How many grapes? 🍇

[mini mad scientist]

Hi ^^

Our piggies are obsessed with grapes. Whenever they smell them, they go crazy!
As we’ve read on the forum and other sites, guinea pigs should only be given grapes about once a week…
But we gave about 7 each to the piggies this week.
(Because they’re so cute when they beg for food and lick the grape juice off our hands and fingers . And just overwhelmingly adorable in general, haha.)
Is giving them that many grapes okay? They seem fine…

The thing is, we almost never buy grapes, so this probably won’t happen again for many months.

Is it too much sugar? (

 

[Piggies&buns]

That is far too much. If you are going to give fruit then it needs to be a very small quantity and as a very occasional treat - one small piece and no more once a week. In addition, grapes are particularly high in sugar so you definitely do not want to give that many.
So for grapes one grape per pig once a week at most.

Fruit doesn’t need to be in the diet, there are much healthier treats to give them - different types of herb for example. Mine have coriander daily but a treat is something like basil or mint. They have some parsley as a treat also as it is too high in calcium to be a regular in their diet.
As a real treat they do get fruit but it tends to only be once a year; theyll get a thin slice of apple or one blueberry on a hot summers day.

Too much fruit (and sugar) risks upsetting the balance of the digestive bacteria and causing tummy upsets, and potential lip infections.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[mini mad scientist]

That is far too much. If you are going to give fruit then it needs to be a very small quantity and as a very occasional treat - one small piece and no more once a week. In addition, grapes are particularly high in sugar so you definitely do not want to give that many.
So for grapes one grape per pig once a week at most.

Fruit doesn’t need to be in the diet, there are much healthier treats to give them - different types of herb for example. Mine have coriander daily but a treat is something like basil or mint. They have some parsley as a treat also as it is too high in calcium to be a regular in their diet.
As a real treat they do get fruit but it tends to only be once a year; theyll get a thin slice of apple or one blueberry on a hot summers day.

Too much fruit (and sugar) risks upsetting the balance of the digestive bacteria and causing tummy upsets, and potential lip infections.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Oh no!
I feel so bad now
I’ll go apologize to them now…

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sure they enjoyed them though!
It’s just better to be much more reserved when it comes to that kind of thing. It’s lovely for us to be able to treat them with lots of yummy things but it’s not in their best interests.
Variety and enrichment is a lovely way to make them happy - different types of hay, forages and making the treats they do get fun and an enriching exercise. For example, mine are not given pellets every day so when they do get them (about three times a week) they are made into a game which keeps them occupied, I scatter them in amongst a hay pile. It’s good watching them know they are using their minds and foraging ability to find them.

 

[mini mad scientist]

I’m sure they enjoyed them though!
It’s just better to be much more reserved when it comes to that kind of thing. It’s lovely for us to be able to treat them with lots of yummy things but it’s not in their best interests.
Variety and enrichment is a lovely way to make them happy - different types of hay, forages and making the treats they do get fun and an enriching exercise. For example, mine are not given pellets every day so when they do get them (about three times a week) they are made into a game which keeps them occupied, I scatter them in amongst a hay pile. It’s good watching them know they are using their minds and foraging ability to find them.

that sounds really nice