Mom won't let me feed veggies to my guinea pigs

gmsong

gmsong

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Hello!
I have 2 guinea pigs and they're both about 4 months old. My mom read that guinea pigs shouldn't eat veggies at all. She says it makes their poop and pee stinky. I negotiated it down to letting my guinea pigs have veggies 2 times a week and fruit only once a month. How can I convince her to let me feed more?
 
In the wild, guinea pigs have a diet which is rich in fresh vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Therefore it is a good idea to replicate this as much as possible and feed your pets the types of foods that they enjoy eating and can digest easily.
Feeding your guinea pigs vegetables and fruit as a regular part of their diet provides them with a wide range of essential vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C. It also keeps their diet varied and interesting. After all, nobody likes eating the same thing for every meal, and guinea pigs are no different. Hard vegetables are also great for your pets' teeth, keeping them sharp and at a comfortable length.
 
GuineaPiggy101 said:
In the wild, guinea pigs have a diet which is rich in fresh vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Therefore it is a good idea to replicate this as much as possible and feed your pets the types of foods that they enjoy eating and can digest easily. The advice on this page will help you choose the right foods to feed them, prepare them properly, and feed them in the correct quantities.
Feeding your guinea pigs vegetables and fruit as a regular part of their diet provides them with a wide range of essential vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C. It also keeps their diet varied and interesting. After all, nobody likes eating the same thing for every meal, and guinea pigs are no different. Hard vegetables are also great for your pets' teeth, keeping them sharp and at a comfortable length.
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My mom doesn't agree. She just thinks that we should put vitamin c drops in their water, but won't that change the taste of the water and make it bitter or something? How can I convince her to give me veggies for my gps?
 
Oh boy... I would suggest getting her to look at this forum. Even look at rescue sites etc for guides or something like guinealynx. Without veggies they will be malnourished and they’ll be very ill. It would actually be classed as neglect.

If she’s not prepared to give them what they need she should consider contacting a good piggy rescue. It’s not fair to starve them of what they need because someone said their wee will stink... it’s not even true 🤦🏻‍♀️
 
They eat veggies twice a week with pellets and hay always.
 
Oh I'm sorry are there absolutely no shops around you you can get to? Using buses?
 
You need to feed veg to get them vit c, no vit c = scurvvy, scurvy = horrible slow death.

If you are going to grab any veg, make sure its red BELL pepper at the top of your list.

Vit c drops in the water will degrade and its not reliable.
 
You can definitely find a way to get veg for your piggies. Shop for your own if you must! As mentioned above, bell peppers are great. And for a little tip; although it won't be enough every day, grass is a great (free!) "Veggie" / hay variety, you can handpick from the garden if it's dog-free. Dandelion leaves are ok too, and much loved by piggies, but only in small amounts.
 
I mean surely you are 17 years old or more if you are on the forum and could fix yourself a salad snack after school or college if you wanted? At 17 my daughter made most of her own meals... she just told me what food to buy and the food disappeared and if the fire alarm didnt go off while she was cooking and there wasnt a burning pan in the back yard we were happy!
 
I will admit my parents, especially my mother, did not allow my piggies to have veg because my past guinea pig, Jasper, became addicted to veg and refused to eat hay and then he got malocclusion and we had to put him down. :(
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
You need to feed veg to get them vit c, no vit c = scurvvy, scurvy = horrible slow death.

If you are going to grab any veg, make sure its red BELL pepper at the top of your list.

Vit c drops in the water will degrade and its not reliable.
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I thought it was green pepper that had the highest vitamin c content
 
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Lady Kelly said:
I looked it up and there's so many conflicting sites out there. I even found two or three that said yellow was the highest but then all the rest said yellow and orange peppers contained less than any other fruit
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Crazy, i feed both anyway, but red mainly.
 
I just found a research paper saying yellow bell peppers have higher vit C than green or red, but red is higher than green. But a slice or two of any pepper is clearly better than no veggies...
 
I 100% agree with what’s being said. Piggies need veggies and lettuce every day. I’m still living w/ my parents and don’t have my license yet but I will often walk to the store to get veggies and such. Luckily my parents are very supportive of my piggie journey and pick up veggies if needed but even without them my piggies would get loads of veggies and lettuce. Please don’t add vitamin c drops to water. Sometimes piggies don’t like the taste and won’t drink the water and you don’t get an accurate reading of how much vitamin c they are getting.
I would recommend showing your mom this forum and having her call ANY small animal vet or even a pet store. It seems like you want the best for your piggies xx
 
PigglePuggle said:
I've eaten one, from an organic farm in the USA, it was awesome! Purple carrots are lovely too, shame the Victorians standardised acceptable veg, there are lots of cultivars that never get a look-in...
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Purple and yellow carrots are delicious! We buy them quite frequently. My piggies like them too 😂
 
You could convince her by using ‘scraps’ of veggies or fruit that are going to be thrown away, things like carrot peelings, apple cores (remove seeds), the first cut of tomato with the rounded edge which I don’t like to put in a butty cause it squishes out when you take a bite :drool:, one or two slices of pepper - even the parts around the stork which would usually be thrown you can give to piggy’s, the tips off green beans, one lettuce leaf (no iceberg), I could go on but you catch my drift...
 
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