can guinea pigs eat butterhead lettuce

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Butterhead Lettuce?

Also known as Boston lettuce, butterhead lettuce is known for its large, ruffle outer leaves and it’s blanched head.

It is tended to be grown a lot throughout Europe but is eaten around the world.

So can guinea pigs eat butterhead lettuce, and if they can how much of it can they eat?

Lets take a look at its nutritional data and find out more.

In particular, its calcium, fat, sugar, phosphourus, and acidic content is of interest as far as guinea pigs are concerned.

image source flickr

Lettuce (butterhead)
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 55 kJ (13 kcal)
Carbohydrates 2.23 g
– Sugars 0.94
– Dietary fibre 1.1 g
Fat 0.22 g
Protein 1.35 g
Water 95.63 g
Vitamin A equiv. 166 μg (21%)
– beta-carotene 1987 μg (18%)
– lutein and zeaxanthin 1223 μg
Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.057 mg (5%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.062 mg (5%)
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.15 mg (3%)
Vitamin B6 0.082 mg (6%)
Folate (vit. B9) 73 μg (18%)
Vitamin C 3.7 mg (4%)
Vitamin E 0.18 mg (1%)
Vitamin K 102.3 μg (97%)
Calcium 35 mg (4%)
Iron 1.24 mg (10%)
Magnesium 13 mg (4%)
Manganese 0.179 mg (9%)
Phosphorus 33 mg (5%)
Potassium 238 mg (5%)
Sodium 5 mg (0%)
Zinc 0.2 mg (2%)

source wikpedia

As you can see butterhead lettuce contains a little phosphorus and calcium, and a a little acidic, it contains a hint of fat and some sugar.

It’s vitamin c content is also not that high.

With that in mind, guinea pigs can eat butterhead lettuce but only one to two times a week due to its phosphorus and calcium content. It doesn’t offer that great a nutritinal benefit to gujnea pugs and there are definitely better veggies for them to eat.

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