Guinea pigs are popular and prevalent pets that many people like to care for. If you’ve recently started taking care of a guinea pig, then you probably want to ensure that you do the best job that you possibly can.
It’s good to look into guinea pig care so that you can give them exactly what they need. However, some people do encounter issues when it comes to feeding guinea pigs.
You might be worried that you’re feeding your guinea pig too much if it just seems to keep eating. Is it normal for guinea pigs to just want to keep eating or should they stop when they get full?
Read on to learn about whether you can overfeed a guinea pig or not. This will help you to take care of your guinea pig right so that you can enjoy your pet for a long time.
You Can Overfeed a Guinea Pig
Sadly, guinea pigs are animals that will just keep eating even when they’re already full. These little animal companions just don’t know when to stop, and this is why feeding them until they’re satiated is not a good idea.
Guinea pigs generally aren’t going to stop eating if you keep trying to give them food. They’ll just keep eating the food even if they don’t need it, and this is certainly not good for the animals.
You should avoid continuously feeding your guinea pig since it isn’t going to help the animal. Instead, you should choose to feed the guinea pig small portions of food several times a day.
There can be dire consequences if you do overfeed your guinea pig, but it’s easy enough to avoid doing this. Even so, you should learn a bit about what can go wrong when guinea pigs are consistently overfed.
The Consequences of Overfeeding Guinea Pigs
One of the most obvious consequences of overfeeding your guinea pig is that it will gain a lot of weight. If you continue to feed your guinea pig a lot more than what is necessary, then the guinea pig will become overweight fast.
Obese guinea pigs are going to have many more health issues than guinea pigs that maintain healthy weights. Overweight guinea pigs might have issues with mobility, and the extra weight could endanger the guinea pig’s life.
It’s also notable that guinea pigs will have digestive issues when they eat too much. The digestive tract can become damaged over time due to the guinea pig consuming too much food.
Having a guinea pig become unhealthy due to being fed too much is truly a shame. It’s something that most often happens by accident, but it’s easily prevented when you know the right precautions to take.
If you care about keeping your guinea pig healthy, then you should watch how much you’re feeding it. Keep reading to get important advice about what you should be feeding your guinea pig and how much you should be giving the guinea pig in a day.
Guinea Pigs Need Hay
Many guinea pig owners will just ensure that the guinea pigs have consistent access to hay. Grass hay is really the main thing that guinea pigs eat, and it’s excellent for their digestive systems.
Hay has the right fiber content that helps guinea pigs to digest things properly. They’ll be eating a lot of hay, and it’s fine for them to munch on hay throughout the day.
It’s said that timothy hay is even better than grass hay, and it does have a higher nutritional value. However, feeding your guinea pigs grass hay is just fine.
The hay is crucial to the overall health of the guinea pig and this is why they should have access to unlimited amounts of hay. It works to normalize the digestive tract of your guinea pig while also controlling the length of your guinea pig’s teeth.
With the way that a guinea pig’s digestive system works, it’s going to be fine for them to eat often. They can eat small portions of food many different times each day.
You just want to avoid feeding them things besides hay too often, and there are many foods that you need to avoid giving to guinea pigs as well.
Guinea Pigs Can Also Eat Fresh Vegetables
Fresh vegetables will also be good for your guinea pigs, but you shouldn’t feed them fresh veggies as often as you do hay. Hay can be a constant thing for your guinea pigs to have access to, but fresh veggies should be fed to guinea pigs in moderation.
Guinea pigs will love when they get to eat fresh veggies, and you could give this to your pet on a daily basis if you want. Just limit the number of veggies that you give your guinea pig to one cup per day.
If you keep the number of vegetables that the guinea pig eats to a minimum, then it’s better for them overall. Veggies are good for guinea pigs, but you don’t need to go overboard.
When you want to give your guinea pig the best vegetables possible, it’s going to be wise to stick with options that are high in vitamin C. For example, mustard spinach, broccoli, and bell peppers are popular veggies to feed to guinea pigs.
Guinea pigs will also enjoy veggies such as tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, kale, Brussels sprouts, and celery. They will also like eating herbs such as coriander, and herbs can be mixed in with the vegetables that you give your guinea pig.
There are certain vegetables that you should try to avoid giving your guinea pig, though. Avocado is a bad one since it’s very high in fat, and even Iceberg lettuce can cause issues because it has too much water in it.
Cabbage has even been known to cause bloating issues in some guinea pigs. This is said to be because of its high calcium content.
When feeding the guinea pig veggies such as carrots, you’ll want to avoid giving it too much due to not wanting to overload your guinea pig with sugar. Kale and spinach should be given in moderation, too, because of being high in calcium, but they can still be good for your guinea pig.
