Chat 250mg Vitamin C to much

[guineamama1999]

My vet told me that my guinea pigs need 250mg DAILY if healthy. That sounds like a lot to me. So what is the best vitamin c supplement. And what other treats does everyone else have that aren’t veggies.

 

[spy9doc]

First let's address your "treat" question. My cavies have never cared for commercially produced treats........and I don't like them either. Better to offer those special things like corn husks, radicchio, or a baby carrot as a treat. Others here do buy healthy treats and relate that their cavies enjoy them. On rare occasions I will buy something upon recommendation, and invariably have to give it away because my piggies have no interest.

I highly recommend Oasis Vita-Drops Pure C which you can find in almost any pet store or on Amazon. My boy occasionally goes on strike and won't eat peppers so a good source of Vit. C is essential. Forget adding these drops to water! DON'T DO IT! They change the taste of the water and the cavies won't drink it......which leads to other issues. And, I don't recommend adding them to food in any way. When you add anything to their food, you have no way of knowing how much (if any) that they are ingesting. Always syringe anything liquid.

I agree that 250mg is excessive for a cavy. 25-100mg is adequate under almost any situation. Here are the recommendations for the Oasis drops:

Normal healthy cavies - 25mg (8 drops) daily - about 0.2ml
Pregnant or nursing - 37.5mg (12 drops) daily - about 0.3ml
Showing symptoms of scurvy 50-100mg (16-32 drops) daily - about 0.4+ml

When my boy was ill and losing his hair, I syringed 0.5ml/day. Now that he has recovered, I have cut that down to 0.2ml. I generally syringe it full-strength, but you might want to draw up 0.2ml and add an equivalent amount of water. It's pretty sour, but he seems to like it anyway.

 

[ItsaZoo]

I have tried the Oxbow treats with mixed results. She likes the vitamin C treats so I give her 1/2 of one each day since she also gets green peppers and pellets daily.

Other treats consist of one small piece of apple or watermelon about the size of a postage stamp. I freeze the watermelon pieces and she gets one every day or so. It’s a nice wintertime treat. I also freeze corn husks for winter. Otherwise treats are veggies that she likes, or maybe a little special hay such as Oxbow botanical or meadow grass.