Diet Carrots, carrots, carrots - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**cherisy4** · #1 10-29-09, 09:27 pm

My guinea pigs love their carrots and demand them all the time - they're not happy with anything else. If we ignore them long enough, they eventually eat their lettuce and the other veggies we put out, but they are not satisfied until they get their carrot fix.

I read that they are only supposed to get 1 med baby carrot a day, per guinea pig. I was wondering if anyone gives more?

**JD In Van** · #2 10-29-09, 09:30 pm

You're going to have some fat pigs if they eat only carrots.
Cut out the carrots completely until they're eatting greens and peppers and other veggies.
You're the mom! Take charge of their diet!

**Ly&Pigs** · #3 10-29-09, 09:46 pm

Hopefully everyone will answer that they don't give more or they don't give carrots at all.

**JD In Van** · #4 10-29-09, 09:49 pm

I didn't really answer the question. Sorry!
We only allow them to have carrots 2 x a week maximum.

**cherisy4** · #5 10-29-09, 09:49 pm

Am I not supposed to be giving them carrots at all? I wasn't aware of that. I thought one baby carrot a day or every other day was actually good for them.

**JD In Van** · #6 10-29-09, 09:53 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherisy4

Am I not supposed to be giving them carrots at all? I wasn't aware of that. I thought one baby carrot a day or every other day was actually good for them.

Carrots are high in sugar and acids and have minimal nutritional value to the piggies. They're like a can of Soda to your cavies.

**Ly&Pigs** · #7 10-29-09, 10:19 pm

While you can feed up to 1 med sized baby carrot per day per pig, they are not all that "good" for them for the reasons JD stated.

**cherisy4** · #8 10-29-09, 10:35 pm

I give them a big variety of greens and other veggies to choose from, so the fact that they LOVE their carrots so much makes sense that they are not the best nutritional food for them - like soda or candy. I will cut back and give as treats from now on. Thanks!

**GizzyandMe** · #9 10-30-09, 01:11 am

On the same topic of carrots, My Gizzy will chew the carrot but I doubt she eats very much of it. If I put a baby carrot down for her she will take one bite and ignore it till I remove it but if I put in a nice big thick carrot down she will chew it into a million pieces! Is this normal? I figured she was just keeping her teeth in check but if Carrots are not really good for her should I get her something else to chew on??

**Toadies** · #10 10-30-09, 09:27 am

Mine will eat their very small, tiny, minuscule piece of carrot and leave little bits all over the place. I think that it's just because that's how they eat them. Carrots are harder than most of their other veggies, so maybe pieces just fall out of their mouths as they chew. Hay is actually more important for wearing their teeth down.

**Duffinvt** · #11 10-30-09, 09:41 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by JD In Van

Carrots are high in sugar and acids and have minimal nutritional value to the piggies. They're like a can of Soda to your cavies.

This is true. My two gals had only carrots, apples and kale for fresh veggies in their previous home. And they had a fit when they got no more of those. I followed the advice of others here and quit those cold turkey until they accepted peppers. Finally, finally, they accepted green pepper. After a week of eating peppers, I offered a small piece of carrot at floortime, same with apple, but only once (each) per week. Other times they get green pepper or fresh grass for a treat, maybe clover every other week. They love the grass and we are lucky to have some long strands in our meadow that have not frozen and they munch those down !

**angiekay** · #12 10-30-09, 10:09 am

My boys get a small piece at night before I go to bed, this is just a "treat" and they are getting 2 feeding of veggies every day, morning and night! They are so spoiled!

**JD In Van** · #13 10-30-09, 10:51 am

As for treats too, carrots are not the only thing to give as a treat there are other (and more nutritional) options and mixing it up for treats is a good idea too - kiwi once a week (Very high in vit C but also very acidic and sugary), apple once/twice a week (This is my boy's absolute favorite), red pepper slices (Vit C, Moderately Sugary), a strawberry (Vit C, High Sugar) now and then or blueberry (Vit C, Anti Oxidents, Moderate Sugar) - all make great treats too so long as you don't have too much of any of it.

Variety is important other wise they get greedy for just one thing and become pickier & demanding eaters (I made this mistake, I can't cut an apple in my house with out my boys screaming at me now!).

**SFailed186** · #14 10-30-09, 11:05 am

We usually give our girls carrots once a week when we have them, or once every other week. When they get their carrots, we chop up 3-4 small baby carrots and that is it. We chop ours because one of our girls, Haylee, has a hard time eating them.

**Peggysu** · #15 10-30-09, 11:34 am

I give maybe a small piece of carrot maybe once a week.

Cavie Crazy · #16 11-11-09, 02:05 am

I chop up 2 baby carrots and mix it in with the other veggies once a day but thats between 3 piggies. My piggies are so funny one goes for the carrots first (surprisingly its not the fattest one), one goes for the tomato first and the other one goes for the bell pepper first. I cant help but keep the carrots because those 3 things and different types of lettuce is really all they eat. They really don't like zucchini at all.

**distancel** · #17 11-11-09, 02:13 am

My piggies get carrot maybe once or twice a fortnight. The girls aren't actually into it very much. My new piggie Wesley seems to ONLY like carrots though. I'm used to my girls devouring their salad plate very quickly and leaving only a few things to graze on later. Wesley picks at everything and seems kind of uninterested in anything, but if I give him carrot he goes crazy for it.

"Thank you, JD In Van, for this useful post," say these 2 members:
angiekay (10-30-09), GizzyandMe (11-02-09)