I know it's been done before, but green food for guinea pigs?

[millimat]

I feel like they just get the same green things most days. Favorites would be things high in calcium that we have to limit such as spinach. Tried Savoy cabbage today for a change but they weren't impressed. There's a big variety for them of other food but as for the green leafy stuff...?

Well my guinea pigs used to like, dandelions and milkweed the best. Sprouting broccoli and the top leaves of celery also went down well but basically they used to get a lot of hay, bowl of fruit/veg, guinea pig food and often weeds my mum had gathered that she knew were good for them. They lived to six and seven on this diet.

Mine love broccoli stems, but dislike the florets. Cauliflower leaves. They also enjoy winter greens.

They are contrary little articles- some days they'll eat carrot, other days they leave them sad'n'shrivelled on the floor .

Darker greens have a higher oxilate (sp) level, increase the likelihood of bladder stones.
I give our pigs about 5-7 different veg for breakfast and supper so they don't get too much of one thing. DH and I are vegetarian s we have the veg anyway

Kale
Spring greens
broccoli (I cut the ends of when I cook for us)
Celery leaves (they don't like the stalks but make sure yo cut them small, they have those strings)
watercress/rocket/spinach mixed salad bags
salad bags but no ice-berg
pak choi/bok choi
romaine
cucumber
small gem lettuce (Sainsburys Red Topped are a favourite )
sprouts (ours had he remains of a sprout tree for Christmas. GP2 had wind )

herbs- our pigs love parsley, GP4 loves mint
pea-shoots
green beans

things-with-leaves (the pigs class as a gree)
carrots with leaves - they ignore regular carrots and scoff the ugly leafed ones
sweetcorn in their leaves

garden leaves , dandelions, (clover but it's high in calcium)

peppers (mine won't eat gren unless there's nothing else)

If we are down to the last day before I go shopping , there's only the green veg/salad , they have a " Scruffy Tea " named after Fernies ScruffyPig who will only eat green
Scruffy Tea has to be supplemented with fresh ut grass to stop the judgey looks (which is no fun in January, out there with scissors)

Don't ever give them mushrooms. I poisoned my poor pigs as I didnt know.

Mine - 7 of them- are outdoor pigs, they eat pretty much all our kitchen scrap s with the exception of asparagus and anything onionish. They have all the greens and are especially fond of root veg such as carrot, swede etc plus squashes and the occasional apple or two. They have a bale of hay which they eat, dig and play in and also nuggets. As a treat they get sweetcorn.

It's the greens that we struggle with. They said no to cauliflower, broccoli, Savoy cabbage, sprouts. Yes they love celery, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, apple and others but they don't have the vitamins in that they need and can only be found in green veg do they? They'd eat spinach every day given the choice but I know spinach needs limiting doesn't it? They were horrified by butternut squash despite me telling them that guinea pigs apparently love it. Same with swede. ( not green anyway I know). Can they have red cabbage?
As for herbs they go mad for mint and parsley but turned their noses up at sage, coriander and chives.

It's the greens we seem to struggle to vary. They love spinach but that needs limiting doesn't it? Not impressed by cauliflower, sprouts or savoy cabbage. They need more greens than anything don't they for some vitamin?
Our gps ignored me telling them that butternut squash was tasty and left it. Same for banana, swede and cucumber. They love apple, carrot, mint, parsley, celery (probably their fave veg), tomatoes, and peppers butt this doesn't solve the green issue.

Ok so it said message couldn't be posted.i checked twice and it wasn't there so retyped and now I've got 2 similar posts!

i dont think they could have red cabbage, and does it have to be green, it is the vitamin C isnt it?
mine love curly kale.

What about beetroot? I assume it would need to be raw? Know they're not green btw!

no, not beetroot

They get vitamins from their nuggets as they are fortified with the necessary stuff for pigs. Mine don't eat a wide range of fruit and veg (as 70 said, I have Scruffy pig who only eats green veg and rejects all other colours - Smooth is not so picky). They eat kale, lettuce, pepper, celery, broccoli, melon rind, parsley, basil and lavender (very occasionally but it does make them smell lovely). Smooth also eats other coloured peppers, carrot and tomato.

Neither of them will touch beetroot, swede or squash and are very suspicious of strawberries although I am not sure what they think the strawberry is going to do!

Beetroot is fine, raw, not the leaves though.
I's heavy on natural sugar so we use to fatten little pigs in winter (not a problem with my present herd they walk past the fridge and add a couple of ounces )

Mine love beetroot, it has to be the posh shredded pieces in naice salad bags. In fact any posh salad goes down well but watercress is only tolerated.

Green veg mine will eat - cabbage, cauliflower leaves, sprouts (Millie), celery, fine beans (but not French beans), runner beans, green peppers (but prefer other colours), broccoli and pea pods.

Strawberries are full of vitamin C and they can eat the tops too. All my girls love a strawberry. At this time of year a segment of Satsuma goes down well too.

My piggies are tucking supper including watermelon rind (DD ate the flesh) and chicory. (which is pale green but still a green)

I admit that it's been quite a while since I had guinea pigs but what vitamin do they need that's only found in green vegetables? I thought it was only really vitamin c that they needed from vegetables in which case the vegetables they eat sound fine. Peppers are very high in vitamin C so if they eat them then they should be fine. I also think too much green veg can be bad for piggies as they can be gassy for them.

My sister's four guinea pigs never really liked green vegetables either except kale and broccoli so she simply never fed them green veg. They mostly ate carrots, peppers, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes (so pretty similar to your pigs) and had the odd bit of broccoli or kale about once a month if that. These piggies were always very healthy, were never ill and never needed to see a vet and they all lived to ripe old ages of between 7-9 years old.

Bump for Justs new boars

Loads of ideas here. Is it ok to feed Romaine lettuce, have been advised not to?

We give a leaf of romaine it's thicker and crispier than iceberg (which is all water)

Found you!

I was thinking a thread that is just food would be great. I've copied and emailed a list to myself as I threw my food list away when my two previous piggies died.

Tomorrow I'm Trying the babies on carrots .

Ours love celery (stalks and leaves) cabbage any variety, sprouts, parsley and the occasional apple. The first time they were given apple they gave it judgy looks and stalked it, buzzing, for nearly an hour before getting brave enough to approach it. Ever since it's been known as ScaryApple. They ignore carrots except ones with leaves fussy buggers unless they've eaten all the good stuff and are forced into submission. Won't eat peelings of any kind.
We've never given them lettuce as I was always told not to when I had my gps as a teen, reading the thread with interest!

@ ScaryApple

Ours love leafed carrots (especially the fugly organic ones, I think they taste better than the neat standard ones)
Normal carrots meh
Peelings from the Sunday carrots - only if their bums are in danger of clamping shut and even then that's only after they've eaten half a cardboard box for roughage .

It's so interesting reading these as it shows their personalities- carrots and apples are the favourites in out house so we really have to limit them. Think they have a sweet tooth like me Do they need as much fresh food when they're also out eating grass?

Can I ask about the plants that grow in our lawn ie scruffy grass, worried now that the newbie pigs may be munching on the wrong stuff. There are daisies, plantain, crocus leaves, the odd bit of forget me not, clover (white flowers) and moss.

Buttercups, daisies and any bulbs are poisonous.
Clover okay in small amounts
plantain they can eat (but I think it's bitter)

Most guineas will avoid the plants they shouldn't eat but DON'T rely on this (they aren't especially bright. You know I love you hogs, but it's true )

We do skillfull arrangements of the run to avoid buttercups -which have taken over this year- and put a towel or one of their rubber carmats over the bits we can't remove.