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can guinea pigs eat swede

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Swede?

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Swede is a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip.

The roots are prepared for human consumption in a variety of ways, and the leaves can be eaten as a leaf vegetable.

The roots and tops are also used as winter feed for livestock, when they may be fed directly, or by allowing the animals to forage the plants in the field.

Various European countries have a tradition of carving them into lanterns at Halloween. (source)

Can guinea pigs eat swede?

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 guinea pigs are concerned.

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 157 kJ (38 kcal)
Carbohydrates
8.62 g
Sugars 4.46 g
Dietary fiber 2.3 g
Fat
0.16 g
Protein
1.08 g
Vitamins
Thiamine (B1) (8%) 0.09 mg
Riboflavin (B2) (3%) 0.04 mg
Niacin (B3) (5%) 0.7 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5) (3%) 0.16 mg
Vitamin B6 (8%) 0.1 mg
Folate (B9) (5%) 21 μg
Vitamin C (30%) 25 mg
Minerals
Calcium (4%) 43 mg
Iron (3%) 0.44 mg
Magnesium (6%) 20 mg
Manganese (6%) 0.131 mg
Phosphorus (8%) 53 mg
Potassium (6%) 305 mg
Zinc (3%) 0.24 mg

source wikipedia

As you can see swede contains a large amount of phosphorus, acidic content, a little calcium and sugar and a hint of fat.

This means that they can eat it in small amounts, however they can’t eat too much of it due to its acidic and phosphorus content that it has.

Eating too much of it will cause a guinea pig problems because of its acidity and so they are better off just having a few small pieces at a time, in fact two or three at the most.

Cut it up into manageable pieces that they can eat easily.

Also make sure it is washed thoroughly before you feed it to them.

As with most veggies, some piggies will enjoy swede and some won’t so it is defiantely worth a try with them, but don’t be alarmed if they don’t like it.

It is a veggie that will go nicely as part of a balanced diet for your piggies.

Give them water, hay, guinea pig mix and some pieces of fruit along with these veggies and will enjoy having a diet that will benefit them from a nutritional point of view and be varied and flavorsome for a piggie.

Can guinea pigs eat cooked swede?

No they can’t unfortunately. Cooked food is not good for guinea pigs to eat and they are much better with raw food. This includes if the swede is fried, stewed, baked, boiled,  or sauteed.

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

Can guinea pigs eat celery?

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Celery is a great vegetable that is tasty and crunchy so it seems like it could go down well with guinea pigs.

Celery is just fine for guinea pigs to eat but there are certain considerations and things you might want to take note of before you feed it to your guinea pig.

It can be purchased from any supermarket that you have close to you. There are no special types that   you need to buy. Any of the varieties will do.

can a guinea pig eat celery

image: Wikipdeia

10 considerations to make when you feed your guinea pig celery

  1. It has a high water content and so it can cause mouth sores and diarrhoea if given too much to the Guinea Pig. It can also make them a little diuretic which means they pee a lot.
  2. The strings of celery that are peeled off the stalks of celery can very easily get caught in their teeth and throats and intestinal tracs.
  3. Do feed it to your guinea pig in moderation, a few times a week should suffice to ensure that your guinea pig gets a well balanced diet.
  4. It is worth cutting up the celery sticks into long strips to ensure that you can negate the stringy parts of the celery so that your guinea pig doesn’t get any lodged in its throat.
  5. Another way to cut up celery sticks is to cut them into half inch pieces. This is another way to ensure that the guinea pigs and ingest them properly.
  6. Mix it up with other vegetables and foods so that your guinea pig doesn’t get bored at all at meal times. Make meal times as interesting as possible for them
  7. Consider celery to be a treat for them at not their main staple meal which should be Timothy hay, vitamin c fortified guinea pig pellets and clean water.
  8. You can feed your guinea pig’s the celery leaves as well. Some may even prefer these to the actual celery sticks.
  9. If your guinea pig doesn’t take to it then don’t worry. Some guinea pigs like it, some don’t. Try some other vegetables with your guinea pig to see if they like those instead.
  10. Sometimes it might be worth peeling your celery sticks to get the strings off.

 

Can a guinea pig eat celery?

Celery can be a great treat for your guinea pig if it is fed in moderation so do go ahead and feed it to your cavy. Its great chopped up and mixed with other vegetables as well to give your guinea pig some variety.