Guinea Pig Food

Guinea pig needs:

Guinea pigs, or ‘cavies’, are social animals with a compact, rounded body shape, short legs and no tail.

They originate from the grasslands and lower slopes of the Andes Mountains in South America. 

Guinea pigs are active

  • Guinea pigs are active up to 20 hours per day and sleep only for short periods.

Guinea pigs are highly social

  • Guinea pigs are social animals. In the wild they live in close family groups of 5 – 10 individuals, though several groups may live in close proximity to form a colony.

Guinea pigs’ need a high fibre diet that is supplemented with vitamin C

  • Guinea pigs’ diet needs to be supplemented with plenty of vitamin C, as they lack the enzyme needed to synthesise vitamin C and can only store vitamin C for short periods.
The sort of vegetables that people usually have in their homes that are safe to feed to guinea pigs are as follows:
  • Beetroot – not the leaves or the stalks.
  • Broccoli.
  • Cabbage - red & green.
  • Carrots.
  • Cauliflower.
  • Corn-on-the-cob – the whole cob.
  • Cucumber.
  • Kale.