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Can Guinea Pigs Eat Cucumbers?

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Guinea pigs are cute rodents that make great pets for adults and children alike.

Keeping guinea pigs as pets is easy as they eat a wide variety of foods and you can feed them all kinds of interesting foods as treats.

What can you feed your guinea pigs with? Can you give them vegetable treats such as cucumbers?

Guinea pigs do not just eat cucumbers, they love cucumbers. Cucumbers are delicious and nutritious for your pet guinea pigs. Your guinea pigs will love eating cucumbers as treats, especially in the summer months.

In this article we will discuss feeding guinea pigs cucumbers and try to answer other questions about what your guinea pigs should be eating.

Young woman feeding guinea pig cucumber

Feeding Your Guinea Pig Cucumbers

Cucumber is an awesome food for guinea pigs. As herbivores, your guinea pigs can eat plants and plant products.

While there are many types of foods and treats for guinea pigs, cucumbers are among the best treats for them because they are natural, water-rich, delicious, and nutritious.

In the summer months when your guinea pigs start to feel the heat, you should give them cucumbers to keep them cool and help them stay hydrated.

Some Problems to Watch Out for When Feeding Guinea Pigs with Cucumbers

Even though you can feed your guinea pigs cucumbers, you have to remember that too many cucumbers can be bad for them.

Here are some ways that overfeeding your guinea pigs with cucumbers can harm them:

  • Excess Urine: Cucumbers are full of water. Giving guinea pigs foods that contain a lot of water such as cucumbers can make them urinate a lot. This can be stressful for you as you’ll need to clean the guinea pig cage more often than you usually do.
  • Slow Growth: Cucumbers are nutritious, but they do not contain a lot of proteins. This means that cucumbers will not help your guinea pigs to growth rate. You will need to feed your guinea pigs with other protein-rich foods that we will discuss later.
  • Food Waste: Cucumbers are water-filled, so they can spoil easily. You should not give your guinea pigs too many cucumbers at once or they will waste them.

How to Feed Guinea Pigs with Cucumbers

Feeding your guinea pigs with cucumbers is easy. Just use the tips below:

  • Give Cucumbers to Your Guinea Pigs as Treats: Do not give cucumbers to your guinea pigs as regular meals. Instead, give them cucumbers as occasional treats.
  • Make a Fruit Salad with Cucumbers for Your Guinea Pigs: If you are feeling like fixing something special or you want to give your guinea pigs the healthiest and most delicious treat, give them a fruit salad made with cucumbers and other fruits. Remember not to give them too much to prevent wasting.
  • Do Not Dispose of Your Leftover Cucumbers: If you have some leftover cucumbers, you should give them to your guinea pigs. Make sure that they are not rotten or bad.
  • Dispose of Cucumbers Uneaten by Your Guinea Pigs after 12 Hours: To prevent your guinea pigs from getting sick, you should remove uneaten cucumbers from their cage after 12 hours. Cucumbers can quickly go bad.
A long-haired guinea pig sits on the floor and nibbles a cucumber

Other Foods and Treats for Guinea Pigs

Here are some other recommended food ideas for guinea pigs:

1. Hay and Straw

Of course, guinea pigs need their regular hay diet. Hay is very important for guinea pigs. As a dry feed, it does not go bad quickly and does not encourage your guinea pigs to constantly urinate. Hay also contains the nutrients your guinea pigs need.

Just make sure that your rodents have access to clean water and other delicious treats.

As a tip, make hay always available for your guinea pigs. In this case, you will think less of what to feed them with as all they need after hay are treats and water.

2. Fresh Grass

You can also feed your guinea pigs with fresh grass especially when hay or straw is not available. One major con of feeding guinea pigs with fresh grass is that it can make your guinea pig cage stinky if they do not eat the grasses quickly.

Give fresh grass to your guinea pigs when you are out of hay or guinea pig pellets.

