What Fruits Can Guinea Pigs Eat?

Guinea pigs snacking on some apple

Safe Fruits for Guinea Pigs

Fruits are a great treat for your guinea pig. They are packed full of nutrients and vitamins that are super beneficial for your guinea pig to maintain their ideal health. If you’re interested in giving your guinea pig fruits, it’s important to know which ones are safe and ones to avoid.

While fruits are a highly desired treat for your guinea pigs, they are often very high in sugar and so shouldn’t be given to your piggy regularly. Too much sugar in a guinea pig’s diet can lead to a variety of health issues, including weight gain, diarrhoea, and an imbalance of the gut bacteria. To avoid these issues, it’s best to only give small amounts of fruit to your piggy once or twice a week.

It should be noted that you must only give your guinea pigs the fresh version of fruits. Dried fruits, juices and tinned fruits often have a much higher sugar concentration and even little amounts may cause harm.

Adding New Foods to your Guinea Pig’s Diet

Adding new foods to the guinea pig diet is an exciting time, it’s always an enjoyable experience watching them discover and chow down on a brand-new treat. However, there are a few things you will want to consider before introducing new foods to them. 

When introducing any type of food, it is important to be patient. Not all guinea pigs are going to enjoy everything you give them, some will have specific preferences, and others may not care at all! Giving them a widely varied diet ensures that each one of your piggies are able to find what foods they enjoy and foods they don’t particularly appreciate. You should never force your guinea pig to eat something new, as this can cause them to become quite stressed. 

New foods should only be given in small amounts, as too much of something unfamiliar can cause them to develop an upset stomach, bloating or gas.

If some new fruit is on the menu, then you will need to check off all the considerations for feeding your guinea pigs fruit. You will need to check the serving size, any preparation requirements such as cutting or removing leaves and how well they need to be cleaned. All these will ensure that your guinea pig can safely enjoy their new treats.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Tomatoes?

Tomatoes are one of the best guinea pig fruits. Tomatoes are one of the only fruits that are safe to be fed to a guinea pig multiple times a week as it’s significantly lower in sugar than most others. They are rich in fibre, vitamin C and vitamin A which are all crucial to keeping your piggy nice and healthy. The average serving size is one baby tomato about 3-4 times a week.

However, you must be careful to only feed the physical tomato to your guinea pig as the stem and leaves contain tomatine, which is a type of poison.

Make sure to double check any tomatoes to confirm that all the leaves and stem have been removed.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Peaches?

Peaches are a wonderful treat for feeding guinea pigs fruit. The exact amount of vitamins will vary depending on the type of peach, but overall, they are high in potassium and phosphorus. Potassium is essential for keeping the nervous system running smoothly, and phosphorus works hand in hand with calcium to keep their bones and teeth as strong as possible. 

A slice of peach is the ideal serving size once a week, as they are high in sugar and are rather acidic. Snacking on these too frequently is bound to cause an upset stomach.

There is often a concern about giving guinea pigs food with high calcium and phosphorus due the risk of bladder or kidney stones. While yes, these can both contribute to your piggy developing those, they will require significantly high amounts of these, and a slice of peach a week will have minimal risks.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Apples?

Apples are a perfect guinea pig fruit. Apples contain mostly fibre, vitamin C and vitamin B-complex which all play an important role in your guinea pigs health. Vitamin C is necessary to help maintain all bodily functions, and fibre primarily aids digestion. They also contain minerals such as iron, magnesium, and potassium. Apples are usually found to be one of the most favoured guinea pig fruits, so having some on hand is never a bad option. Guinea pigs can be given about 1-2 slices once a week.

If you’re planning to give your piggy an apple, you must check and make sure that there are no seeds in the slice. Just like many fruit seeds, they contain cyanide which can be incredibly harmful if they are consumed.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Grapes?

Grapes are a fruit that many people are on the fence about for guinea pigs. Grapes contain high amounts of vitamin C, protein magnesium, phosphorus and calcium which all contribute to keeping your guinea pig’s body healthy. However, many owners are hesitant to feed them to their piggies, as grapes are toxic to other domestic animals such as dogs and cats. There isn’t any evidence to show this applies to guinea pigs too, but some owners still choose to avoid it.

The ideal serving size is about 1-2 medium sized grapes a week.

There is also a choking concern for grapes. There is a worry that a guinea pig will swallow the entire grape, but this is very unlikely.

For some peace of mind, it’s recommended to cut grapes into halves or quarters when feeding your guinea pigs.

Unsafe Fruits for Guinea Pigs

While feeding guinea pigs fruit can be a great way of diversifying their diet and giving them a sweet treat during the week, there are certain fruits that you should never give your guinea pig. 

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Dried Fruit or Raisins?

Guinea pigs should never be given dried fruits or raisins. Dehydrated fruits have a much higher concentration of sugar and it will take a minimal amount to cause some issues. In theory, dehydrated fruits are a great idea, more affordable and can be reliably purchased throughout the year, but there is no safe amount to give to your piggies.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Canned Fruit?

You should not be feeding your guinea pigs canned fruit. Canned fruit may be a convenient option as they can be stored for several months and available out of season, they are much unhealthier than the fresh fruit. Canned fruits are kept in a fruit syrup that is extremely concentrated in sugar, and come with added preservatives that may cause harm.