Treats I know no cooked fruits/veggies, but what about dried?

[ashleyford]

For all purposes of this post, please assume all products I'm referring to are organic and don't have excess sugar/high fructose syrup/ect.

I know that cooking veggies makes them lose nutrional value, so I've been trying to get ideas for veggies and fruits that would be good for my piggy year round, perhaps when a lot of things are out of season ect.

What about organic dried banana slice chips, or dried apple chips ect.? These seem like they might be good for chewing. Not sure how much the drying would take away from nutrional value.

Also, never see anyone mention berries. I know nuts/seeds are a no, but I've seen a few sites mention seedless grapes were okay, so are seedless berries okay for my piggy? Or do most just not like them and that's why I haven't seen them mentioned? And/or are they bad for them?

Thanks for any insight you guys can provide!

 

[CritterLuvva]

No. Dried foods still have preservatives added so they'll last longer. There's always some kind of fruits/veggies available in food markets.

As far as what to feed piggy, check out this food chart. It will tell you what kinds of food to feed and how often. Also, any fruit is a treat that should be fed no more then one or two times in a week as it is naturally high in sugar.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/diet-nutrition/22156-read-me-cavy-nutrition-charts-poisonous-plants-list.html

 

[MissJean]

You could use unsulphered dried fruit with no added sugar, but what's the point? Their fresh counterpart is better because it will retain more nutrient value.

My pigs love blueberries.

 

[Petlovr]

I feed 1 medium strawberry to 4 large pigs as a treat every now and then. They are just as happy with the strawberry top that I cut off-the leaf/stem part, so they usually get that. They can also have 1 blueberry, again, once or twice a week. These are the only berries I know of.

I take 1 small fresh banana peel, and split it 6 ways, and feed that to the six pigs here. They love it. I do dehydrate apple chips for my bunnies as a treat when they are in season and cheap. I also dehydrate butternut squash, and neck pumpkin. Those last 2 aren't always available, and only make up a vey small portion of their diet on the 1 or 2 days a week I feed them. I really like having pumpkin around in case someone gets sick-it's good for their tummies. (broken link removed) is right about the frequency. If it's organic dried fruit, I'm assuming there aren't any preservatives, but dried banana chips are fried in oil, then dried, so they look nice, so they are high in fat. Dehydrated fruit also has concentrated sugar; 1 small dried piece is much higher than 1 fresh piece of the same size. One other thing you can do, is feed the corn husks and the corn silk to the pigs. Mine thought Christmas came early, they were so excited. I just grab it from the garbage bin in the grocery store placed so that people can schuck their corn before they buy it.

 

[Tunundary]

The pellets that I gave my guinea pigs came with dried carrots and bananas. Dried fruit and veggies aren't inherently bad, but you may want to do it yourself. Dehydrate Fruits and Vegetables

 

[bpatters]

Where do you live that you can't get fresh fruit and vegetables at the grocery all winter long?

 

[ashleyford]

Where do you live that you can't get fresh fruit and vegetables at the grocery all winter long?

I can find them... It was just an idea for something "different".... I was thinking organic ones wouldn't have the same preservatives ect....

 

[MissJean]

The pellets that I gave my guinea pigs came with dried carrots and bananas. Dried fruit and veggies aren't inherently bad, but you may want to do it yourself. Dehydrate Fruits and Vegetables

Bananas should definitely not be fed daily in pellets. It's not just the sugars, it causes digestive problems.

 

[Tunundary]

Bananas should definitely not be fed daily in pellets. It's not just the sugars, it causes digestive problems.

Well there were probably a number of things that I shouldn't have done with my guinea pigs when I had them.

 

[sdpiggylvr]

Fresh vegetables are healthiest and dried/cooked are not necessary. Stick to the fresh and use the veggie chart: https://www.guineapigcages.com/threads/22156/.