Tag Archives: tree

can guinea pigs eat dry leaves

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Dry Leaves?

Dry leaves are those types of leaves that have been cut off from their stalks and so have life in them anymore.

They have lost their freshness and their original color.

Dry leaves may gain a different texture compared to their previous state.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Dry Leaves?

Yes they can nibble them, but its doubtful they would really want to.

My guinea pigs never go for dry leaves and much prefer the freshness of those that have just fallen or been picked from a tree.

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

can guinea pigs eat fir trees

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Fir Trees?

Firs are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae.

They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range.

Firs are most closely related to the genus Cedrus (cedar).

They are large trees, reaching heights of 10–80 m (33–262 ft) tall and trunk diameters of 0.5–4 m (1 ft 8 in–13 ft 1 in) when mature.

Firs can be distinguished from other members of the pine family by the unique attachment of their needle-like leaves and by their different cones.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Fir Trees?

No, they can’t unfortunately.

They are poisonous for piggies to eat and should be avoided as a food for them.

They will probably not be partial to them if presented with a branch but some may attempt to nibble at it.

If you have a guinea pig hutch that is under a fir tree, it will be worth moving it so the guinea pig isn’t tempted by falling branches or needles.

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

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Evergreen Leaves?

In botany, an evergreen is a plant that has leaves throughout the year, always green. This is true even if the plant retains its foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season. There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees, and shrubs. Evergreens include:

  • most species of conifers (e.g., pine, hemlock, blue spruce, red cedar, and white/scots/jack pine), but not all (e.g., larch)
  • live oak, holly, and “ancient” gymnosperms such as cycads
  • most angiosperms from frost-free climates, such as eucalypts and rainforest trees
  • clubmosses and relative (source)
Can guinea pigs eat evergreen leaves?

No they can’t eat evergreen leaves as they are too toxic for guinea pigs to eat. A food to avoid feeding them.

This includes any kind of evergreen plant or tree. If they eat it, it will make them sick or even something worse.

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

can guinea pigs climb trees

Can Guinea Pigs Climb Trees?

Guinea pigs love to explore new places.

You may see them exploring all kinds of places that you may have set out for them in their cages and runs.

As prey animals, they are always on the lookout for places to hide especially in the wild when they are always being hunted by predators.

Guinea pigs are terrific prey animals

Guinea pigs use all kinds of methods to evade predators such as burrowing underground so that they are not seen.

  1. They can move around easily in the cover of darkness so that they are not as seen as easily as when they do so in the daytime.
  2.  They run incredibly quickly so as to evade predators who may not be able to run quickly.

However, there are some things which they are unable to.

Guinea pigs are not climbers

One of these things is that they are not able to climb at all. This is because;

  • They do not have the ability to pull themselves up with their legs and claws.
  • Their legs are too weak for that and will not hold them up.
  • Their bodies are also too heavy for them.

So they cannot climb places such as trees to get away from predators.

They just don’t have the strength to do it.

The best they can do is to stand up on their hind legs and their front legs resting on a vertical surface but they are unable to go any further.

They could use a step to push themselves up if the step was shallow enough for them to get onto.

They could also use rocks to clamber up which were at a sufficient angle.

But they can’t climb vertical surfaces such as trees or walls or anything else such as this.

So unlike some of their rodent cousins such as mice, rats and hamsters and gerbil, they are unable to climb up places.

Guinea pigs can’t climb trees unfortunately

This means that trees are unable to be climbed by guinea pigs.

So if you have one inside their run, do not worry they won’t be climbing it anytime soon.

Guinea pigs are strictly ground animals.

The proper term for this is terrestrial animals which mean to live only on land.

They are not even subterranean animals as they don’t live totally underground like moles do, just build their homes underground.

If they lived in trees they would be called arboreal creatures which are the term given to those creatures that live in trees like squirrels.

Even when it comes collecting food they are reliant on it dropping to the ground in order to get it as they are keen gatherers.

So don’t worry about guinea pigs climbing anywhere, they are quite happy on the roaming the ground.