Foods to Avoid Feeding Guinea Pigs

We recommend that you do not feed your guinea pig bread, cookies, crackers, rolled oats, breakfast cereals, beans or potatoes—white or sweet. All of these can cause digestive upset.

The bulk of your guinea pig's diet should come from a high-quality, nutritionally complete commercial guinea pig food. Healthy adult guinea pigs can typically be fed one tablespoon of pellets in the morning and one tablespoon in the evening. Please be sure not to overfeed your pet with pellets as this can lead to obesity. You can also serve small amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables in moderation. These include grapes, cucumbers, carrots, pears, oranges and strawberries. Please remember that the leftovers of these foods must be cleaned up before they spoil.

Vitamin C supplementation is also crucial for guinea pigs and can be given by feeding foods rich in Vitamin C, including kale, dandelion greens, turnip greens and citrus fruit. You will also want to provide your pet with grass hay and plenty of fresh, clean water.

You can find more information in the Guinea Pig Care section of our website.