3. Seeds and Grains

What better treats can you give to your guinea pigs if not seeds and grains? Guinea pigs love their seeds and grains. Examples of seeds that you can feed guinea pigs with are:

  • Cucumber seeds
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Watermelon seeds
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Chia seeds

These seeds are rich in proteins and you can give them as many seeds as you desire.

You can also feed your guinea pigs with grains, but do not give them too much as grains can contain too many carbohydrates. Some types of grains that you can feed guinea pigs with are:

  • Millet
  • Corn
  • Wheat
  • Sorghum
  • Barley

Remember not to feed your guinea pig too many grains.

Domestic guinea pig or cavy eating dry grain food from metal bowl at home

4. Guinea Pig Pellets

If you do not want to feed your guinea pigs with natural foods, you should feed them with guinea pig pellets. These pellets are made of hay, grains, and other ingredients.

One major pro of feeding guinea pigs with pellets is that it saves you a lot of time because they are portable and do not litter the cage like natural foods.

You can buy guinea pig pellets for your pets in pet shops or feed mills near you. You can also buy them online. When feeding your guinea pigs, do not give them too much so that they do not waste them.

5. Other Fruits and Vegetables

Aside from cucumbers, do there are many types of fruits that you can feed your guinea pigs. Some examples of fruits for guinea pigs are:

  • Kiwis
  • Apples
  • Grapes
  • Bananas
  • Pumpkins

Remember that you should give fruits to your guinea pigs as treats because they usually do not contain a lot of proteins, and are rich in sugars.

Guinea pigs can eat as many vegetables as you can give them. Examples of vegetables that guinea pigs can eat are:

  • Kale
  • Cabbage
  • Broccoli
  • Rocket leaves
  • Okra leaves
Little girl feeding guinea pigs in wooden cage

Related Questions and Answers

1. Can Guinea Pigs Eat Cucumber Vines?

As herbivores, guinea pigs eat plants and plant products. Cucumber vines and leaves are totally safe for guinea pigs.

If you planted cucumbers in your garden, you can feed the plant to your guinea pigs after harvesting the fruits. You can also take your guinea pigs to your garden (under close supervision) so that they can eat some of the leaves of your cucumber plants.

2. Can Guinea Pigs Eat Every Plant?

If guinea pigs can eat cucumber vines, can they eat the plants of other fruits? No. You should make sure that your rodents can eat a specific plant before giving it to them. Plants such as tomatoes and peppers can be toxic to guinea pigs, so you need to do your research.

Also, you should consider the safety of your garden plants. How often do you spray pesticides on your plants? Do not allow your guinea pigs to eat plants with pesticides on them.

3. What Type of Food Can Guinea Pigs Eat Every Day?

Some examples of foods that you can feed your guinea pigs every day are:

  • Pellets
  • Fresh grass
  • Hay
  • Straw
  • Vegetables

Some foods that you should give to your guinea pigs as occasional treats are fruits and grains. Do not regularly feed your guinea pigs with foods that have too much water, carbohydrates, or sugars.

4. Can you Keep Guinea Pigs and Chinchillas in the Same Cage?

Guinea pigs and chinchillas are both herbivorous rodents. You can keep them in the same cage, but you should feed them natural foods. You can give them hay, grass, fruits, and vegetables.

If you must feed your guinea pigs and chinchillas with pellets, you should buy separate pellets for each species. You can also ask the feed mill if they have a general pellet for rodents.

Do not feed your guinea pigs with pellets made specifically for chinchillas.

5. What Should Guinea Pigs Not Eat?

Some examples of foods that you should not feed your guinea pigs are:

  • Dairy products
  • Meat
  • Fast foods
  • Spoiled foods
  • Greasy Foods

You should only feed your guinea pigs healthy foods.

Raw meat. Piece of beef. On a rustic background

Final Thoughts

You should give cucumbers to your guinea pigs as treats. Cucumbers are very nutritious and can give vitamin c and other vitamins to your guinea pigs.

Do not overfeed your guinea pigs cucumbers because they do not contain enough proteins and can make your pets urinate too frequently.

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