up fresh every 12 hours, or a single guinea pig should be offered one handful of kale or cabbage or one-quarter of an orange daily.