How much Vitamin C?

[julsie]

I know there's a statistic for this, and I can't find it. A guinea pig needs a certain amount of Vitamin C per pound or kg of body weight. Can somebody point me in the right direction?

[newpiggiemommy]

I was told that if you feed enough of the right veggies you do not have to worry about the vitamin C. They will get enough vitamins from the veggies. I was told at least one cup of veggies per day, but it is better to give one cup in the morning and one cup in the evening to each of you piggies. You can also give a bit of fruit a couple times a week to help with the vitamin C.

[Ly&Pigs]

It's 10-30mg/kg. A cup of primarily leafy greens per day with some bell pepper added in, a limited amount of pellets and unlimited hay will provide all they need.

[julsie]

Thank you, Ly&Pigs! I knew there was a number out there somewhere.

That's actually really encouraging, because there's that much vitamin C in lettuce. Not that I'm going to stop feeding other veggies, but lettuce is the one thing we feed every single day. And Kyle don't care for bell peppers or tomatoes. I just wanted that number so I could be sure he was getting enough vitamin C from the things he actually eats.

[zachdave]

Would it be acceptable to buy chewable Vit C from a pharmacy or must it be specifically for GPs? I noticed that Oxbow sells a Vit C tablet, but the retailer is a bit far and it is certainly more convenient to go to CVS or Walgreen.

Peanut, my 6-7 week old, has been with us a week and still won't touch any veggies (lettuce, red pepper, carrot, cuc). I offer them every morning and leave them in the cage all day and nothing is gone when I return. She does eat her Oxbow Cavy Performance. Also, she munches hay occasionally but by no means eats a lot.

She is getting a little more tolerant of us. I take out her igloo when I want to interact with her, or else she still mostly will go in there. But she walks around and mostly seems calm, even eats in front of me if the igloo is out. I haven't tried to take her out of her C&C yet. Any advice on how long I should wait before I try taking her out for floor time?

[alerz]

If you have had her for a week now, I think you've waited long enough for floor time and lap time. It will be hard to catch her at first, but I'm sure she will enjoy the romping around time on the floor once you place her down! Try to handle her each day for a short period of time very calmly on your lap so she gets used to you gradually. Some guinea pigs will never be "calm" during handling, but the lap time will hopefully get her at least used to it and you.

[aaronmeister]

I give one tablet of Oxbow's Vit. C each day to my pigs since they are young. I would suggest staying away from stuff from the pharmacy and sticking w/ Oxbow since it designed for guinea pigs.

[pigsforlife]

zachdave - where did you get her from? If you purchased her from a pet store then A) she probably doesnt know what vegetables are and B) she is probably sick as most petstore pigs are.

I would certainly recommend taking her to a reputable exotic vet, and also keep persisting with the veggies. It is unnecessary to feed any pig extra vitamin c unless they are sick or not getting veggies. Keep providing a variety of veggies, but until she does start eating them (and the vet has ruled out any medical problems) then supplementing with vitamin c is fine. It doesnt matter where you get the vitamin c from so long as it is plain vitamin c. Watch how much you give her as well.

aaronmeister - unless there is a medical problem with your pigs then there is no point giving them extra vitamin c regardless of their age. They should get all the vitamin c they need from their veggies. Also I believe that it is possible to overfeed vitamin c (ly knows more about this than me, !).

[aaronmeister]

I only give them these tablets because they are young and since they refuse to eat most of the vegetables that have vitamin c in them.

As they grow older I'll probably break the tablets in half maybe even quarters.

[urockstar]

Originally Posted by newpiggiemommy

I was told that if you feed enough of the right veggies you do not have to worry about the vitamin C. They will get enough vitamins from the veggies. I was told at least one cup of veggies per day, but it is better to give one cup in the morning and one cup in the evening to each of you piggies. You can also give a bit of fruit a couple times a week to help with the vitamin C.

I got a sheet of info from the vet and it said the amount to feed is a minimum of 1 heaping cup of greens per day per 4 lbs of body weight.

So it seems that if you have a younger pig you wouldn't be feeding a whole cup? This seems to make sense. Obviously an older pig who weighs more is going to need more than a pig that's only a few months old?


I had been gving Marley and Bean a good amount and I'm almost thinking I gave them too much. Even with people, too much lettuce isn't that good for your stomach. I know iceburg is pretty much the only "bad" lettuce for pigs, but I'd think too much of any kind wouldn't be great.

[urockstar]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

It's 10-30mg/kg. A cup of primarily leafy greens per day with some bell pepper added in, a limited amount of pellets and unlimited hay will provide all they need.

At a young age too many pellets can be bad? I'm confused, I mean if the veggies are limited, pellets limited, hay unlimited.... is that good enough for them? I know hay is a BIG part of their diet, but it doesn't seem right to leave them only with hay for most of the day. I usually give them a handful to a handful and a half of Oxbow alfalfa pellets a day. They weren't eating them so much but now they are starting to a lot more... possibly because I'm not giving them as many veggies as I think I might have been overfeeding them before. Marley is 1.5 pounds, Bean around 1 pound.... I don't know if at that weight they both need a cup each. I don't know how anyone is really certain of this to be honest.

[Ly&Pigs]

You can free feed pellets until they are around 6 months of age then start limiting them. You should never limit hay or water.

I already stated that pigs need the minimum of 1 cup of veggies per day. This includes young pigs as well. Young pigs are growing so they need the veggies and you don't want to limit them to under a cup. You may have to spread it out throughout the day a bit more feeding them 3-4 times during the day instead of twice. You should be trying a variety of things and not just mostly lettuce.

[zachdave]

Peanut finally started eating Romaine lettuce after two weeks with me. She still refuses everything else (I keep trying baby carrot, red pepper, parsley, tomato, cucumber). I also starting offering her an Oxbow Vitamin C tablet in her food bowl, but so far she ignores it. Maybe I will try powdering it, but I know that will largely waste it. I also built her a 2 x1 C&C loft on top of her 2x3 C&C cage, with plastic connecting tubes (made for a ferret) as the way to get upstairs. She took to that quickly and loves to climb inside the tubes. I wonder though if the tubes will be large enough for her when she gets bigger. She is only about 8 weeks old now.

[Res Judicata]

I wouldn't trust them as she grows. My 2lb 14 oz. pig couldn't fit her fat butt through a tube anymore if she tried. I took mine out a long time ago for fear that I'd find her stuck in one when I came home one day. The Ramps section of the Photo Gallery will give you some good ideas on safe ramps.