Lettuce

[PiggyPlanet]

I would like to feed my piggies some lettuce but I am unsure what kind to give them. The only kind in my house is iceberg and I have read various times it's unhealthy to guinea pigs and they should never be fed it, what sort do I feed them?

 

[shannonandrosy]

A few that i know of and feed mine are red leaf, green leaf, romaine there are some more also

 

[Jecf]

Green leaf is the most preferred as it's high in vitamin c but doesn't cause white powdery pee..red leaf is good as well romane is fine for younger pigs as the extra calcium is okay for them just watch their pee output..and it isn't iceberg is bad just has no health benifit to pigs

 

[Jesse's pigs]

I like to give mine round lettuce also (cos we buy that in bulk for our tortoises)

 

[VickiA]

Please don't give iceberg. It has no nutritional content for piggies and is known to cause gastric upset such as diarrhoea. A small quantity of romaine lettuce is fine for piggies but feed sparingly. I sometimes give a handful of rocket. Small amounts of leafy greens or cabbage (sweetheart is preferred in this house) are usually better for piggies.
Here's a link about fruit and veg to help you
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading

 

[Piggy mum]

Mine sometimes have little gem lettuce as a treat!

 

[rome_italy]

I almost never buy salad (too many residuals of pesticides found at the checks done in Europe), but sometimes I offer the piggies a whole plant of a salad and they love it if it served cool, sprayed with water and without cutting the leaves. Maybe my piggies are weird, but they have never had any issue in eating cold vegs from the fridge, a whole salad or a huge amount of fresh grass... I would not recommend to do the same I do, though. I do that only because I know it is safe for my piggies. I always check their poo and decide what to do.
Never served the iceberg. It has no nutritious value.
The salad below was finished in one afternoon.

The salads they prefer are these ones below

 

[rome_italy]

Green leaf is the most preferred as it's high in vitamin c but doesn't cause white powdery pee..red leaf is good as well romane is fine for younger pigs as the extra calcium is okay for them just watch their pee output..and it isn't iceberg is bad just has no health benifit to pigs

actually romane has less calcium that the escarole and the green leaf, but romane has more phopshorus than calcium; this imbalance is not good for adsorbing the calcium which then is excreted with urine... this might be a reason for the white wee, although the ratio calcium phosphorus depends on the whole amount of the daily food, not only one food...
Romane lettuce has this effect on the presence of calcium, but the fact is not clear. The only clear fact is that salad grows up filled with pesticides and hormones which cannot be washed completely and in Italy lettuce is not recommended by pediatricians for toddlers soups, too...