A guinea pig is a tailless domesticated species of South American rodent that is mostly kept as a pet. The regular diet of a guinea pig consists of a huge amount of hay, fruit, and vegetables. In today’s article, we will discuss the food diet of guinea pigs.
Can Guinea pigs eat oats?
You might consider giving your guinea pigs oats to eat, but they cannot eat oats. The oats contain harmful elements that may damage their urinary system. It contains a high amount of phosphorus, mineral, carbohydrate which are not suitable for their digestive system and may affect their growth.
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The guinea pig is a South American rodent that most people like to keep as a pet. These tailless small rodents require a high number of herbs, so their daily diet should be based on hay.
It helps them to keep their digestive system healthy and at the same time balance their growth. Oats are not suitable for feeding all types of guinea pigs. You can feed oats to skinny guinea pigs who have no appetite.
Oats contain harmful elements that may affect a guinea pig’s health. Due to the consumption of oats, a guinea pig may face excessive growth.
Below is a brief description of the different types of oats and discusses whether they can be fed to guinea pigs:
Oats and honey:
You should not feed the guinea pigs oats and honey. Honey contains harmful additives and preservatives so you should not feed them oats and honey.
Porridge oats:
Since the guinea pigs are not grain-eaters. So, you should not feed them porridge oats. It will eventually cause them to gain excess weight.
Rolled oats:
Rolled oats should not be fed to the guinea pig because it can cause damage to the urinary system of a guinea pig.
Quaker oats:
Quaker oats contain high-energy materials that are not a good staple food for a guinea pig. Although you can provide them to a guinea pig if they are skinny.
Raw oats:
Raw oats contain high calories so the guinea pigs usually like them a lot. But providing raw oat to guinea pigs may affect their weight.
Quick oats:
Plain and quick-cooking oatmeal should not be fed to guinea pigs since they contain phosphorus which is harmful to their health.
Dry oats:
Dry oatmeal contains the same amount of nutrition that is in a regular oat. So, eventually feeding them this will bring the same results.
Steel-cut oats:
Steel-cut oats are not recommended to feed the guinea pigs so you should avoid feeding them steel-cut oats.
Plain oats:
If you want to let your guinea pig become healthy and strong, do not provide them with regular oats.
Old fashioned oats:
These types of oats are grainy and contain a high number of grains. The guinea pigs do not like to eat old-fashioned oats, so it is better not to feed them such type of food.
Do guinea pigs like and eat oats? Are oats good for guinea pigs?
The guinea pigs like and eats oats. The oats due to their texture and smell are loved by the guinea pigs. Since the oats are mostly grains, many guinea pigs do not like to eat oats.
The guinea pigs love to eat hay and herbs rather than grains. Moreover, the guinea pigs will only consume oats if they become desperate to search for food.
The oats are not good for guinea pigs. The oats contain harmful elements in them such as phosphorus and mineral which may affect their urinary system. The guinea pigs like to eat hay, which contains proper nutrition elements.
On the other hand, oats contain fiber which is harmful to the guinea pig’s growth. Due to the consumption of oats your guinea pig may gain excess weight which is not good for them to live.
3 reasons why guinea pigs can eat oats
On the one hand, guinea pigs should not eat oats, but there are some good aspects. So, in special cases, you can give oats to your guinea pig if you want. But you have to remember that it is not part of their diet and it can have adverse effects on their body.
That is why it is better not to feed them oats in the long run. Eating oats can also cause bladder problems in addition to abnormal weight gain in a guinea pig’s body.
So, to keep your guinea pig away from all these diseases, refrain from feeding oats regularly. The following are some reasons why guinea pigs may be fed oats:
To gain weight:
In some cases, you might see your guinea pigs are not growing properly. As a result, they grow skinny and easily get affected by diseases for being underweight.
That is why odds are recommended with a specific regular diet to help them gain some more weight.
To help skin-related issues:
Sometimes the guinea pigs face hair loss and skin-related issues. Oatmeal can be a great option for the guinea pigs to recover that hair loss and skin. It makes the coat of the cavy shinier and thicker.
Nutrition value:
Oats contain a high number of nutritional elements which can be in some way beneficial for the guinea pigs to become healthy. Oats contain a high amount of carbs, protein, fiber, calcium, and vitamin.
What are the nutritional values of oats for guinea pigs?
There are multiple nutritional values of oats for guinea pigs. Firstly, oats are high in carbs and fiber.
Generally, oats contain protein and iron. Such an amount of protein and carbs are a great option to start the day for a human, but for a guinea pig, it can only be applied if the guinea pig is underweighting or having a serious hunger issue.
Apart from that, oats are high in fibers. That is good for digestion. It contains a moderate amount of fat which helps to keep the cardiovascular system of a guinea pig in good health.
And finally, it contains thiamine, vitamin, calcium, iron, magnesium, etc. Vitamin helps to convert the carbs into energy and keeps the heart, nerves, and muscles healthy. The good thing about oats is it does not contain any type of cholesterol.
How much oats should be given to guinea pigs? How often can guinea pigs have oats?
A large number of oatmeal should not be provided to the guinea pigs since it has harmful elements that can affect their health system. Half a handful would be enough.
In some cases, if the guinea pig is underweighting or having skin or hair-related problems, you can give the guinea pig to eat some oats because it will eventually fix the issue. That is why a few oats can be provided to the guinea pigs.
When feeding your guinea pigs with oats, you need to make sure that you do not provide oats to your guinea pigs regularly, rather go for twice a week.
This will cause the guinea pigs to affect their growth system and make them overweight. Feeding the guinea pigs with oats regularly will also cause damage to the urinary system. This is why you should not feed the guinea pig oats very often.
What kind of oats cannot guinea pigs eat?
It is prohibited for the guinea pig to eat any type of oatmeal. The oatmeal contains phosphorus and mineral that may cause damage to the guinea pigs’ urinary system.
Oats also contain carbohydrates, which are harmful to the guinea pig’s health because they can cause them to grow excess weight.
To prevent any sickness and heart-related issues of your guinea pig, you should avoid feeding them oats. In addition to that, oats are not a part of a guinea pigs’ regular diet.
You can only feed a little number of oats to the underweight guinea pigs and the ones who have skin-related issues. Other than that, it is not recommended for the guinea pigs to feed any type of oats.
What happens if guinea pigs eat too much oats?
Due to overconsumption of oats, the guinea pigs may fall sick and gain excess weight. It is highly recommended to avoid feeding oats to the guinea pigs.
Oats contain phosphorus and minerals that cause harm to a guinea pigs’ urinary system.
In some cases, the consumption of oats may cause the guinea pig to gain excess weight. That is why you should not feed oats to the guinea pigs.
Apart from that, oats can only be fed to the guinea pigs if they are underweight or facing any skin-related issue.
Oats are full of high-value nutrients that are not suitable for a guinea pigs’ regular diet, so it is recommended to avoid oats from feeding the guinea pigs.
Final thoughts
Although the guinea pigs can eat oats since it contains fiber and other nutritional elements in them. But it is not recommended to feed them oats since the high-value fiber, calories, and grain may affect the guinea pig’s health system and cause them to gain excess weight and face obesity.