Vitamin C

[Jillybee]

I see from the advice bit of the forum that it recommends you don’t put vit C drops in their water and that you syringe individual Guinea Pigs with vit C - really? Just wondered how you made sure that your pigs get Vitamin C. Any advice welcome. Biscuit and Hobnob are about 6/7 weeks old. Thanks

 

[AbbyCavy]

I see from the advice bit of the forum that it recommends you don’t put vit C drops in their water and that you syringe individual Guinea Pigs with vit C - really? Just wondered how you made sure that your pigs get Vitamin C. Any advice welcome. Biscuit and Hobnob are about 6/7 weeks old. Thanks

Hi! I am new to owning guinea pigs myself and I originally put the drops in their water. I noticed they didn’t drink much but I thought that was normal. After doing a bit of research I found out that many times they will not drink the water when it has vitamin C drops added because it makes it taste funny.

I dumped that solution and filled the bottle with plain water and it made a huge difference on how much they were drinking! I was concerned about them getting enough vitamin c but everything that I read pointed me to veggies rich in vitamin c as the answer. Also, apparently the solution that you put in the water loses majority of its beneficial properties not long after it is added to the water based on what I read.

My girls were 8 and 16 weeks when I got them. I’m not the most experienced by any means but this forum has lots of great information and advice! You’ve definitely come to the right place. I known others who know more about it will be chiming in soon

 

[Merab]

I make sure mine get their vit C from the veggies- fortunately they love everything so they get enough

 

[Jillybee]

Thanks for the replies. I would have thought they got enough vit c from veggies but I wasn’t sure.

 

[rome_italy]

although probably not necessary we at home all of us have a supplement of vit C, also the piggies of course. I use drops for children for them, but I don't put the drops into their bottle. I mix 2 drops with 3 drops of water and I immediately give the mix to the piggie using a syringe. If you want to use a supplement, don't buy the effervescent tablets and the tablet with "stabilised" vit C (for example the tablets from Oxbow), because it is not sure if the light, storage and air have or not oxidised part of that vit C. Drops are better (and cheaper) and you can dose them more accurately.
Consider also the amount of vit C of food and pellets, which are also fortified.
The danger for kidneys and joints is a huge amount of excessive vit C, for example 5000-9000mg a day, but one drop of the supplement I am using is only 6mg. A little amount is protective, a huge amount makes damages (also in us humans).