Broccoli is a brassica and is a vegetable that has tight clusters of green buds with tick and edible stems.
Image wikipedia
So can guinea pigs eat broccoli?
We take a look and check its nutritional data and find out more.
In particular, its acidic, water, sugar, salt, fat, calcium and phosphorus content is of most interest as far as guinea pigs are concerned.
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 141 kJ (34 kcal)
Carbohydrates
6.64 g
Sugars 1.7 g
Dietary fiber 2.6 g
Fat
0.37 g
Protein
2.82 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equiv.
beta-carotene
lutein zeaxanthin
(4%) 31 μg
(3%) 361 μg
1403 μg
Thiamine (B1) (6%) 0.071 mg
Riboflavin (B2) (10%) 0.117 mg
Niacin (B3) (4%) 0.639 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5) (11%) 0.573 mg
Vitamin B6 (13%) 0.175 mg
Folate (B9) (16%) 63 μg
Vitamin C (107%) 89.2 mg
Vit E (5%) 0.78 mg
Vitamin K (97%) 101.6 μg
Minerals
Calcium (5%) 47 mg
Iron (6%) 0.73 mg
Magnesium (6%) 21 mg
Manganese (10%) 0.21 mg
Phosphorus (9%) 66 mg
Potassium (7%) 316 mg
Sodium (2%) 33 mg
Zinc (4%) 0.41 mg
Other constituents
Water 89.3 g
source wikipedia
As you can see, broccoli contains a huge amount of water, a hint of salt, quite a bit of phosphorus and calcium, a lot of acidic content and a hint of sugar.
This means that guinea pigs can eat broccoli is very small amounts.
Because of the amount of water broccoli contains, it is not good for guinea pigs to eat.
Why is eating broccoli harmful for a guinea pig?
Eating foods that contain a lot of water causes them to get bloat which in turn can cause a lot of pain.
So do take care with how much you feed to them.
A portion of a flouret which has been cut up for them, is sufficient for them to eat. But nothing more than that is recommended.
Make sure it has been washed thoroughly through so that any harmful bacteria has been washed from it.
What about cooked broccoli?
They can’t eat any kind of cooked food, so cooked broccoli is not good for them and should be avoided.
