Choosing the right food for your guinea pigs aren’t as hard as you thought it would be, as there are a lot of healthy choices in the market and usually, guinea pigs aren’t too picky when it comes to food. There may be a lot of food brands that you can choose from for your pet, but not all of them are made the same way, which means their nutritional value varies as well.
Choosing the best guinea pig food should consist of high-quality ingredients that are needed for your pet’s health. Having a healthy diet will not only keep them healthy, but it would also help them strive for a long time. If you are looking for the best food for your guinea pig, search no more as we have compiled a list of them down below.
Factors to Consider When Choosing Guinea Pig Food
Guinea pigs love to eat every minute of the day, but you shouldn’t worry about their voracious appetite. In fact, you should be happy as this is a sign that your pets are happy and perfectly healthy. And since they enjoy all kinds of foods, they are very easy to please. So, if you want your pet to have a healthy balanced diet, you should the following guide below.
4 Things to Consider
There are several important features that you need to consider when purchasing foods for your guinea pigs, and these are:
The Ingredients
Various food for guinea pigs are formulated with different ingredients, so make sure that you only choose the healthy ones. Guinea pig foods with high-quality ingredients can offer a lot of nutrition, which is necessary for your pet’s growth.
The ideal food for your pet is the one that is completely free from chemical-based ingredients, as well as synthetic colorings and artificial flavorings.
Size of Bags
Most food bags for guinea pigs comes in one, five, or ten-pound bags for various needs. While a smaller bag can be easily stored near your pet’s cage, getting the larger ones will make you buy foods less often for your pet.
Hand-Selected Ingredients
Some food brands for guinea pigs are hand-selected, which would ensure that their food is made of high-quality ingredients. When it comes to keeping your pet healthy, you should always go for the high-quality ones for an assurance.
Age-Related Mixture
Since your guinea pig’s needs changes as they age like humans, it’s important to choose a product that can provide all your pet needs at their current age. If your pet is already around 1-year old, then you should only feed him with guinea pig foods for adults.
Along with the considerations above, you should also know what type of hay you should to your guinea pigs. Hay is consisted of dry grass, but not of the same type of grass, which means they also have various nutritional values.
Grass in the Diet of Guinea Pig
Below are different types of grass that you can feed to your pet:
Grass Hays
As we have mentioned earlier in the article, your guinea pig’s diet should consist of about 70% to 80% of hay to keep them healthy. In fact, you should provide them with an unlimited amount of hay like filling up their feeding bowl to the brim. Do not worry as feeding them with unlimited hay won’t overfeed them. As a matter of fact, you are doing them a favor by keeping them healthy.
Aside from good health, continuously munching on hay can keep your pet’s dental health in check to prevent it from overgrowing. Now, below are some of the different types of grass hay with specific benefits.
Timothy Hay
This is the most popular types of hay that are perfect for a guinea pig’s daily diet. it is low in fat, full of fiber, and contains enough protein to provide all your pet’s need. When it comes to cutting, you should choose the second cutting.
Botanical Hay
This hay is mixed with different kinds of textures and flavors. It basically contains bits of herbs such as lemon balm, lavender, clover, chamomile, and dried flower petals. Therefore, this hay has more scent than others.
Oat Hay
This can delight your guinea pigs with its thick, crunchy, and rich in fiber dose of health. Aside from humans, guinea pigs can also enjoy a bowl of oat hay as their delicious meal for the day.
Orchard Grass Hay
This grass hay has a dual purpose, it can work as great bedding for your pet and works as a yummy food to eat. However, this is more suitable to be used as treats for your piggies.
Alfalfa and Clover Hays
These hays are both popular options in the market, but since they are higher in calcium, they are more suitable to be fed with young cavies that are ages 6 months and younger, as well as to pregnant or nursing guinea pigs. In addition, they are also higher in sugar and fat, so they should only be given as treats to older guinea pigs.
And there you have your short guide on how to properly feed your little guinea pigs. If you want to ensure that your pets won’t get hungry, provide them with healthy unlimited hay. We recommend the timothy hay as your pet’s daily meal.
Top 10 Best Guinea Pig Food
From the above factors, we have chosen the best food for guinea pigs here:
Kaytee Timothy Complete
Are you looking for an affordable, yet healthy food option for your little friend? Then this product might pique your interest. This pet food product is from a well-known brand called Kaytee, which offers high-quality food without sacrificing nutrition. It also contains probiotics and prebiotics that could help with the digestive system.
So, if you’re worried about your pet having digestive problems, then we recommend that choose this product as not only does it keep your pet’s digestive system healthy, but it also protects it from future health conflicts.
Standlee Western Timothy Grass
Hay is the main diet of a guinea pig, so if you want to make sure your pet is eating the right meal, you should feed them with at least 80% to 90% of hay daily, this would greatly help with their digestive system as well as maintain their teeth in a healthy length.
