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can guinea pigs eat millet

Can Guinea Pigs eat Millet?

Millets are major food sources in arid and semiarid regions of the world and feature in the traditional cuisine of many others.

Millet porridge is a traditional food in RussianGerman, and Chinese сuisines.

In Russia, it is eaten sweet (with milk and sugar added at the end of the cooking process) or savory with meat or vegetable stews.

The Chinese eat it without milk or sugar, frequently with beans, sweet potato, and/or various types of squash.

In Germany, it is also eaten sweet, boiled in water with apples added during the boiling process and honey added during the cooling process.

Can Guinea Pigs eat Millet?

Let’s take a look at their nutritional data and find out more.

In particular, its acidic, water, sugar, salt, phosphorus, and calcium data is of most interest as far as guinea pigs are concerned.

Energy 1,582 kJ (378 kcal)
Carbohydrates
72.8 g
Dietary fiber 8.5 g
Fat
4.2 g
Saturated 0.7 g
Monounsaturated 0.8 g
Polyunsaturated
omega‑3
omega‑6
2.1 g
0.1 g
2.0 g
Protein
11.0 g
Vitamins
Thiamine (B1) (37%) 0.42 mg
Riboflavin (B2) (24%) 0.29 mg
Niacin (B3) (31%) 4.72 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5) (17%) 0.85 mg
Vitamin B6 (29%) 0.38 mg
Folate (B9) (21%) 85 μg
Vitamin C (0%) 0 mg
Vitamin K (1%) 0.9 μg
Minerals
Calcium (1%) 8 mg
Iron (23%) 3.0 mg
Magnesium (32%) 114 mg
Manganese (76%) 1.6 mg
Phosphorus (41%) 285 mg
Potassium (4%) 195 mg
Sodium (0%) 5 mg
Zinc (18%) 1.7 mg
Other constituents
Water 8.7 g
Copper 0.8 mg
Selenium 2.7 µg

source wikipedia

As you can see, millet contains quite a bit of water, a hint of sodium, a huge amount of acidic content and phophorus plus a little fat.

This means that millet is not a good food for them to eat.

If they were to eat one or two millet pellets, then they would be fine, but it is not something that should be fed to a guinea pig puposely.

Its acidic and phosphorus content may make a guinea pig unwell if they eat it.

Seeds are not great for guinea pigs

Seeds are never good for guinea pigs to eat due to their high acidic content.

They also usually have a high fat content, but on this occasion millet doesn’t.

So in general, seeds are a food to avoid feeding guinea pigs.

What should they eat instead?

Instead, stick to feeding guinea pigs a good diet of guinea pig mix, a good hay such as meadow or timothy, backed up by regular portions of suitable veggies and fruit.

They will enjoy it a whole lot more.

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