can guinea pigs eat tomatoes

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Tomatoes?

Tomatoes are a fruit of the tomato plant. They are completely edible and one of the most popular salad fruits in the world today.

They originated in the South American Andes and have since spread throughout the world and are grown in various forms and types.

Tomatoes are an extremely versatile food used in a variety of different culinary situations and come in all kinds of different colors, shapes, and sizes, renown for their taste and flavor.

Can guinea pigs eat tomatoes?

Let’s take a look here and find out more.

In particular, their acidic content, phosphorus, sugar, and fat content is of most particular interest to piggies.

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 74 kJ (18 kcal)
Carbohydrates 3.9 g
Sugars 2.6 g
Dietary fiber 1.2 g
Fat 0.2 g
Protein
0.9 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equiv.
beta-carotene
lutein zeaxanthin (5%) 42 μg
(4%) 449 μg
123 μg
Thiamine (B1) (3%) 0.037 mg
Niacin (B3) (4%) 0.594 mg
Vitamin B6 (6%) 0.08 mg
Vitamin C (17%) 14 mg
Vit E (4%) 0.54 mg
Vitamin K (8%) 7.9 μg
Trace metals
Magnesium (3%) 11 mg
Manganese (5%) 0.114 mg
Phosphorus (3%) 24 mg
Potassium (5%) 237 mg
Other constituents
Water 94.5 g
Lycopene 2573 µg

Source Wikipedia

As you can see tomatoes contain a hint of sugar, phosphorus, and fat and they contain quite a bit of phosphorus and acidic content.

They also have a very good amount of vitamin c in them which is great for piggies.

This means that guinea pigs can eat tomatoes.

Two to four times a week should suffice for them as tomatoes contain just a little too much acid to be eaten every day.

They can eat the skin and the seeds as well which are fine for them to consume.

Make sure that the tomato is washed thoroughly and cut up for them to eat. A few slices at a time is more than sufficient for them.

This is good news for guinea pigs and provides a welcome addition to their diet of regular hay, guinea pig mix and veggies. The vitamin c content is very good for them.

So having looked at the tomato, what about the plant that it grows on?

Can guinea pigs eat tomato plants and leaves?

As herbivores, guinea pigs are great fans of plants and grasses so this is a good question to ask.

However, unfortunately, guinea pigs cannot eat tomato plants, stalks, vines or leaves.

They are completely poisonous to piggies and will harm them if they are eaten.

Keep them well away from them.

So having looked at the plant and leaves, what about other types of tomato?

Can guinea pigs eat green tomatoes?

Green tomatoes are not good for guinea pigs in their unripened state.

They are likely to make piggies unwell as they are not yet fully mature and so are worth avoiding as a food for them.

Wait until they have matured into a nice red color before feeding them to a piggie.

What about plum tomatoes?

Plum tomatoes are also called paste tomatoes or processing tomatoes.

They are a type of tomato used as a tomatobred for sauce and packing purposes.

They are usually oval or cylindrical in shape and have much fewer seed compartments that the regular spherical tomato.

They also have higher solid content which is why they tend to be used more for processing.(source)

Guinea pigs can eat raw plum tomatoes.

They are actually better for them than standard round tomatoes as they contain fewer seeds and are more solid.

They are probably better than most tomatoes for guinea pigs and the most recommended of all the options.

Just a few raw plum tomatoes will suffice for them though as too many may hurt them and make them unwell.

Can guinea pigs eat canned plum tomatoes?

Canned Plum tomatoes are processed tomatoes which have been pre-cooked before being canned in preservatives.

Processed foods are unfortunately not good for guinea pigs as they lose a lot of their nutrients that they would usually have in their raw state.

They can have a nibble of them without a problem though but nothing more than that.

Can guinea pigs eat cherry tomatoes?

Cherry tomatoes are tomatoes which believed to be an intermediate genetic admixture between wild currant-type tomatoes and domesticated garden tomatoes.

They range in size from a thumb tip to the size of a golf ball.

They also differ in shape from spherical to oblong.

Cherry tomatoes are much like regular tomatoes in their taste and nutritional content. (source)

This means they are fine for guinea pigs to eat.

Just chop them up into small pieces for your piggies so they can eat them easily.

Again, just one or two at a time will suffice for piggies to eat.

Can guinea pigs eat pear tomatoes?

Also called corn seed they are the common name for one in a group of indeterminate heirloom tomatoes.

They come in red, orange and yellow colors.

Pear tomatoes are a rarer variety of tomato but still enjoyed by many people around the world. (source)

They can be eaten by guinea pigs without an issue.

Just make sure that they don’t eat too much of them due to their acidity.

Can guinea pigs eat yellow tomatoes?

Yellow tomatoes are golden yellow slicer tomatoes and are known for their meaty texture.

Their large size means they are good for slicing.

Good yellow varieties include lemon boy, Earl of Edgecombe, dixie golden giant and Dr Wyches yellow tomato.

They are characterized by their thick skin and succulent meaty and weighty flesh.

Yellow tomatoes tend to have a naturally high water content.

They are sweeter and have an older taste being less acidic than red tomatoes due to the different pigments in various colored tomato varieties produce different balances of sugars and acids. (source)

This means that guinea pigs can eat them but they aren’t as good for them as raw plum tomatoes or regular red round tomatoes due to their higher water content.

Just a few small pieces at a time are sufficient for them.

Can guinea pigs eat blue tomatoes?

Blue tomatoes are sometimes referred to as purple tomatoes.

They are tomatoes that have been bred to produce high levels of anthocyanins, a class of pigments responsible for the blue and purple colors of many fruits, including blueberries, blackberries, and choke berries.

Some of these tomatoes have been commercialized under the names “Indigo Rose” and “SunBlack”. (source)

They are not as good for guinea pigs are regular red round tomatoes due to their increased acidity.

Can guinea pigs eat black tomatoes?

There are some types of tomatoes which have a very dark color.

These varieties such as Black Krim and Cherokee purple are not well renown but are very choice varieties of tomato.

The colors come from an altogether different process, whereby the chlorophyll is not efficiently degraded resulting in the accumulation of the pigment pheophytin in the fruit.

This pigment combined with other carotenoids in the fruit, including beta-Carotene and lycopene, produces a brown or black color.

Guinea pigs can eat them in small amounts.

A few small pieces at a time, but not too much due to their high acidity.

Other foods have tomato or tomato flavoring

What about the other types of tomato foods, such as tomato soup? These are covered off just in case anyone asks.

Guinea pigs will struggle to eat tomato soup.

The only liquid they should eat or drink is water, plus tomato soup tends to be made from processed foods and with artificial flavors which are not good for guinea pigs.

So do avoid feeding a guinea pig any kind of soup.

What about tomato puree?

They cant eat tomato puree, unfortunately.

It’s too full of artificial flavors and preservatives and the texture is difficult for them to eat.

In summary

Raw tomatoes are fine for Guinea pigs to eat but only in small amounts chopped up into small pieces. Give to them a few times a week at the most and don’t feed them too much due to their acidic content.

Small raw plum tomatoes are the best type of tomato are the best for them.

As far as other foods with tomato in them or tomato flavoring, avoid feeding guinea pigs anything that has preservatives or additives as processed foods are not good for them.

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

One thought on “Can Guinea Pigs Eat Tomatoes?

  1. My pig ate a leaf from a tomato plant almost 3 wks ago, could it still kill him. As he was eating I googled if it was safe only to read it’s poisonous .

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