Re: food
No, you shouldn't feed them vitamin C in their water.
On my Cavy Spirit Care Page (
cavyspirit.com/care.htm), that is MYTH #5. Here is the text:
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Vitamin Drops in the Water
<strong>DO NOT USE</strong> the vitamin drops in the water!
The only supplement a healthy cavy needs is Vitamin C. The vitamin drops that you buy at the pet store contain additional vitamins and minerals which can potentially be toxic to them.
Vitamin C deteriorates rapidly in WATER and in LIGHT.
Cavies drink varying amounts of water. There is no way to know how much Vitamin C your cavy is actually getting.
Adult cavies need 30-50 mg per day of C. The drops make the water taste bad, thereby discouraging many cavies from drinking water---not good!
<strong>Suggested Vitamin C supplementing:</strong>
Your healthy cavy shouldn't need additional Vitamin C supplements IF your cavy is getting proper fresh greens and some fruits and high quality, fresh guinea pig pellets on a daily basis. You should not give your cavy a diet high in fruits to ensure they get adequate vitamin C.
To supplement, get the chewable 'Vitamin C only' tablets for adults or children. To ensure proper dosage, divide up the tablet and then crush it, or crush it and then divide it up. If you have a 500 mg tablet, then one cavy needs 1/10 of that daily. It's best to divide it up into two doses, one in the morning, one in the evening. You can mix the powder or chunks in with their pellets or sprinkle it on their veggies. An easy way to crush a tablet is between two tablespoons.
You can also dose the C directly, especially if you have a sick or needy cavy. Purchase some liquid vitamin C from a health food or drug store. We use a flavored GNC brand and the piggies like it. It says one teaspoon equals 5 ml and that is 500 mg of C. So we divide 500/5 and we get 100 mg in 1 ml. So, for a 50 mg dose (divided in 2--am and pm), we give .25 ml in the morning and .25 ml in the evening. Of course you need a little syringe to do this--also available at a drug store or vet. (1 ml = 1 cc) If you have a very sick or pregnant cavy, you can double the dose.
thanks
