Tag Archives: kumquats

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 kumquats

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Kumquats?

Kumquats are fruit that look quite like oranges but are smaller and more oval in shape. They are native to south asia and the asia pacific region and are eaten raw. They have a sweet rind and a sour centre.

Kumquats are usually eaten whole in order to get the contrast in taste of just the rind is eaten.

image flickr darya pino

So if we can eat them, can guinea pigs eat kumquats and if they can how much can they have?

Lets take a look by taking a look at the nutritional data of kumquats in more detail.
As per usual we’re looking closely at its calcium, sugar, oxelate acid, fat, and phosphorus content as far as guinea pigs are concerned.

Energy 296 kJ (71 kcal)
Carbohydrates 15.9 g
– Sugars 9.36 g
– Dietary fiber 6.5 g
Fat 0.86 g
Protein 1.88 g
Vitamin A equiv. 15 μg (2%)
– lutein and zeaxanthin 129 μg
Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.037 mg (3%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.09 mg (8%)
Niacin (vit. B3) 0.429 mg (3%)
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.208 mg (4%)
Vitamin B6 0.036 mg (3%)
Folate (vit. B9) 17 μg (4%)
Choline 8.4 mg (2%)
Vitamin C 43.9 mg (53%)
Vitamin E 0.15 mg (1%)
Calcium 62 mg (6%)
Iron 0.86 mg (7%)
Magnesium 20 mg (6%)
Manganese 0.135 mg (6%)
Phosphorus 19 mg (3%)
Potassium 186 mg (4%)
Sodium 10 mg (1%)
Zinc 0.17 mg (2%)

source wikipedia

So can guinea pigs eat kumquats? Taking a look at its nutritional data, it contains a little phosphorus, the amount of calcium is a concern, and are very sugary. They are also very acidic.

However, they do contain a terrific amount of vitamin c, a whopping 53%!

Because this they only worth feeding to guinea pigs occasionally. Maybe once a month at best and I would only feed one of them to your guinea pigs. However, the vitamin c level makes it worth feeding it to them, if only to add some variety to your guinea pigs diet.