Guinea pigs are one of the most famous species of rodents around the world. They are very popular as pets in different parts of the world.
Many guinea pig owners can not decide about what to feed to their guinea pigs. Today, we are going to discuss and find out whether guinea pigs can eat nectarines or not.
Can guinea pigs eat nectarines?
Guinea pigs can eat nectarine fruits due to its sweet taste. Nectarine fruits also contain many health benefits for guinea pigs in the form of vitamins, minerals, and other components. But nectarine fruits can not be part of a guinea pig’s daily diet and can only be served as occasional treat.
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Let’s take a look at different kinds of nectarines and find out if you can feed them to your guinea pigs.
White nectarines:
Guinea pigs can certainly eat the white variant of nectarines. The important fact about white nectarines is that they taste sweeter than other variety of nectarines.
This is why guinea pigs love eating white nectarines as they taste sweeter due to small amount of acid. But guinea pigs should not be fed white nectarines more than twice a week. Guinea pigs can also eat the skin of white nectarines.
Yellow nectarines:
Yellow nectarines can be fed to guinea pigs in small portion. Yellow nectarines contain much more acidic flavour than white nectarines with same amount of sweetness.
But due to its acidic flavour, guinea pigs can not eat too much yellow nectarines. Just like the white nectarines, guinea pigs are also able eat the skin of yellow nectarines.
Do guinea pigs like and eat nectarines? Can guinea pigs eat nectarine skin?
It is believed by animal experts that guinea pigs enjoy eating nectarines. Guinea pigs like and eat nectarines because of its delicious taste.
Nectarines taste very sweet to the taste buds of animals including guinea pigs. So you will often find your guinea pig feasting on sweet taste of nectarines.
Guinea pigs can even eat the skin of nectarines. But the important thing to remember here is that the nectarine skin needs to be washed properly in order to make it edible for guinea pigs.
Because eating unclean nectarine skin can cause discomfort inside a guinea pig’s stomach.
However, whether a guinea pig eats the nectarine skin or not often depends on its personal choice.
But eating properly washed nectarine skin does not possess any health risk for guinea pigs. So nectarine is a good choice of food for guinea pigs as they like the taste of it.
Can guinea pigs have nectarines every day?
Guinea pigs are known for being herbivorous animals. So they require a decent amount of fruits and vegetables on their daily diet.
But nectarines work best as occasional treat as they contain a high amount of sugar. So guinea pigs can not have nectarines every day even if they like the taste of it.
In fact, you can feed nectarines to guinea pigs one time per week. The nectarines can be fed to guinea pigs as part of a fruit salad along with other fruits.
The digestive system of a guinea pig is not strong enough to break down something complex like sugar. Feeding nectarines to guinea pigs every day can damage their health significantly.
4 reasons why guinea pigs can eat nectarines
There are several reasons which enable you to feed nectarines to your guinea pig. Let’s discuss in detail about some of those reasons.
Food habit of guinea pigs:
Guinea pigs are considered as herbivorous animals and can consume fruits and vegetables. This is one of the major reasons why guinea pigs can eat nectarines. The food habit of guinea pigs allows you to feed slices of nectarines to them.
Taste of nectarines:
Nectarine fruits taste sweet to a guinea pig’s taste buds. Guinea pigs absolutely enjoy eating nectarines at any given time. Even the skin of nectarines tastes good to guinea pigs and is desired by them on a consistent basis.
Occasional treat:
As nectarines contain high amount of sugar, they can not be fed regularly to guinea pigs. But nectarines can obviously be fed to guinea pigs as occasional treat. Animal experts suggest that you feed nectarines to your guinea pig once or twice a week.
Healthy choice:
Nectarines hold multiple health benefits for guinea pigs because of their components. They contain vitamins, proteins, carbs and other important chemical components needed for the growth of a guinea pig.
Guinea pigs should not be fed something that does not have any nutritional value for them. As nectarines contain a lot of essential nutritional value for guinea pigs, you can certainly feed nectarine fruits to them.
How many nectarines can guinea pigs eat? How much nectarines is too much for guinea pigs?
Guinea pigs absolutely love the sweet taste that nectarines provide. But the sweet taste of nectarines is also the reason why guinea pigs can not and should not eat too many nectarines.
The high amount of sugar present in nectarines can cause health problems in guinea pigs if you feed too many nectarines to them.
The approved amount of nectarines for a guinea pig is said to be a few slices. The sliced parts of nectarines should be mixed with other fruits and vegetables and should be fed to guinea pigs once or twice a week.
Anything more than that can seriously hamper the health of guinea pigs as their digestive system is not strong enough to handle the high amount of sugar found in nectarines.
What are the health benefits of guinea pigs eating nectarines?
There are several health benefits that guinea pigs gain from eating nectarines. Let’s discuss in detail about some of them.
High amount of carb and protein:
Nectarines are known for containing pretty high amount of carb and protein. Carb and protein are very beneficial for guinea pigs as these components can provide the much-needed energy that guinea pigs require to function.
Low amount of calories:
Guinea pigs can eat nectarines without worrying about weight gain. Because nectarine fruits contain very low amount of calories which make them a good food choice for guinea pigs.
High amount of vitamins:
Nectarines are a natural source of vitamins. First of all, they contain vitamin B which is essential to break down carb and protein of nectarines which supply energy to a guinea pig’s body.
Additionally, nectarine fruits have vitamin A in them which improves the immunity of guinea pigs.
Nectarines also possess vitamin C which gives guinea pigs protection against serious diseases like scurvy. All these vitamins are important for the health of guinea pigs.
Protection against heart diseases:
Nectarines are good for the heart of a guinea pig. Because nectarines possess essential components like potassium and niacin which decrease the chance of heart diseases in guinea pigs.
Protection against blood diseases:
Nectarines possess low amount of fat and cholesterol which ensure smooth blood circulation. Additionally, they contain iron that is also crucial for uninterrupted blood circulation for guinea pigs.
How to feed nectarines to guinea pigs?
Sometimes guinea pig owners face difficulties when it comes to feeding nectarines to guinea pigs. There are some steps and methods one can follow which will make the task easier. Let’s discuss in detail about them.
Clean them properly:
First of all, you will need to clean the nectarine properly by washing them with fresh water. Guinea pigs are known for eating the skin of nectarine fruit.
That is why cleaning them properly will remove any risk of toxicity as the nectarine’s skin can sometimes possess elements that are harmful for guinea pigs. You can also peel the skin off if your guinea pig does not enjoy eating the skin.
Detachment of the pit:
Every nectarine fruit contains a pit that should be detached before serving nectarines to your guinea pig.
The pit is big in size and often possesses toxic cyanide that is dangerous for your guinea pig. Nectarine should not be fed to guinea pigs without detaching the pit at any cost.
Slice the fruit:
Nectarine fruit needs to be sliced into small pieces to make it easily edible for guinea pigs. A whole nectarine fruit should not be fed to guinea pigs as they contain higha amount of sugar.
Make a mixture:
Nectarine fruit needs to be fed to guinea pigs as occasional treat. The maximum time you can feed nectarines to your guinea pig weekly is two times.
The sliced nectarine fruit has to be mixed with other fruits and vegetables and served as a salad.
Final Thoughts
Nectarine fruits can be fed to guinea pigs as occasional treat. They contain significant amount of vitamins, carbs, proteins and other essential elements needed for the growth of guinea pigs. Nectarine fruits should be sliced into small pieces and fed to guinea pigs once or twice a week.