Vitamin C for a Guinea pig...?

Question

My guinea pig doesn't like the water soluble vitamin C drops i put in her water, how else can i make sure she's getting her daily requirement?

Any foods that she will like and are not dangerous for her that can provide her with Vit C?

Answer 1

Red or Green Bell Peppers: One slice of a whole pepper, given daily, remove seeds.
Broccoli: Half a floret, including the stalk, twice weekly.
Kale: Two small leaves, twice weekly. Not always available in our supermarket.
Carrot: One baby carrot or a small slice of a large carrot, every other day.
Romaine Lettuce: One large leaf, twice weekly. Never give guinea pigs iceberg lettuce, its not nutritious and it can give them upset an tummmy and diarrhoea. To be on the safe side, I give my piggies Romaine lettuce and none of the other varieties.
Celery: One 1/4 of a stick, weekly. Very stringy so needs to be chopped up into small pieces to avoid piggy choking.
Dandelion Leaves: Two or three, average size, twice weekly, seasonal food during spring and summer
Fresh Grass: Small handful, three times weekly, seasonal, spring, summer and autumn. Or my piggies go outside to eat fresh grass for themselves on warm sunny days. When spring has arrived and your grass has started to grow, just give your piggies a small amount of grass to begin with so their tummies adjust.
Baby Tomato's: One baby tomato or small plum tomato, every other day. Remember to remove the poisonous tomato top ( green part ). If using a slice from a larger tomato, remove seeds.
Cucumber: Very little nutritional value, but has high water content and is loved by most guinea pigs. One slice, include the outer layer which is their favourite part. Given every other day. Cucumber is really appreciated by guinea pigs in hot weather, it acts as a liquid and is nice and cool. A little like us enjoying an ice lolly.
Parsley: Quarter of a handful, twice weekly.
Apple: One small slice, include peel, twice weekly, remove core and pips. Royal gala variety is a favourite. Many fruits are full of natural sugar and have fruit acid. To avoid your guinea pig getting a sore mouth, cut all fruit into small pieces and just give as an occasional treat because of the high sugar content.
Pear: One small slice, include peel, twice weekly, remove core and pips.
Seedless Grapes: One or two, must be seedless, three times weekly.
Satsumer Pieces: One or two segments, remove rind and pips, give weekly. You can give a a little of any orange citrus fruit.
Corn on the Cob: A recent new food, I'm unable to find corn on the cob with outer leaves, but the leaves can be eaten by guinea pigs. Roughly a dozen tiny segments, twice weekly.
Green Beans: Two or three green beans, twice weekly.

Answer 2

hello you should supplement your guinea pigs vitamin c even if te pellets say they are nutritionally balanced.You can use a pediatric suspension of vitamin C (just from the pharmacy or supermarket) mixed with water. If you are supplementing your water with vitamin C it must be changed daily since it quickly hydrolyzes. Also you can add peppers (red and green) cabbage and kale into their diet to help increase their vitamin c content. If your guinea pig is female and pregnant then she will need more vitamin C than normal and it is thought that marginal deficiencies in ascorbic acid contribute to a high level of abortions and stillbirths in a colony. The signs of scurvy i.e lack of vitamin C are initially (nonspecific). They include, anorexia (lack of appetite), rough hair coat, listlessness, weakness and subcutaneous hemorrhages. Later, joint enlargement and painful joints may occur. Guinea pigs with scurvy may grind their teeth and maybe generally sore. Remember vitamin C breaks down rapidly, especially from the effects of heat, moisture and light. So do not keep guinea pig food for over two months. Keep it somewhere cool and dry.

Answer 3

A lot of guinea pig foods have added vitamin C, check the package. Perhaps your vet can recommend something else?
Fresh fruit and vegetables have vit C in them too and Im sure your guinea pig would like them!

Answer 4

As long as you're feeding her guinea pig pellets and fresh vegetables and fruit daily she will be fine. The vitamin C drops you put in the water aren't good, because it changes the taste, meaning that you're guinea pig still isn't getting another vitamin C, and they're not drinking enough either.

zozo_hmpf, please change the food you're feeding. Gerty Guinea Pig has coloured bits in it and the dyes are not good for Guinea Pigs. The best food is a pellet based diet, that way the pig cannot choose what it's eating.

Answer 5

It is not a good idea to add drops to your guinea pigs' water as it changes the taste and your pig may not drink as much. Also, vitamin C degrades quickly in water, so you never know exactly how much your pig is getting.

If you are feeding pellets, make sure they are specifically made for guinea pigs and have fortified vitamin C. The two best pellet brands are Oxbow and KM's pellets.

Also, your pig should be getting one cup of fresh veggies everyday, mostly dark green leafy veggies such as kale or romaine lettuce. NEVER feed iceburg lettuce. Also, red bell peppers, tomatoes (sparingly), dandelion greens can also be fed. (Red bell peppers actually have more vitamin C than oranges do!)

Check out the links below for more information.

Answer 6

Food sold as Guinea Pig food will have a source of Vit C included, although you can't be sure the GP will eat it. Fresh fruit & veg are the best way. They like most fruit (don't give apple, they love it but it can cause a fungal infection) and many green leafy veg. Broccoli stalks are very popular. Don't forget they are grazing animals (the smallest grazing mammal), grass is their natural food and they love it.

Answer 7

You can feed her oranges but not to much a small quantity will do if you give her to much she will get the runs/diarea once a week with the oranges. There is also some gourmet foods with vit C and regular foods with vit C in it mix a little of that in with her pellets again not to much and she doesnt need it every day every other day will do.

Answer 8

Two of the best vegetables for Vit C are Cauliflower and brocolli.
Both are relatively cheap and have four times more vit C than apples. Any fresh veg will do but do not feed Iceberg lettuce as it can be a laxative. Fresh hay is also usefull.

Answer 9

DON"T put stuff in their water. Pellets of any brand can't be reliable for Vitamen C because vit. C degenerates quickly. Fresh veggies are the best. The Guinealynx webs on here are the best to follow.

Answer 10

Our vet told us to give our guinea pigs vitamin C tablets, like you get at the drugstore. 100 mg a day is fine. If you get the orange-flavoured chewables tablets, the piggies will love the taste and will look forward to their daily orange treat!