Like with all animals, their dets are a crucial factor in their short-term and long-term health. Getting your guinea pig onto the right diet is something you will want to do right away, and it's a good idea to frequently revisit and ensure it remains the best fit for your piggy.

The guinea pig diet does take a little effort on your part. There are a variety of foods that your guinea pig needs, including hay, pellets and fresh veggies.

Hay

Hay should take up about 80% of a guinea pig's daily food consumption. It's important to have a hay that is high in fibre, but low in protein, sugars and fat. As they will be eating a lot of hay, getting the wrong one with the wrong properties can have very quick and noticeable effects.

Pellets

Pellets are a great way of balancing out your guinea pig's mealtimes. The average sized guinea pigs should be having about 20g of pellets a day. This may not seem like a lot, but it has a big impact. Guinea pig nuggets are used to make sure they are eating all the nutrients they need to remain healthy and will balance out any that are missed from their vegetables.

Vegetables

Fresh vegetables will make up the last portion of their mealtimes. While a good portion of necessary nutrients are consumed through pellets, vegetables are still extremely necessary. Veggies help not only their physical health but their mental health too. Adding veggies to their diet increases the variety of flavours and smells, making food more enriching and enticing.

Veggies also give you the chance to add any extra calories to their meals or increase their intake of certain nutrients if you suspect a deficiency of some kind.

Fruits

Fruits should not be given to guinea pigs on a day-to-day basis. They are often too high in fat and can cause weight gain and other issues down the line if your piggies are overfed on these. However, they make a wonderful treat a couple of times a week, or a great reward if you are attempting any type of training.

Some good fruits a guinea pig can eat are apples, bananas, kiwis, oranges, and blueberries.

What is the Best Guinea Pig Food?

Finding the best guinea pig foods is completely dependent on your specific guinea pig. Many factors go into deciding what food is best for them, such as their age, any health conditions they may have, or if they are pregnant or nursing. The list above has a great range of foods that would be suitable for many different guinea pigs. It's important that you find a guinea pig food that your furry friend loves to eat. Many guinea pigs can become picky eaters, especially as they get older. Mature guinea pigs need extra alfalfa hay to keep their teeth down and more vitamin c, as they can't make their own. For these reasons, settling on the right food, especially if you have a picky eater, could be tricky, even with all of the options of new food available.

What to Look Out For

While it's important to keep an eye out for foods that contain all the right nutrients, flavours, and all-around goodness for your guinea pig, it's also important to look out for the exact things you don't want in your food.

Grains

A guinea pig should avoid grains wherever possible. Grains can often be very fattening and quite difficult for them to digest. There is also the small risk of your guinea pig potentially choking on the grains and they can also cause issues for their dental health or cause an upset stomach. Oats for guinea pigs can be acceptable if you're trying to help your guinea pig gain weight, hence why oat hay is a good option.

Luckily, all the pellet options above are completely grain free!

Nuts

Nuts aren't toxic to guinea pigs but should still be avoided. They are very high in carbohydrates, and fat and are difficult to digest. An over-consumption of nuts can lead to certain health problems including diarrhoea and stomach pains. This is especially emphasised for nut-butters like peanut butter.

All foods we have listed are fully nut free, so there's no need to worry.

Seeds

Just like nuts, seeds are too high in fat for a healthy adult guinea pig. There's a big choking hazard and the seeds have the potential to get stuck in guinea pig's teeth leading to discomfort and pain.

You'll want to be extra vigilant when avoiding seeds, as they're a common food to be found in pet stores when looking for treats. That won't be an issue here though, all foods we have listed are seed free.

Certain Types of Veggies

There are many types of veggies that guinea pigs eat and are super healthy for your adult guinea pig, but there are also certain types that should be avoided whenever possible. Here are key veggies to avoid:

·       Onions – these are highly toxic and have the potential to seriously harm your cavy

·       Mushrooms – these provide no nutritional benefits and can lead to digestive issues

·       Potatoes – these are very toxic and cannot be digested

·       Avocados – too high in fat, both the skin and pit are poisonous to cavies

You'll want to steer clear of any guinea pig treats or guinea pig nuggets that contain these foods, and will want to avoid adding them to your guinea pig's diet.

Some guinea pig pellets may be flavoured or scented with these foods. While they may be absent of any actual quantity of said foods, it would still be wise to avoid these. Guinea pigs are smart animals and will naturally want to avoid pig food they deem unsafe so if offered them they would most likely reject it anyway.