food choices

[skittles_780]

is it okay for my 3 month old guinea pigs to start eating fresh fruits? i’m not sure because i heard that i should wait to give them treats at 6 months, but i was wondering if i have to wait to give them fruits at 6 months as well

 

[Betsy]

Guinea pigs of any age should only have fruit very occasionally as special treat.

 

[Wiebke]

is it okay for my 3 month old guinea pigs to start eating fresh fruits? i’m not sure because i heard that i should wait to give them treats at 6 months, but i was wondering if i have to wait to give them fruits at 6 months as well

Hi!

The gut microbiome in babies accustoms itself firstly through their mother's milk and the traces of their mother's diet in that milk and then increasingly through what they are eating themselves, first by nibbling and then increasingly eating from the second week of their lives when they shift from mainly nursing to mainly eating. Any new foods you introduce later on that the gut is not used to needs to be done so in small and gradually increasing amounts as part of a mix in order to give the gut microbiome time to adapt to them; this also goes for any dog pee free fresh grass. Otherwise you run the risk of diarrhea or bloating. This is not an age related but a digestion-related issue.

Veg and pellets replace the role of wild forage in an otherwise very largely (grass hay (NOT alfalfa) and fresh grass diet. As you can imagine, fruit or berries were very rarely part of it.
The acidity in fruit and tomato can cause lip infection (cheylitis) and too much sugar or starch in the vegetable diet can make your guinea pig more predisposed for bloating. Carrot is like feeding a bar of chocolate for guinea pigs. If possible, keep to green veg and fresh herbs; they also provide the necessary trace elements without lots of sugars and resemble more the diet guinea pigs have evolved on. Rather than fresh fruit (which should be only fed occasionally in small quantities as a rare treat at the best), consider varying the diet with different hays and using dry forage as enrichment and make sure that your daily veg and fresh herbs diet reflects a mix of vitamins and other trace elements that resembles more of what their natural diet would have looked like.

Please take the time to have a look at our diet guide, which looks at the role of all food sources in the diet and at each food group in detail. A good grass hay and not veg based diet can add 1-2 years to the average healthy life span and boost the general long term health. Rather than feeding special foods, concentrate on making feeding time fun.
Here is the link: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets (also includes a chapter on healthy and not so healthy treats)
Some ideas for making feeding time enrichment time: Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs