What can you feed your guinea pig?

Guinea pigs are very picky about the quality and quantity of food provided. In addition, many fruits, vegetables and plants are not at all suitable for the full nutrition of this animal. In this article we will talk about what you can and cannot feed your guinea pig, and also consider the features of feeding these pets at home.

A competently composed diet of a guinea pig affects not only its vital activity, but also the general condition, mood, activity of your pet. Food should be not only nutritious, full of trace elements and vitamins, but also balanced.

Below you can find a list of recommendations for compiling a diet for your guinea pig.

• The main rule is systematic and timely. Set aside a specific time during the day that you have the opportunity to feed your pet. This is necessary so that he gets used to the time frame and knows exactly when he will be given food again. The animal's body will eventually adjust to such a schedule, and the pet will learn to use food rationally.
• Guinea pigs are among those pets that are unable to estimate the amount of processed food. In other words, they do not know a sense of proportion. That is why one of the basic rules of feeding is to control the amount of food. It is worth giving a strictly defined dose of food per day and no more, even if the animal makes it clear with all its might that it wants more. Overfed individuals are often obese, which can lead to cardiovascular problems.
• Another important rule in feeding your guinea pig is that food should be varied and change from time to time... This applies to both fruits, vegetables and feed varieties. However, this does not mean that you should immediately replace some food with another. New food should be introduced gradually, with consistent addition to the main diet. If the old food has run out completely, simply feed the animal with the new food along with the fruits that the pet has already eaten before.
• When buying new types of fruit for an animal, carefully monitor the condition of the pet after feeding. If the mumps has vomiting or diarrhea, constipation, this product is definitely not worth adding.
• No need to go overboard with the number of goodies on the menu, otherwise the animal can get used to them and refuse other food. Moreover, many of the treats are not allowed more than once a week.
• No spoiled, stale or moldy food (even if cut off at the place of decay) - only fresh, healthy and high-quality food from trusted suppliers.
• The pet must always have access to a water source. It must be clean and free of food, hay or animal excrement. To achieve this, you should buy special drinkers for the cage, which the animal cannot just contaminate. The water is changed regularly, every day before food is served. During the warm period (spring, summer), the animal will consume much more water than in winter. In winter, the pig gets the necessary part of the moisture from fruits, vegetables and herbs.
• Always watch out for the one keep food troughs or containers clean and washed. Place food only in washed and wiped containers, otherwise the animal may accidentally eat spoiled food.
• Before adding a new fruit or vegetable to your diet it is advisable to consult a veterinarian. And it's even better if the veterinarian has already examined your guinea pig before and knows what she can and cannot do.
• Variety is good, but you have to keep in mind the harmony between fruits and vegetables.... Do not add to the diet, for example, bell pepper and banana together, this can cause diarrhea in the animal.
• Avoid feeding your guinea pig any pickled, salted, fried, or boiled foods altogether. The same goes for ordinary human food from the table. All these products contain a huge amount of elements harmful to the body of the guinea pig.
• One of the most important rules sounds like this - not a single day without food.... The digestive system of this animal is designed to constantly process food. If there is no load on the gastrointestinal tract for 18-20 hours, the animal will almost certainly die.

Most of the diseases of the guinea pig are associated with the selection of the correct diet, and here we are talking not only about the right products, but also about the regularity of feeding. Inexperienced breeders often face the problem of obesity in their pet. Sometimes this happens due to the banal overeating and the owner's desire to pamper the guinea pig with various goodies. As a result, the pet will suffer either from obesity and gastrointestinal diseases, or from a rigid diet necessary to restore balance in the digestive system.

If the owner prefers to feed his pet with grain or pellets, then the frequency of such feeding should be reduced to 2 meals a day.

As for the number of grains in one serving, it should be at least ½ tablespoon. Food is placed in the feeder, where it remains until the animal eats it all. You should not immediately remove it, these animals are prone to postponing food for a "rainy day", so they can eat up the leftovers a little later.The advantage of such food is that it does not spoil, and therefore is safer for the guinea pig than juicy and fresh foods.

This feed should also include small slices of fruits and vegetables. If we talk about apples or carrots, then it should be ½ spoonful of grain plus a small circle of carrots (up to 20 grams in weight). You can make a rough schedule: during the day, you feed the animal juicy and fresh food in the form of fruits and vegetables, and in the evening you add grains and cereals to the diet.

Dry feeding is more often used in the nutrition of young, active and not yet matured guinea pigs - it is easier for their body to process cereals and grains, and the digestive system must get used to solid food in advance. If we are talking about sedentary individuals, then it is worth reducing such feeding to a minimum and giving priority to foods with fiber. The same applies to the diet of already adults or older individuals.

For adults, as well as in cold periods, when there is a lack of vitamins and nutrients, it is recommended to include juicy food in the diet. The regularity of food in this case should be at least twice a day, at the same time, the menu should not remain static - try to supplement it with other fruits and vegetables whenever possible.

