Guinea pigs are herbivores and do they will eat any kind of plant material. They are anatomically and physiologically adapted to doing so and need this type of food in their diets at all times.
Because of the way their teeth are they constantly need foliage to tiring their teeth on as is typical of a herbivorous animal. They love chewing and grinding hay, grass, tree bark, branches. Basically anything like that that is tough to break down. Their teeth grow constantly and this teeth grinding action helps to grind down their teeth.
This is why although guinea pigs should have hay as their first choice, grass is is very good for them. Not only does it help with the teeth grinding, it also contains many great nutrients that are of great benefit to them.
Grass contains high amounts of vitamins a, c and d as well as being high in fibre which is great for them and is best given to piggies when it is hand picked, fresh and dry.
But there are some things you need to be aware of before you feed your guinea pig grass
1. Know where you are getting it from?
Do you know what has gone on that grass before you picked it? Often grass picked from public places has had all matter of feet on it, animals doing their stuff on it, litter dropped on it. So be we are that the grass that you pick from an area may not be as pure as you think it is. If you are fortunate to have a lawn at your home, then that’s the best thing for your guinea pigs. Of course it’s your prerogative, but just take care when picking grass from public areas.
2. Beware of chemicals
However with having your lawn comes the whole thing of lawn mower oil or petrol dropping on your lawn if you have a petrol mower. Such chemicals are not good for your piggies at all so do be aware of this before you pick grass from your yard.
3. Also be aware of grass picked from the roadside which has been infected with exhaust fumes.
Grass from verges beside roads will have exhaust fumes in it which will also not be good for piggies at all.
4. Lawnmower clippings.
The RSPCA say not to feed your guinea pigs lawnmower clippings as they are likely to make your guinea pigs ill. The fermentation process that the clippings go through changes the nutrients in the grass and can cause bloat for guinea pigs.
5. Beware of barley grass
Has a lot of calcium in it, as well as a lot of vitamin c. So not too much of it.
6. It should be free of any kind of mould.
Mould can be extremely bad for guinea pigs if digested and if grass that is mouldy is given to them then it can cause all kinds of problems. If you are going to pick grass and then store it, it is best not to store damp grass or indeed keep it for too long as it can get mouldy if this is the case.
