Can Guinea Pigs Eat Carrots?
In this article, we’ll let you know all the details about whether your guinea pigs can eat carrots. We’ll let you know how to prepare the carrots to make them simpler for your pet to eat. We’ll also review what kind of problems could develop if you feed your guinea pigs too many carrots.
I’ll share what I learned early on about guinea pigs and carrots. Remember even if your guinea pigs love carrots and don’t show any worrisome behaviors immediately after trying a new food, it isn’t automatically a green light for safety. Some foods for guinea pigs, like carrots, can cause gradual problems over time that you may not notice right away.
Believe it or not, guinea pigs can eat carrots. Maybe that’s not such a stretch since guinea pigs are like rabbits and we all know rabbits eat carrots. But guinea pigs can certainly eat carrots. We have two nearly one-year-old guinea pigs, Olive and Bandit. They LOVE carrots! But guinea pigs need a healthy balance of fruits and veggies along with their usual diet of fresh hay and fresh water and pellets. Read on to find out how our guinea pigs love of carrots and my lack of knowledge got us into trouble early on.
Are Carrots Good for Guinea Pigs?
Carrots are great for people and for rabbits so it must be perfectly fine for guinea pigs to eat carrots, right? That was my thought when we brought out two young guinea pigs home. Carrots have some valuable nutrients that are good for your guinea pigs but they are also high in natural sugar. Guinea pigs can eat carrots or the leafy green tops. If you’re buying fresh carrots, cut the carrots into small pieces to make them easier for your guinea pigs to digest and to reduce the possibility of choking.
How Often Should I Feed My Guinea Pigs Carrots?
Carrots are okay for guinea pigs to eat and they will eat as many as you feed them. This led us to a bit of trouble with our young guinea pigs. They simply loved them. Our two guinea pigs, especially Oliver, would whistle and shake the bars of the cage with his teeth every time we opened the fridge. once They figured out quickly where the carrots were kept and it was like they were demanding their carrots!
Since carrots are relatively inexpensive, we’d buy several bags of baby carrots at the store, wash them thoroughly and keep them in the fridge ready to feed whenever someone got into the fridge. Well, our cute little tiny guinea pigs soon turned into gigantic guinea pigs! They gained a ton of weight very quickly.
That’s when I discovered the truth about guinea pigs and carrots. Guinea pigs can only eat carrots in moderation because carrots have a lot of natural sugar in them. This natural sugar when fed too often to guinea pigs can cause them to quickly become overweight. Only feed your guinea pigs carrots occasionally, maybe once or twice a week. If they seem overweight or show any usual behavior, get them to your vet for a checkup.