Vitamin C - Could Anyone Please Give Me Some Advice?

[magicmoments]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me?
I took my 2 year old female guinea pig, Dora, to the vet on Friday night thinking she had eggs around her back end (which surprised me because their cage is kept very clean and she is treated for flystrike, flees, lice etc). When the vet examined her he said that it wasn't eggs, but in fact little crystals of calcium. I currently feed my guinea pigs Burgess excel pellets and he recommended reducing the amount that I give her (she normally gets a 1/8 cup scoop per day) and he suggested that when I do reduce the amount, I should give her an extra vitamin C supplement, just to give her a bit more vitamin C that she would usually get from the pellets (she gets fresh veg every day too).

I was just wondering if anyone could suggest any vitamin C supplements, other than the Oxbow ones?
The vet said it is safe to use vitamin C supplements for children as long as the are purely vitamin C.
I found these 'Natures Aid Vitamin-C Drops for Infants and Children'
( )

I wondered if these would be OK to use (I wouldn't put them in their water I'd probably syringe feed it)?
Has anyone else used these?
Thank you for any help in advance.

 

[Beans&Toast]

I'm not sure about these being suitable but I know guinea pigs don't need any vitamin C supplements if they are fed a good diet of fresh veg. Bell pepper, coriander, parsley (only to be fed in moderation as high in calcium), spinach (again high in calcium) green beans, blackberries, strawberries are just some that a high in vit c. Most nuggets/pellets have vit c added as well so as long as the piggies have access to these foods there's no need for extra vit c tablets. Sometimes if a piggy is unwell you can give them some probiotic which has vit c in it but normally there is no need

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! If I were you, I would review your whole diet and put it on a lower calcium and higher vitamin C level. Try for low calcium pellets, filtered water and a veg diet that is somewhat lower in calcium. You will have to make compromises as you will have to include magnesium in your diet, which is tied in with a higher level of calcium in veg, but is not provided in pellets.
@helen105281 can advise you on a nutritionally balanced long term low calcium diet and can also recommend suitable low calcium content/vitamin C enriched pellets. You give adult guinea pigs only about 10-20g of pellets per day anyway.

Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet
Low Calcium Diet For Bladder Piggies

 

[helen105281]

The veg that I feed twice a day are:

1 green bean
1 piece of celery
1 piece of pepper
I piece of cucumber
1 slither of spring greens
1 sprig of coriander

I try where possible to feed a grainless pellet too but am struggling at the moment due to Vitakraft discontinuing their favourite. I feed Harringtons otherwise.

 

[Tiamolly123]

How many piggies is that for Helen

 

[Wiebke]

How many piggies is that for Helen

One piggy, twice daily.