How much Spinach weekly?

[Number1Sticky]

I’m trying to add a little more variety to my guinea pigs diet. I’m hoping to add spinach to their diet twice a week. I was just wondering how much to add. I don’t want to add too much. Does anyone have any idea about how many leafs to add? One is a female skinny about 2 ½ years and the other is an almost 5 year old overweight neutered albino. I’m not sure if that matters or not.

Right now they are getting 1 cup daily of:
Baby carrot (half each)
Boston lettuce
Cilantro
Escarole
Red leaf lettuce

 

[sport_billy]

We normally give around 6-7 leaves per piggie, one day every other week..

Here's a link to a thread on Calcium/Phosphorus ratio's halway down the page it gives info on food and what frequency you can feed, daily/weekly etc... http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=30297

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

I would give spinach only sparingly, as it is very high in calcium.

I would also reduce the amount of lettuce and carrot you give; they are all very high in vitamin A, which builds up in the liver.

You can replace the foods with milder cabbages, like pointed cabbages or savoy, which are not a bad source of vitamin C and safe to feed as part of a mix.
I would also recommend varying between a slice of sweet pepper of any colour, a bit of broccoli or a sprig of fresh parsley or dill - these veg and herbs are all very high in vitamin C.
Please don't feed Asian cabbages and kale too often; they are very high in calcium.

But you can feed cilantro, cucumber and chunks of celery daily; tomatoes, green beans and mange tout, sweetcorn, carrot, lettuces, cauliflower leaves and bits of fruit 2-3 days a week, so it is easy to rotate between the last group.

Please make sure that your piggies get unlimited hay (up to 80%) of their diet.

Here is a US link for piggy diet: http://www.guinealynx.info/diet.html