Guinea pig vitamin C supplementing tips

Guinea pig vitamin C fuss... Ever wondered what is all that about? Well there is definitely a reason for the fuss.

Guinea pigs can't produce their own vitamin C. Same as humans. Unlike guinea pigs, other animals don't have this problem.

To help them, we need to add vitamin C to guinea pig diet. What we usually do for us will not work for guine pigs. For them we should supplement food, not water.

So how to solve this guinea pig vitamin C problem?

Feed them food rich with vitamin C and then... add more vitamin C. As mentioned - it is all about the diet. Make sure the pet has timothy hay and pellets available all day. Feed them raw, fresh vegetables and fruits.

Never feed your guinea pigs pellets that are not specially created for them because guinea pig pellets have vitamin C added already.

Also, don't forget what you probably learned long time ago - vitamin C is very unstable so it disappears easily.

Photo courtesy of MJames/Flickr

This is very important especially if you plan to put vitamin C for your pets in the water. This is not a good solution. Not only it will disappear very fast and not have any effect but guinea pigs might not like the taste of water and they will just stop drinking it.

Foods rich in vitamin C

This is a list of food that has high level of vitamin C so you can cover most of guinea pig vitamin C issue by feeding them with it:

fruits

• kiwi
• orange
• strawberry

• peppers - red, green and yellow (red has the most vitamin C)
• broccoli (not too much because it can cause gas)
• asparagus
• brussel sprouts

Besides feeding them with food that has high level of vitamin C you should add vitamin C to the food. Ask your vet which supplements to use.

Once you have vitamin C supplements, just crush the tablet and sprinkle it on fruits or vegetables. It will be easier to give them the vitamin if they are eating i.e. tomato than carrot because the crushed tablet will stick easier to a moist piece of vegetable.