Guinea Pig Food
Choosing The Best Guinea Pig Food Pellets
When selecting guinea pig food pellets, other than looking for basic freshness you will want to consider two things – overall nutrient ratios (what percentage of the calories consumed comes entirely from fat? protein? etc) and the actual ingredient list.
The best nutrient percentages and brand of food pellets is covered in Chapter 5 of The Complete Guinea Pig Handbook (and in the Guinea Pig Supply Checklist Bonus), so I won’t cover that here but I will discuss reading the ingredients list. There are certain ingredients you want to AVOID.
First and foremost scan the list to make sure you don’t see any animal products of any kind – this means fats, tallow, bone meal, eggs, sterols, or animal digest.
Beet pulp can clog intestines, so avoid.
Corn products and seeds, nuts, and oils should be avoided because they are not part of the natural diet and are full of too many calories and fat and very little nutrition.
Rice bran or flour – empty calories,
Vegetable fiber – a nice word for sawdust, don’t you think?
Sweeteners – corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose
Food colorings – Will appear as “FD&C reds, yellows, and blues.”
Other – Propylene glycol, Propyl gallate, Potassium sorbate, Sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, or sodium metabisulfate, Ethoxyquin, Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)/Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)
I need your help -
Guinea pig owners or potential guinea pig owners – what would you like to see on this web site? Let me know.
