Feeding: –
Guinea pigs eat little and often.
- Hay is most important and must be fresh and available at all times.
- Fresh water available at all times, remember to clean out water containers daily.
- Vitamin C must be provided daily, in the form of fresh (not frozen) greens, vegetables, and fruit or freshly picked (not mown) grass. Buy or borrow a book from the library and find out which plants are safe for your guinea pig to eat.
- Feed small quantities of guinea pig mix twice daily (e.g. GUINEA PIG NUGGET) throw away stale food. Introduce new foods gradually and feed greens, veg, fruit, in moderation. Never feed wet or wilted greens.
Edible wild plants.
- Clover
- Colts foot
- Comfrey
- Cow parsley (before flowers appear)
- Dandelion (acts as a laxative – so not too many)
- Hawkweed
- Mallow
- Nipplewort
- Plantain
- Sow (milk) thistle
- Shepherds purse
- Vetch
- Yarrow – in small quantities
- Parsley – highly nutritious & rich in vitamin C good for run down guinea pigs.
Edible cultivated vegetables.
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
- Broccoli
- Sprout tops & stalks (not the sprout)
- Chicory
- Sweet corn (silks & leaves too)
- Runner beans – the whole bean but not the plant.
- Pea pods
- Carrots
- Beetroot raw (not the skin)
- Swede
- Turnips & parsnips
- Cucumber
- Celery
- Red & green peppers
- Tomatoes
- Fruit – feed in moderation.
- Apples
- Pears
- Melon
- Grapes (seedless or with pips removed)
- Bananas including skin
- Oranges (in segments with skin on)
- Cherries (remove stones first)
Peaches & plums are too acidic & could cause mouth scabs.
Too much fruit of any kind can cause scabbing.
A guide to some poisonous wild or garden plants
THIS BIT NEEDS SORTING INTO WILD FLOWERS HUMAN FOOD SECTIONS
- Tuty False acacia
- Anemone Hyacinth
- Arum Larkspur or delphinium
- Bindweed convolvulus Love in a mist
- Bluebell Potato tops
- Celandine Rhubarb leaves
- Corn cockle Snowdrop
- Daisy Scarlets runner
- Docks Bracken
- Dog mercury Buttercup
- Figwort Bryony
- Flags and irises Charlock
- Fool’s parsley Deadly nightshade
- Henbane Hemlock
- Oak Lilly of the valley
- Poppy Privet
- Spurge Scarlet pimpernel
- Travellers joy (old man’s beard) Ragwort
- Acacia Toadflax
- Aconite Elder woody night shade
- Beech Lobelia
- Box Rhododendron
- Hellebore (Christmas rose) Fox glove
- Gypsophila Ivy
- Lupin Yew
- Laburnum Purple milk vetch
- Avocado Yellow star thistle
- Caster oil plant Horsetail
- Buck thorn St Johns wort
- Oleander Nealo
- Plants that grow from bulbs e.g. Daffodils, Tulips, Iris’
Most household plants are also poisonous!
If your guinea pig becomes ill and you suspect he has been eating
Wild plants, take him to the vets immediately
