Choccawocca
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi
Where are the best vitamin supplements for pigs?
Thanks
Where are the best vitamin supplements for pigs?
Thanks
they shouldn't need Vit C supplements if they eat veggies rich in Vit C such as bell peppers
there is only a "little" problem: bell peppers arrive at the supermarkets after a lot of days (and weeks) from the harvest and they are usually picked up totally immature (just like tomatoes and bananas which are picked up green and then put into special room with ethylene gas; the same ethylene is used with kiwi and other fruits). How much vit C can have a similar bell pepper or a similar fruit? why do many piggies eating bell pepper, vegs and pellets still develop deficiency of vit C?they shouldn't need Vit C supplements if they eat veggies rich in Vit C such as bell peppers
Hi
Where are the best vitamin supplements for pigs?
Thanks
can you please give me the font of this news? because honestly I have never read it and even the vets here don't know anything of that...A good balanced vegetable diet is enough for a healthy guinea pig. This can be supplemented by a boost of vitamin if your guinea pig is sill or stressed to help support the immune system.
Too much vitamin C on a regular basis can ironically lead to scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) as soon as the vitamin C input drops and can lead to problems in the long term.
Our sample diet is based on a careful balance of nutrients, including three different veg and herbs daily to provide plent of vitamin C. Most of our long term members use a similar diet and have never had any problems with scurvy or other deficiencies.
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet
can you please give me the font of this news? because honestly I have never read it and even the vets here don't know anything of that...
and if 12mg a day can cause damages in the long term, what do you think about the quantity of vit C contained in all the pellets? the ones fortified which many people still use in excess?
in that study is written a HUGE dose of vit C for humans: Those who think that if a little vitamin C is good, more must be better should think again, says a team of British researchers, who found that a supplement of 500 milligrams a day could damage people's genesTaking Too Much Vitamin C Can Be Dangerous, Study Finds
I would imagine that the same applies to guinea pigs
as I have said to Gizzy, I am talking of a very little dose of supplement, lower than the one your piggies get from their daily dose of pellet which I don't use (only very few pieces by hand). I don't trust the little piece of bell pepper left in the cage for the night, maybe eaten after 8 hours (from a bell pepper stored into fridges) and I cannot even be sure of the vit C contained in the fresh grass (during the whole summer my piggies ate only grass from private lawns... nothing special) which I cut and I serve in two days.I cannot exactly remember where I read that as it is a number of years ago; I think it may have been on Guinea Lynx. The problem has been more prominent in the US where is/has been a much stronger tendency to add vitamins to the diet.
However fortified pellets are one of the reasons why we have not recommended to supplement with vitamins because many people do not take them into account, but still use these pellet brands.
Long term overdosing on vitamin C can be a cause of developing signs of scurvy and may be at the root of some of the cases you are citing.
Anyway, I have had guinea pigs in my life for over a quarter of a century and have never had a problem with scurvy despite not adding any extra vitamin C to my piggies' diet beyond veg and limited pellets.