A guinea pig’s teeth grow continuously, therefore it would need to eat something to help trim it down. Hay is the perfect food when it comes to trimming a guinea pig’s teeth.
Oxbow Essentials Timothy-Based Food
Oxbow Essentials is one of the top picks of vets when it comes to food for guinea pigs. Despite the product’s low price, it comes it a large bag size, which is very convenient for owners who have busy schedules.
Additionally, it’s made by a well-known company that produces high-quality food for guinea pigs, therefore you can trust their products to provide the nutrients that your pet needs.
Higgins Sunburst Gourmet Blend
This gourmet blend for guinea pigs contains a mix of high-quality natural ingredients. These ingredients are packed with organic flavors and vitamins, which is needed for a guinea pig’s health. If you are considering its storage area, their smaller sized 3-pound food bag would be the perfect choice for you.
Higgins Sunburst is free from synthetic flavorings and colors to keep it as healthy as possible for your pet. Since the mix is freshly packed in a bag, it retains the natural flavoring of the mixture to ensure your little furry friend would love it.
Vitakraft VitaSmart Timothy Grass Formula
If your guinea pig is already an adult, this guinea pig food from Vitakraft would be the best option that you can purchase. It comes in a 10-pound bag that could feed your pet for a long time. This way, you won’t need to buy food too often as it would take some time before the bag ran out of food.
When this food for guinea pigs was made, the manufacturer made sure that its ingredients are health-focused, therefore VitaSmart contains fewer calcium, calories, and protein grams as it is made with Timothy grass.
Kaytee Timothy Hay
This timothy hay from Kaytee is a new of theirs that has been recently made available in the market. But like any other hay products, this hay for guinea pigs is as fresh as its competitors. Since this hay contains less protein and calcium, you can expect this product to provide the urinary health your guinea pig needs.
Aside from calcium and protein, the hay is very rich in protein making it one of the best foods for guinea pigs, as well as for rabbits, chinchillas, and other herbivorous pets. So, not only can you keep your pet healthy, but you can also ensure that your pet’s digestive system is well-maintained.
Small Pet Select Timothy Hay
Is your guinea pig a picky eater? Then your pet would surely love this perfect blend of Timothy hay from Small Pet Select. This brand claims that they are passionate about your pet’s daily needs, as they have hand-selected the Timothy grass and packed it in smaller batches for easier storage.
As for the Timothy grass meal, it contains Timothy leaves with soft stems to make it easier for your pet to chew, and sufficient flower heads so that your pet can enjoy eating his food. In addition, the hay smells fresh and quite appealing as well.
Brown’s Tropical Carnival Gourmet Food
If your guinea pig is a bit malnourished when you first got him, then we recommend you this food for guinea pigs from F.M Brown’s Tropical Carnival Gourmet, as it is enriched with vitamins and nutrients that can help keep your pet healthy.
This product is quite unique as it contains Zoo-Vital biscuit, which can be very helpful in keeping your pet’s teeth well-trimmed. This way, you can prevent any dental complications. This is available in five or ten-pound bags, so you have a couple of choices when it comes to storage.
Kaytee Forti Diet Pro
Have you ever given some fresh and good-tasting food for your pet guinea pig? If you haven’t tried this yet, then you should consider giving your pet some food that is rewarding for being such a good pet. The great thing about this product is that it contains probiotics and prebiotics, which is very helpful in supporting your pet’s digestive health.
Moreover, this food happens to be rich in natural antioxidants, which could further help promote your pet’s health and their immune system. This comes in large pieces, so if the pellets are too large for your guinea pig to chew, you can cut it down into smaller pieces by crushing it. But make sure that you won’t turn it into powder.
Sharllen Apple Sticks
This product, however, is not particularly a food but instead, it is a chew treat for small pets such as guinea pigs, rabbits, chinchillas, and others. Each pack of apple sticks comes in 300 grams, the number of sticks is uncertain, but each would be about 6-inches in length. If you don’t have an apple tree in your backyard, or anywhere near your neighborhood, then you can just purchase it online.
It may seem like the branch is too stale for your pet or dry, but we assure you that your guinea pigs would surely love chewing on the apple stick, as they have a rather sweet taste which your pet would love. Moreover, it also ensures the healthy growth of your pet’s teeth which is important to keep their teeth in the right length.
Conclusion
Although the food we have listed above for guinea pigs is the best ones in the market, it would still depend on you to choose a guinea pig food that you know would be best for your pet’s health. But if you recently got a pet guinea pig at home, then we recommend you to try a few different products to know which brand and taste your pet prefers. If your pet is a picky eater, then choosing the right food product for your pet would take quite some time to discover.
