Vegetables Did i give my guinea pig to much?

Your guinea pig should be getting at least 1 cup of veggies per day. Carrots are like a treat type veggie so I wouldn't give them until he's eating a variety of things that are really good for him like bell pepper, a variety of lettuces, cilantro, etc. Please see the nutrition charts thread and the sample menu's thread, they are sticky threads at the top of this section.

What kind of lettuce did you feed?

Oh and please capitalize all your I's when you post.

Hey! I use this chart: Diet

Sorry Ly&pigs thanks for the information on the carrots and it turns out when i went to check in his cage he only ate half the carrot and half the lettuce he just hid it all.

Since you piggie is new and may have not had veggies before it isn't too unusual for him/her to not be eating a ton of veggies right away. Put them in the cage and leave them in there for a bit and see if they get nibbled on. Even if they don't eat it, keep putting it in there and they should eventaully learn that they can eat it.

Like ly said, only one baby carrot a day and the veggie chart is the most helpful thing EVER, I highly reccomend using it.

If your piggie has never had veggies before, he's probably not sure what they are for. Does he have a cagemate? If he doesn't, then getting one would be beneficial to his health in numerous ways, and he'll learn what veggies are for from him. If he does, he'll probably catch on from him. Anyway, I would take away the carrot until he is eating things he needs, like Ly said. Just keep offering the veggies every day.
And the nutrition chart is like a Bible to me!

I wouldn't worry about the carrots... Mine never liked them. I thought lettuce was bad for piggies?... Isn't spinach what is preferred? Try an apple or cherry tomato (cut the tomato in half though so he can get a good whiff of it)... I've never seen one refuse those.

If he gets diarrhea then you should cut back on how much you give him... Even beneficial fruits and vegetables given in correct quantities can affect their little tummies differently.

Caviekisses said:

I wouldn't worry about the carrots... Mine never liked them. I thought lettuce was bad for piggies?... Isn't spinach what is preferred? Try an apple or cherry tomato (cut the tomato in half though so he can get a good whiff of it)... I've never seen one refuse those.

If he gets diarrhea then you should cut back on how much you give him... Even beneficial fruits and vegetables given in correct quantities can affect their little tummies differently.

Click to expand...

Carrots are a treat and yes all lettuces EXCEPT for iceberg is VERY good for piggies. They need leafy green veggies. Lettuce can be fed everyday. Spinach is not the greatest for pigs. They can eat it but it can cause bloat, which can be very dangerous, even fatal. Bananas can cause bloat too so it's not suggested to feed them.

Fruits should only be given a few times a week as they are very high in sugars.

Never mind, it's Iceberg lettuce... For some reason the name wouldn't come to my mind when I was typing my previous post.

Spinach doesn't cause bloat, not sure where you got that from. Spinach however, is not a good veggie because it's through the roof in oxalic acid which can bind with calcium and form oxalate stones. Spinach is also very high in Vitamin A which over the long term can cause kidney/liver damage.

I also heard it causes bloat...somewhere on this site too.

There are a lot of things I've read on this site but that doesn't make them all true. People often write misinformation here (non-correct info) because they don't know the proper information.

Ly&Pigs said:

Spinach doesn't cause bloat, not sure where you got that from. Spinach however, is not a good veggie because it's through the roof in oxalic acid which can bind with calcium and form oxalate stones. Spinach is also very high in Vitamin A which over the long term can cause kidney/liver damage.

Click to expand...

auburnmare5 said:

I also heard it causes bloat...somewhere on this site too.

Click to expand...

Oops, sorry Ly, must have had a brain fart, since I do know how high in oxalic acid it is since I've had kidney stones and I love all the foods filled with oxalates. But like auburnmare said, I could have sworn I saw something about bloat from another thread. Thanks for the correction!