Tag Archives: lemons

can guinea pigs eat citrus fruits

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Citrus Fruits?

Citrus is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae.

Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops like oranges, lemons, grapefruit, pomelo and limes.

Many citrus fruits, such as oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, and clementines, are generally eaten fresh.

They are typically peeled and can be easily split into segments.

Grapefruit is more commonly halved and eaten out of the skin with a spoon.

There are special spoons (grapefruit spoons) with serrated tips designed for this purpose. Orange and grapefruit juices are also very popular breakfast beverages. (source)

Can guinea pigs eat citrus fruits?

No they can’t at all. They are not good for them.

Citrus fruits are far too acidic for guinea pigs and generally should be avoided as a food for them.

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

can guinea pigs eat lemons

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Lemons?

Lemons aren’t my most favourite fruit I have to say, as with limes, it’d rather have them in a drink than have to eat or suck one. But hey, just because i’m not partial to them, doesn’t mean that guinea pigs can’t be partial to them?

image wikipedia

Lets find out.

As per usual we’ll take a look at its nutritional data to find out a little more about it. In particular, the sugar, oxelate acid, fat, phosphorus, and calcium content is what affects piggies most of all.

A healthy dose of vitamin c would also be very beneficial.

Energy 121 kJ (29 kcal)
Carbohydrates 9.32 g
– Sugars 2.5 g
– Dietary fiber 2.8 g
Fat 0.3 g
Protein 1.1 g
Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.04 mg (3%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.02 mg (2%)
Niacin (vit. B3) 0.1 mg (1%)
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.19 mg (4%)
Vitamin B6 0.08 mg (6%)
Folate (vit. B9) 11 μg (3%)
Choline 5.1 mg (1%)
Vitamin C 53 mg (64%)
Calcium 26 mg (3%)
Iron 0.6 mg (5%)
Magnesium 8 mg (2%)
Manganese 0.03 mg (1%)
Phosphorus 16 mg (2%)
Potassium 138 mg (3%)
Zinc 0.06 mg (1%)

source wikipedia

As you can see lemons contain a bit of phosphorus, calcium, and quite a bit of sugar and are quite acidic. However, they also contain an awesome amount of vitamin c which is fantastic.

Because of the above information, guinea pigs can eat lemons but not everyday unfortunately. They should only be fed sporadically, once a month at the most in small amounts so as not to upset their stomach’s.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Lemon Peel?

Yes they can, but just like the lemon itself, just in small amounts on a monthly basis.