Pellets
Pellets are good for guinea pigs, too, and you can buy specially-formulated pellets for guinea pigs at pet stores. Many of the best pellets for guinea pigs are based on timothy hay.
You should give your guinea pig only one-eighth of a cup of these pellets each day. Be sure to measure things out accurately so that your guinea pig can maintain a healthy weight.
Also, you should be careful about the types of pellets that you’re buying from the pet store. Try to get pellets with good nutritional value and avoid things that aren’t timothy hay-based.
If you need to, then you should be able to get a recommendation from a professional at the pet food store. It might be even better to buy pellets that are recommended by a veterinarian since they will be the most likely to help you find a healthy option to give to your guinea pig.
Get Accurate Measuring Tools
Measuring out the food that you’re giving your guinea pig is important. However, many people just kind of guess instead of taking the time to measure out a cup of vegetables.
Avoid taking the risk of feeding your guinea pig too much because you didn’t measure the food right. Ensure that you have measuring cups and other measuring tools that you can use to get things right.
Overall, things like this aren’t expensive, and that means there’s no reason not to own some. Of course, you likely already have measuring cups since it’s so common for people to keep them in their kitchens.
Don’t Feed Guinea Pigs “Human Food”
Under no circumstances should you be feeding guinea pigs “human food.” This means that you shouldn’t be allowing your guinea pig to snack on bread, crackers, and other things that aren’t normal for guinea pigs to eat.
You’ve probably heard that many people like to give their guinea pigs crusts because they like to gnaw on them. The guinea pig might like it, but that doesn’t mean that it’s good for them to eat.
These foods can be hard for guinea pigs to digest, and they can throw off their delicate digestive balances. Avoid feeding your guinea pigs unusual things so that the guinea pigs can remain as healthy as possible.
Even if you have friends who give their guinea pigs things such as crusts, it’s going to be wise not to fall into the habit of giving guinea pigs “human foods.” It just creates problems and there is no benefit to giving your guinea pig such foods to eat.
Limit Treats
There will likely be little treats that you will want to give your guinea pigs from time to time. For example, some guinea pig owners like to give their guinea pigs apple slices because of how much the animals seem to love them.
It’s fine to do this in moderation, but you definitely shouldn’t be feeding your guinea pig treats too often. Apples and strawberries will be fine treats for guinea pigs to enjoy, but you need to limit how often your guinea pigs eat things like this due to high sugar content.
Essentially, fruits like this will make your guinea pig gain weight easily if you feed them to it too often. You’re also going to want to avoid commercial guinea pig treats because they’re so high in sugar and offer little to no nutritional value.
As long as you’re being mindful of how many treats you’re giving your guinea pig, things should be fine. Just try to only give treats to your guinea pig on certain occasions to avoid any potential issues with making the guinea pig gain weight.
Weighing Your Guinea Pig Is a Good Idea
Taking the time to weigh your guinea pig is actually going to be pretty smart. Many guinea pig enthusiasts recommend weighing guinea pigs each month to ensure that they’re in the right weight range.
Female guinea pigs (also referred to as sows) should weigh between 1.5 and 2.0 pounds. Males should weigh between 2.0 and 2.6 pounds on average.
If you weigh your guinea pig and find that it’s overweight or a bit too close to becoming overweight, then you can make some dietary changes. You could try giving the guinea pig fewer treats or being more mindful of how many veggies the guinea pigs are eating each day.
So long as you’re monitoring the guinea pig’s weight, it’s going to be less likely that you will encounter issues. That’s why weighing your guinea pigs on a monthly basis is such a good idea.
Final Thoughts
Taking care of your guinea pig is going to be easier if you do a good job of monitoring its food intake. Guinea pigs shouldn’t be overfed because of how it can lead to various health complications.
An obese guinea pig might suffer in certain ways, and you can keep your guinea pig from becoming overweight by being mindful of how much you’re feeding it. Having a good system for what to feed your guinea pig each day and how much you should feed a guinea pig at once makes sense.
Yes, guinea pigs will munch on hay all day because that’s just what they do. It’s good for guinea pigs to have unlimited access to hay because they need it for digestive health and even dental health.
If you take the advice above into account, then you shouldn’t have any problems helping your guinea pig to stay healthy. You’ll be able to monitor the guinea pig’s weight and you’ll be more likely to make wise decisions about what to feed your guinea pig.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is to avoid giving a guinea pig too many treats. If you can remember to only give out treats in moderation, then it’ll be less likely that you’ll overfeed your guinea pig.
I have a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When I’m not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, I’m at home with my wife, two daughters and a dog. Outside of family, I love grilling and barbequing on my Big Green Egg and working on projects around the house. Growing up, I had pet dogs, cats, deer, sugar gliders, chinchillas, a bird, chickens, fish, and a goat.