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Green beans

Hannah_xx

Hannah_xx

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I’ve always fed my Guinea wigs green beans but I got an email today from Guineapigs Australia.com. Just a random email with a feeding guide, I decided I’d take a look as I don’t normally ready these emails lol.
Anyway it said that green beans should NEVER be fed?
Is this true? I can see this feeding guide isn’t very good but the green bean thing is weird isn’t it? Or have I been slowly poisoning my pigs?!
3B002894-48F7-41AB-BA76-C98104157885.webp
 
Strange! It says no beetroot either and my lot love the salad mix that has grated beetroot in, apart from pink pee I've never noticed it do them any harm!
 
Mine love green beans (except for Ruby) and they usually get 1 per pig per day.
Beetroot not so often but they love it, and it was actually recommended by my experienced exotics vet who said it can be useful for weight gain.
 
Mine get a green bean each per day. Never had a problem with that. And a bit of raw beetroot is devoured with no ill effects either. Not sure where they get their info from.
 
Hannah_xx said:
I’ve always fed my Guinea wigs green beans but I got an email today from Guineapigs Australia.com. Just a random email with a feeding guide, I decided I’d take a look as I don’t normally ready these emails lol.
Anyway it said that green beans should NEVER be fed?
Is this true? I can see this feeding guide isn’t very good but the green bean thing is weird isn’t it? Or have I been slowly poisoning my pigs?!
View attachment 121225
Click to expand...

Your issue lies with the chosen picture to illustrate beans!
If you want to run simplified picture guides, you have to be ever so careful in what pictures you choose!

Beans should not be fed while it is perfectly OK to feed the green pods of beans and peas.

Basically:
Yes - pods ('green' or French beans') and mangetout (pea pods)
1566987970261.png

No - beans
1566988033871.png


The same goes for beetroot:
It is perfectly safe to feed the root but like any root veg it is not recommended to feed too often - and that goes especially for carrots.
Some people say that beetroot leaves are toxic to guinea pigs and others say they aren't and have been feeding them for years...

Here are our own guides. I have clarified the bean/pea issue in our diet guide:
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Please be aware that safe and unsafe foods are quite a contradictory mine field once you get into it into more detail.

I hope that this answers your question?
 
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I've never had an issue with green beans! Mine love them! And beetroot is weird either. Apart from my not so great moment of panicking my piggies had blood in their pee from beetroot...
 
Great, :tu:
I have been looking to introduce more variety in their veggies, so I am glad to know about green beans with pods. I will surely get some and introduce it to them.
My mom used to get it for us but she cooked it. I won’t cook it and give it to them raw.

So, I can give the entire green beans with pods and raw, without cooking?
 
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Mine love the odd green bean and devour them when I give it to them. I have avoided giving them green beans recently cos of Velvet pasing a bladder stone and having a sludgy bladder. Does anyone know if they are high in calcium at all?
 
Betsy said:
Mine love the odd green bean and devour them when I give it to them. I have avoided giving them green beans recently cos of Velvet pasing a bladder stone and having a sludgy bladder. Does anyone know if they are high in calcium at all?
Click to expand...
37mg. Is this high?
 
@Betsy the green bit of beans is fine. I open pods up and scrape out the bean even the little white ones you sometimes get in fine beans. Not that mine eat them if they are left in (remember the little white poop thread!). :)) There's high calcium food advice for bladder pigs in the diet guide. My vet has advised against any root veg (latest research apparently). I still feed a tiny sliver of carrot once every couple of weeks as a treat which is all they ever had and Peanut loves the end of the parsnip if the humans are having one but it's not often.

White poop
 
I go by “Moderation is the Key”. Not sure who said it but it made sense to me so I use it.

However, I have been giving baby carrot with cucumber in rotation throughout the week. I will just increase giving cucumber and give less baby carrot throughout the week.

Glad I am reading this thread, :)
 
Wiebke said:
Your issue lies with the chosen picture to illustrate beans!
If you want to run simplified picture guides, you have to be ever so careful in what pictures you choose!

Beans should not be fed while it is perfectly OK to feed the green pods of beans and peas.

Basically:
Yes - pods ('green' or French beans') and mangetout (pea pods)
View attachment 121226

No - beans
View attachment 121227


The same goes for beetroot:
It is perfectly safe to feed the root but like any root veg it is not recommended to feed too often.
Some people say that beetroot leaves are toxic to guinea pigs and others say they aren't and have been feeding them for years...

Here are our own guides. I have clarified the bean/pea issue in our diet guide:
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Please be aware that safe and unsafe foods are quite a contradictory mine field once you get into it into more detail.

I hope that this answers your question?
Click to expand...

Thanks for confirming! It’s weird they say no green beans on that guide when it’s a photo of perfectly acceptable green beans!

I’m always so so careful what I feed my sqwigs. But feel I have quite a good knowledge and understanding of each different animals diets so was shocked to see that silly useless guide.

Love this forum :)
 
Hannah_xx said:
Thanks for confirming! It’s weird they say no green beans on that guide when it’s a photo of perfectly acceptable green beans!

I’m always so so careful what I feed my sqwigs. But feel I have quite a good knowledge and understanding of each different animals diets so was shocked to see that silly useless guide.

Love this forum :)
Click to expand...

Our recommendations have changed over the last decade and will change as new research is coming out and percolating through, but in the meantime we go with what seems to work... ;)
 
There is so much conflicting information out there that it hurts your brain so I just stick with the guides in the forum now as otherwise my poor piggies would never have any variety. Green beans is one of their everyday veg which they love.
 
Alisa3114 said:
There is so much conflicting information out there that it hurts your brain so I just stick with the guides in the forum now as otherwise my poor piggies would never have any variety. Green beans is one of their everyday veg which they love.
Click to expand...
Worry too much and you will stop enjoying your animals, they start to become a job, and it shouldn't be like this. 👍 I got caught up in all of this, but after speaking to people that felt the same and taking a break from the Internet for a month. I am back to normal
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Worry too much and you will stop enjoying your animals, they start to become a job, and it shouldn't be like this. 👍 I got caught up in all of this, but after speaking to people that felt the same and taking a break from the Internet for a month. I am back to normal
Click to expand...
Totally agree we have enough stress in our everyday jobs, I actually look forward to getting home from work to see them 😊 I think the Internet can be a curse and a blessing these days.
 
Veggies Galore said:
Just want to refer people to this thread.....

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Runner Beans?
Click to expand...
Where do stringless beans sit in the green bean debate? My lot ate some last week and they enjoyed them a lot... they never get much of this sort of thing, it just gets included maybe once or twice a week on their exciting mixed veg day when the hoomans have veggie stirfry dinner!
 
Bill and Ted won’t eat any green bean that have beans inside, they are fussy and will only eat Extra Fine French beans. The bean seed on any plant does have chemicals that warn off animals not to eat them as natural protection. The pods and leaves themselves become more tough and unpalatable to animals the more the bean or seed ripens.
 
Blitzen used to go nuts for green beans. Comet would stare at you like "Right okay, that's his dinner, where's mine?" :)) Mind you they both loved mangetout and the very very occasional sugarsnaps.
 
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