In terms of the volume of such food, it is better to adhere to the following scheme - the norm for an average individual is 20-30% of the mass of the animal. In this case, if your pig weighs, for example, 800 grams, there should be at least 160-200 grams of fruits and vegetables in the feed.

During pregnancy or lactation, the body of a guinea pig is in an extremely vulnerable position.

This is especially true for lactating females with cubs. Avoid large amounts of dry food during this period. Fresh, green and juicy food is more suitable for them. Feeding parsley, seeds and sage during these periods is best kept to zero.

The fact is that the body of guinea pigs does not contain a special enzyme I-gluconolactone oxidase, which is involved in the synthesis of vitamin C from glucose. It is because of this circumstance that your pet is unable to obtain this incredibly valuable vitamin from regular food. Your task throughout the life of the animal is to regularly provide it with ascorbic acid.

With a lack of vitamin C in the body of an adult, the following pathologies may occur (most often they manifest themselves as symptoms of scurvy):

• inhibition of movements, visual lameness (although the animal did not fall), decrease in activity;
• lack of appetite, external lethargy and indifference to what is happening;
• diarrhea, joint swelling;
• there is blood under the skin and in the secretions;
• bleeding and falling teeth;
• the animal looks tousled, the coat is crumpled, it may even fall out.

In summer, the diet should be replenished with plenty of fresh greens, plants, leaves and stems, not to mention fresh vegetables and fruits. Most of these fruits contain ascorbic acid. As for the cold winter period, it is necessary to gradually add synthetic ascorbic acid to the diet. Pregnant females, elderly individuals and young animals need an increased dose of vitamins, as well as an increased amount of food.

For an adult, you need at least 15 mg of vitamin C per kilogram of weight daily, for pregnant women and young animals, approximately 40-45 mg per kilogram of weight should be given every day.

The largest amount of vitamin C is found in the following vegetables, plants and fruits: tomatoes, broccoli, apples, nettles, burdock, as well as branches of raspberries and currants (always with leaves), dandelion, basil, mint, parsley, cabbage, kiwi. Keep in mind that many of these plants must be given in very limited quantities.

Almost all of the listed vegetables and fruits can be found in the public domain in the summer and autumn, which is why you should give preference to these particular products in the summer, rather than synthetic vitamins.

Be careful when choosing a place to collect all the necessary herbs (in case you do not trust herbs from pet stores). Try to choose areas remote from factories, roads and industrial enterprises to collect them. The greatest danger is in the grass collected in parks and city lawns. Usually, these plants are treated with harmful chemicals from parasites, which, among other things, will negatively affect your pet.

There are only two problems in such capsules:

• you will not recognize their composition in any way due to the fact that the mixture is homogeneous; it is impossible to determine the composition, as well as to reveal the presence of sawdust and dust, which sellers love to add to capsules;
• capsules are intended for long-term use, they can be stored for a long time in one specific place, and ascorbic acid, after 3 months from the date of production, begins to gradually break down and loses its beneficial properties.

When buying ready-made feed mixtures, you should always check the production date. To keep food fresh and not spoiled, it should be stored in a dry, dark place with low humidity. It is under such conditions that ascorbic acid will slow down the decomposition processes.

There are a number of foods that are most beneficial to the health and well-being of your guinea pig. With a balanced and varied diet, your animal will always remain healthy, active and cheerful.

In their natural habitat, guinea pigs are purely herbivorous, and therefore, as already mentioned, the main part of their diet is precisely food of plant origin.

It is a ready-made or self-made prepared mixtures of cereals / legumes, seeds, capsules from plants, as well as dried fruits.

Depending on the quality and cost of feed, it can contain many nutrients, including broccoli, wheat, peas, pellets, millet, oats, and some dried fruits. All these vegetables and plants are incredibly useful, and when dried, they also help the animal in grinding the incisors.

You can buy these foods at pet stores or make your own. In the latter case, you will be confident in the composition of the feed. However, here it is already worth monitoring the balance of such feed and the content in it of the amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates and fiber appropriate for your animal.

It is an indispensable element of the food of any rodent, including the guinea pig. It serves as a rich source of fiber for the animal, which is essential for the healthy functioning of the digestive system. In addition, hay is often used as flooring in pets' dwellings.

Make sure there is always a small amount of hay in the cage. Remove spoiled, rotten or dirty hay immediately, otherwise the animal may simply be poisoned. When buying hay, make sure it is fresh, dry, free of mold and mildew. Moreover, a pleasant herbaceous smell should be present.Also, make sure that the hay does not come across thorns and plant parts that can harm the mouth or intestines of the animal.

Even if you are sure that the grass you have collected (when harvesting hay yourself) is useful and there are no dangerous plants present, you should look at it again at home.

It is recommended to heat purchased hay in the microwave or oven at medium power for no longer than 1-2 minutes, so you exclude the presence of harmful parasites and bacteria in it.

The most beneficial for the guinea pig is hay from legumes, as well as from alfalfa and some grains. This also applies to dried stems of plants such as nettle, plantain, burdock.

This is in the first place grass, some varieties of garden and meadow plants. For the effect on the diet to be more favorable, all food of this type must be exceptionally fresh, without musty, rotten or spoiled foods.

Typically, these plants contain a huge amount of fiber. In the spring-summer period, it is easy to collect burdock, dandelion, nettle, wormwood, clover, and sage outside the house.

This includes some fruits, vegetables, as well as berries, which contain a large amount of ascorbic acid and other nutrients.

This can be attributed as some types of berries, as well as nuts, dried fruits, raspberry and currant branches. They should be included in the diet from time to time, rather than being there all the time. Do not oversaturate the weak body of guinea pigs with a large amount of the same rose hips or viburnum, it will not cause anything but diarrhea.

It is better to give branches of trees and shrubs in the summer, they will be useless for guinea pigs when dry. Refuse to feed the animal with branches of coniferous trees, the same applies to oak branches.

Eating vegetables and plant-based foods is extremely important for guinea pigs. From them, they receive the necessary vitamins, fiber, provide the body with vitamin C - an essential component for the life of a guinea pig.

Of the vegetables in the first place are, of course, fresh cucumbers, carrots and fennel, squash and pumpkin, turnips, celery (tubers) and beets, Chinese cabbage leaves. Almost every one of these vegetables can be fed to your pet every day, but make sure to supplement the diet with new elements. It is forbidden to feed pigs with the same product for a long time.

Guinea pigs are very fond of dill, lettuce, young corn (cobs). Also include greens and tops of carrots, celery and beets.

These products are good for their juiciness, high content of natural fructose. However, you shouldn't give them too often - no more than 3-4 times a week.

The most harmless fruits for pigs will be apples, grapes (necessarily seedless), pears, plums.

Berries are also high in fructose and healthy vitamins. These are currants, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, cherries and cherries (try to get rid of the seeds in advance so that the animal does not accidentally choke).

Nuts and some seeds contain a huge amount of fat, which are beneficial for guinea pigs only in strictly limited quantities - no more than 2 nuts once a week. You can add them crushed to dry food, then the animal is more likely to eat them.

Walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds will be useful for guinea pigs. Be sure to buy nuts specifically for animals. Those sold at kiosks are usually heavily treated with chemicals and are not suitable as food for guinea pigs.

Flaxseeds are best for pigs, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, dill and sesame seeds will be useful in limited quantities.

In terms of nutrition, the fragile body of guinea pigs is a real gourmet, in addition, these animals are exclusively herbivores, therefore, their diet should include predominantly vegetable food.

In limited quantities with medium regularity, it is permissible to give them tomatoes, cauliflower and white cabbage, Jerusalem artichoke, rutabagus, artichoke, bell pepper.

You can not give any kind of potatoes even in minimal quantities. (fresh, sprouted, boiled), onions in any form, radish and radish, horseradish, eggplant, garlic. As you can see, all of these vegetables have high acidity, which the animal's body will not be able to process.

In their natural environment, the progenitors of guinea pigs did not eat fruits, their constitution did not allow this, therefore, the body of the guinea pig is not adapted to them. In limited quantities with average regularity, it is permissible to give pigs bananas, melon, kiwi, pineapple, apricot, peach, including dried fruits.

You can not give even minimal amounts of lemons, avocados, grapefruit, lime, pomegranate, dates, persimmons. The same avocado contains a huge amount of fat, and lemon has too much acidity, even for humans. It is worth noting that some types of fruits are better absorbed in the form of dried fruits.

If we talk about berries in the diet, then they are used either as a delicacy or as a fortified food supplement. In most cases, medicinal berries are added to the diet no more than once a week.

In limited quantities with medium regularity, it is permissible to give gooseberries, blackberries, cranberries, mountain ash, sea buckthorn. A limited amount in this case - no more than 1 berry 1-2 times a week.

Greens should be included in hay for your guinea pig. There are frequent cases when, together with useful and nutritious grass, harmful and even poisonous plants got into the composition of hay. It is worth working out a list of plants that are least beneficial or deadly to a guinea pig.

In limited quantities with average regularity, it is permissible to give her parsley, dandelion, spinach, St. John's wort, willow-herb, cilantro, wormwood, coltsfoot. All these plants contain in the minimum volume the vitamins and microelements necessary for the life of the guinea pig.

Sorrel (due to its high acidity), meadow and onion (including its feathers), motherwort, valerian, lavender, thistle, fern, belladonna, wild rosemary and celandine should not be given even in minimal quantities. If you collect hay yourself, check it not only for the presence of these plants, but also for their possible inflorescences and lost roots. The best option would be to buy ready-made fresh hay from trusted firms or pet stores.

Other harmful and unacceptable products:

• some legumes (beans, boiled peas), most cereals;
• any fermented milk products (milk, cheese, cottage cheese), as well as products containing meat;
• many house plants are deadly for guinea pigs, and therefore try to prevent the animal from accidentally leaving the cage;
• also you can not give eggs in any form;
• products containing sugar, which is harmful to absolutely all animals, including chocolate, sweets, cookies;
• flour and bakery products (bread, rolls, crispbreads).

For information on what you can feed your guinea pig, see the next video.