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Forages How much calcium is in wheatgrass?

lmarieaa

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I was going to get my girls some wheatgrass to munch on and make floortime a little more interesting, but while doing some reading on it, it was referred to as "a great source of calcium". I make sure everything that I give both my girls is very low in calcium content as Basil is prone to bladder stones, and hasent had bladder stone issues since I have become very strict in their calcium consumption.
I have looked at the charts and cannot find wheatgrass on it. Does anyone know how much calcium wheatgrass contains?
 

lmarieaa

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How much is in a piggy sized serving?
 

Paula

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It depends on how much you feed your piggy. Would you say like 1 ounce? Or less? More? An ounce would be ~120 mg of calcium.
 

alm_nin

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So is this too much calcium? And is that Ca:p ratio good or bad?
 

Paula

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Ideally, you want an overall Ca:p ratio of 2:1. It all has to do with the way the phosphorous breaks down the calcium and the way the calcium is absorbed and used in the body.

This link explains the balance. Nevermind the stuff on polycitra.

https://www.guinealynx.info/polycitra.html

Pigs with stones are generally put on a very low calcium diet and I think lmarieaa was trying to figure out whether or not her stone piggy could have wheatgrass or not depending on the amount of calcium.
 
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lmarieaa

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Yes, I was. No wheat grass for my piggies. :sad:
 

justme

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Actually, according to this link wheatgrass has 3 times as much phosphorous as calcium!
Wheatgrass Juice, Benefits of Wheatgrass

Compare this to alfalfa, which is bad because it has about 6 times more calcium than phosphorous (the other way around). This site is actually for horses but bemoans the fact that horses can't get enough calcium from grasses due to the "poor" ratio. Bad news for horses, good news for guinea pigs and rabbits I would imagine!
Understanding the Calcium-Phosphorus Ratio - Susan Evans Garlinghouse

The House Rabbit Society also lists wheat grass as a good veggie (while noting to limit alfalfa). Rabbits, like Guinea Pigs, need to have calcium restricted diets.
Suggested Vegetables

(I actually have a rabbit but came across this thread while trying to answer the same question for my bunny and thought I'd share my findings!)
 
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