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guinea pig breeds

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Human Vitamin C Tablets?

How to care for your guinea pig, , ,

We know that guinea pigs need vitamin c supplements because they cannot make their own.

They are much like us and require help with getting their body the vitamin c it needs to be healthy.

As humans, we will eat foods that have vitamin c in them to help us with this but we will also have vitamin c tablets to also help us with this.

image wikpedia

So if we have vitamin c tablets spare that we take ourselves, then can guinea pigs eat human vitamin c tablets?

Can guinea pigs eat human vitamin c tablets?

No guinea pigs can’t eat human vitamin c tablets. They are made specifically for humans and are not for guinea pigs to eat.

There are specific guinea pig vitamin c pellets that are made with a guinea pig in mind.

They are good for guinea pigs to take and will build them up, just like human vitamin c tablets build up humans.

So stick to giving them guinea pig vitamin c tablets and steer clear of giving them human vitamin c tablets.

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

can guinea pigs eat purslane

Can Guinea Pigs eat Purslane?

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Also known as verdolaga, pigweed, little hogweed, or pursley, and moss rose, purslane is a plant reach have smooth, reddish, mostly prostrate stems and alternate leaves clustered at stem joints and ends. It can also reach 40 cm in height.

Can Guinea Pigs eat Purslane?

Can guinea pigs eat purslane, if they can how much can they eat?

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

In particular, its acidic, water, sugar, fat, salt, calcium and phosphorus content is of most interest as far as piggies are concerned.

image wikipedia

Purslane, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 84 kJ (20 kcal)
Carbohydrates 3.39 g
Fat 0.36 g
Protein 2.03 g
Water 92.86 g
Vitamin A 1320 IU
Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.047 mg (4%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.112 mg (9%)
Niacin (vit. B3) 0.48 mg (3%)
Vitamin B6 0.073 mg (6%)
Folate (vit. B9) 12 μg (3%)
Vitamin C 21 mg (25%)
Vitamin E 12.2 mg (81%)
Calcium 65 mg (7%)
Iron 1.99 mg (15%)
Magnesium 68 mg (19%)
Manganese 0.303 mg (14%)
Phosphorus 44 mg (6%)
Potassium 494 mg (11%)
Zinc 0.17 mg (2%)

source wikipedia

As you can see purslane contains a little calcium, phosphorus, a is a little acidic, it also contains a hint of fat.

The vitamin c content is also very good.

With this in mind guinea pigs can eat common purslane but only once or twice a week due to its phosphorus, calcium and acidic content.

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

Can guinea pigs eat too much vitamin c ?

How to care for your guinea pig

So if you know Guinea pigs you know that they need vitamin c in order to supplement for what their bodies don’t produce. Its one of their many quirks, but one that if it isn’t addressed by their owners, they will have a pretty short life.

One of the things that guinea pigs do is that they eat and eat and eat lots and so often what owners do is to feed them many foods with high amounts of vitamin c in them.

But what happens if they eat too much vitamin c, will that do them harm at all? Its a valid concern as often too much of some nutrients, can cause an animal damage.

Well it’s good to be concerned, but just like us, their bodies have ways of not using what vitamin c they don’t need. So if they do eat more vitamin c than what they need then it will just excrete it out.

That way, their body says ‘thank you very much for giving me what I don’t have, but I don’t need the rest’ and gets rid of it.

This saves us having to worry about feeding them too much. In fact if in doubt, feed them too much and they’ll get rid of what they don’t need.

So don’t worry about feeding them too much vitamin c, in this case ‘they can’t have too much of a good thing’.

can guinea pigs eat lychees?

Can Guinea Pigs eat Lychees?

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So, ‘can guinea pigs eat Lychees?’

As a fruit, they are a bit of rarity.

We sometimes have them and eat them with  fruit cocktails and on meragnes and other deserts.

So if we did have some around, can guinea pigs eat lychees and would they be okay for them?

What are lychees?

can guinea pigs eat lychees?Lychees are cultivated in china and a lot of the far east and India.

They are grown on trees and have been grown since 2000bc.

They are commonly sold fresh in Asian markets and in supermarkets worldwide. They are also eaten dried or in processed cans.

Can guinea pigs eat Lychees?

Lychees are a fruit that they may enjoy. However they are very high in sugar containing 15g per 100g (according to google) which means quite a bit of their content is made up of sugar.

So if you are tempted to give your guinea pig lychees, then don’t give them a lot.

Maybe one of two slices a week at the maximum to save troubling their tummies and to stop them putting on weight.

They do  however have a large amount of vitamin c, approximately 72mg per 100g (according to Wikipedia), and an average nine lychee fruits would satisfy a human adult’s daily vitamin c requirement.

So they would do your guinea pig good in that respect.

Lychees are a guinea pig treat

Have lychees available as a treat if you want to give them to your piggies.

They shouldn’t replace the staple diet of a guinea pig which is timothy hay, vitamin c pellets and fresh water but they should provide a nice tasty extra for your cavy and give them some variety to their diet.

How did my guinea pig take to it?

I decided to give some to ‘rocket’ to see if he would take to them. He wasn’t overly keen on them I have to say. He did nibble on them but left most of them, so I wont be giving them to him in the future.

In summary – ‘can guinea pigs eat lychees?’

There is nothing wrong with giving your guinea pig lychees just don’t give them a lot and not often.

They should be a treat most of all, your guinea pig may love you for introducing them to their diet. (cavy savvy tried them out at her blog and they loved them)

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can guinea pigs eat cherries?

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Cherries?

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Cherries are a fruit that we sometimes have in the house mostly to put on deserts and is enjoyed by my kids as well.  

They are not so frequent that we have them all time but occasionally we will treat ourselves.

So if we have them in the house, can guinea pigs eat cherries?

Can guinea pigs eat cherries?

can guinea pigs eat cherries?It is fine to give guinea pigs cherries.

They have plenty of vitamin C so that is a ticked box straight away as it would give the guinea pig a much needed vitamin c supplement.

However there are some considerations to guinea pigs eating cherries which I have noted below.

image: wikipedia

4 considerations to take into account before guinea pigs eat cherries

1. They are high in sugar

2. Cherries can also cause guinea pigs digestion issues if they eat too many.

3. Because they are high in sugar, they can cause the guinea pig to put on weight if too many are had.

4. They need to be cut up and the stem and stone need to be removed before serving them to the guinea pig.

So in summary…

They should be a fruit that is fed to them sparingly, at a maximum of a few times a week with a portion of one or two at a time.

Too many and you will have one sick guinea!

How did my guinea pig get on with them?

So….. I decided to go ahead and give my guinea pig ‘Rocket’ some to see if he would take them.

If we do have them around we don’t want to leave him out if they are okay for him to eat and if he likes them.

As with most fruits I have given him, he did take a look at them but decided not to eat them.

However, it may be different for your guinea pig.

Each guinea pig has differing tastes just like humans, and so their taste for different foods differ to other guinea pig’s.

Verdict – ‘can guinea pigs eat cherries?’

It is perfectly fine for your guinea pig to eat cherries, but only in small portions.

Make sure that you don’t give more than two at a time and more than twice a week.

They are a treat more than a staple meal and you should keep giving your guinea pig Timothy hay, fresh water and vitamin pellets as their main staple diet as well as fresh vegetables.

How have you found your piggies with cherries? Let me know in the comments