Tag Archives: Dates

What Fruits Can Guinea Pigs Not Eat

What Fruits Can Guinea Pigs Not Eat?

We’ve seen that fruits are great additions to a guinea pig’s diet. The vitamin c content that most fruits have to bring a much-needed supplement to their nutritional intake.

However, there are some fruits that they can’t eat as often as others.

What Fruits Can Guinea Pigs Not Eat?

Here is a list of those that they shouldn’t eat. Well, not regularly anyway. If they have a nibble at them, they won’t hurt them but nothing more than once or twice a month at the most, if that.

The thing is that some of them actually have a very good amount of vitamin c, but their other content is just not good for them.

So here you go;

Currants – The fresh fruit of currants are very small and sweet, with quite an intense flavor. However, they contain too much acid, calcium and sugar for guinea pigs.

Coconuts – The various parts of the coconut have a number of culinary uses and make a great snack, however, they have too much acidic, sugar and phosphorus content for piggies

Damsons – They are most often used for cooking, and are commercially grown for preparation in jam and other fruit preserves. It as too much water content for guinea pigs though.

Dates –  Dry or soft dates are eaten out-of-hand or may be pitted and stuffed with fillings. However, they are just too sweet for piggies.

Grapefruit – Grapefruit are a popular citrus fruit that are often eaten for breakfast or snacks. They are also used in for the flavorings. However, they are very high in sugar for guinea pigs to eat.

Jackfruit – Jackfruit is commonly used in South and Southeast Asian cuisines, however, it has too much sugar for piggies.

Kumquats – They resemble the orange, but it is much smaller, being approximately the size and shape of a large olive. Kumquat is a fairly cold-hardy citrus. They are too acidic and sugary for guinea pigs.

Lemons – This yellow fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world, primarily for its juice, which has both culinary and cleaning uses. It is too sweet and acidic though for piggies.

Olives – It is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil; it is one of the core ingredients in Mediterranean cuisine.  It is too high in fat and salt for guinea pigs.

Passionfruit – Passion fruits are round or oval. They can be yellow, red, purple, and green. They are very acidic and sweet for piggies though.

Prunes – A prune is a dried plum of any cultivar. They are too much acid and phosphorus for guinea pigs, however.

 

For more foods that guinea pigs can and can’t eat, check out our guinea pig food list.

Can guinea pigs eat dates

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Dates?

Dates are a very sweet, rich flavoured fruit which has a chewy and lush texture.

The are one of the oldest cultivated fruits and we’re originally grown in Israel and North Africa.

Image http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dattes_deglet.JPG

They range in colour from red to brown to yellow and the sweetest variety if the brown coloured variety.

So can guinea pigs eat dates, and if they can, how much of them can they eat?

Let’s get under the skin of them and take a look at their nutritional data a it more closely. In particular, the sugar, phosphorus, acidic, ft and calcium content is that which is most pertinent to guinea pigs.

Energy 1,178 kJ (282 kcal)
Carbohydrates 75.03 g
– Sugars 63.35 g
– Dietary fiber 8 g
Fat 0.39 g
Protein 2.45 g
Water 20.53 g
Vitamin A 10 IU
– beta-carotene 6 μg (0%)
– lutein and zeaxanthin 75 μg
Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.052 mg (5%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.066 mg (6%)
Niacin (vit. B3) 1.274 mg (8%)
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.589 mg (12%)
Vitamin B6 0.165 mg (13%)
Folate (vit. B9) 19 μg (5%)
Vitamin C 0.4 mg (0%)
Vitamin E 0.05 mg (0%)
Vitamin K 2.7 μg (3%)
Calcium 39 mg (4%)
Iron 1.02 mg (8%)
Magnesium 43 mg (12%)
Manganese 0.262 mg (12%)
Phosphorus 62 mg (9%)
Potassium 656 mg (14%)
Sodium 2 mg (0%)
Zinc 0.29 mg

Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_palm

As you can see dates contain a hint of fat, a bit of phosphorus, calcium, and are a little acidic. But they are very sweet which is a problem for guinea pigs.

Dates are not the greatest food for guinea pigs and be wary of feeding them to your piggies as they contain no vitamin c and their sugar content is not good for them. So if they happen to nibble on one or two they will be finest they shouldn’t be eaten on a regular basis. A few times a months would be fine.