Can guinea pigs have too much calcium in their diet?
If your guinea pig has too much calcium in their diet, you’ll want to eliminate or cut down on a few foods. Most leafy greens are very nutrient-rich, including very high levels of calcium. This includes kale, arugula, beet greens, mustard greens, spinach, collard greens, turnip greens, watercress, spring greens, broccoli, and bok choy.
What should I Feed my guinea pig for bladder stones?
If you’re feeding a lot of nutrient-rich, leafy green foods that are high in calcium, you’ll want to balance that with a variety of lower calcium veggies. If your guinea pig is prone to bladder stones or sludge, you’ll also want to feed them a low calcium diet.
Can guinea pigs eat mustard greens and other low calcium vegetables?
So, just like mustard greens, it should be fed in moderation – with care. Now, that we taken a look at a bunch of high calcium veggies, let’s take a peek at the low calcium veggies that you can feed to your fur babies a little more frequently. Parsnip: This is a good food for guinea pigs.
What can I give my baby guinea pigs for calcium?
The easiest way to make sure young guinea pigs get the calcium they need is by providing high calcium veggies. You can also feed a pellet food formulated for baby guinea pigs, such as Oxbow’s young guinea pig pellets. Alfalfa hay provides a source of calcium as well.
How do you reduce calcium in guinea pigs?
3:414:53How To Reduce Calcium In A Guinea Pigs Diet - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo there's a couple options. You can either reduce the amount of pellets. Given and give them someMoreSo there's a couple options. You can either reduce the amount of pellets. Given and give them some bell pepper for the vitamin c or serve them low calcium pellets.
What happens if a guinea pig eats too much calcium?
High levels of calcium in the diet can predispose guinea pigs to bladder stones, which often require surgery to remove. The second most important part of a guinea pig diet is FRESH VEGETABLES. Vegetables are an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals, and also provide extra water for the gut.
How do I know if my guinea pig has too much calcium?
Adult Guinea Pig Too much calcium in their diet can be detected by the vet with a urine sample and if there's a severe build up of calcium and the urine is thick sludge this would show up on an xray. There's a really good site called Guinea Lynx and there's a list of foods high/low in calcium.
What foods cause high calcium in guinea pigs?
You don't need to become a chemist or mathematician to whip up your guinea pig's daily salad, but it helps to know what you're working with at the supermarket. Foods high in calcium include spinach, parsley, arugula, dandelion greens, turnip greens, kale, and dill.
What vegetables are low in calcium for guinea pigs?
Zucchini, celery, beets, asparagus, and bell peppers are just a few great low calcium options for guinea pigs. Just because your guinea pig needs to be on a low calcium diet, doesn't mean that they can't enjoy a wide variety of foods. After all, a well-balanced diet is key to a happy and healthy guinea pig.
What vegetables have too much calcium for guinea pigs?
For example, dill, parsley, spinach, beetroot, are all high in calcium or oxalic acid, so if your guinea has a history of bladder stones, these options should be spread out and offered infrequently, or avoided altogether.
What veggies are low in calcium?
Low calcium vegetables — with less than 100 milligrams of calcium per cup — include:Bok choy: 40 milligrams.Chicory: 40 milligrams.Collard greens: 50 milligrams.Corn: With 10 milligrams of calcium in a cup, corn is one of the best vegetables for a low calcium diet.Dandelion greens: 80 milligrams.Kale: 55 milligrams.More items...•
Is celery high in calcium?
High in dietary fibre, green leafy vegetables are one of the high calcium foods. With a number of options like spinach, kale, celery and broccoli, these veggies are also rich in potassium and magnesium.
Is romaine lettuce high in calcium for guinea pigs?
Romaine and green leaf lettuces can be fed 5 to 7 times per week. Both Romaine and green leaf lettuce have relatively low calcium content and relatively high Vitamin C content, making them the best lettuces for guinea pigs.
How much calcium can a guinea pig have?
8 to 10 g Ca/kg(1956, 1960) found that adequate dietary concentrations of calcium (8 to 10 g Ca/kg), phosphorus (4 to 7 g P/kg), magnesium (1 to 3 g Mg/kg), and potassium (5 to 14g K/kg) varied as the concentrations of the other three elements varied.
Is calcium good for guinea pigs?
Like just about every animal, calcium is an essential mineral for guinea pigs. Calcium deficiency is a relatively common disorder in guineas, especially in pregnant or nursing females.
Risks Of Guinea Pigs Having Too Much Calcium
Too much calcium can cause your piggie serious (and possibly fatal) health problems.
Tips For How To Reduce Calcium In Guinea Pigs
No one would want his guinea pig to die from excessive calcium. To reduce calcium in guinea pigs, you’ve gotta take a hard look at their diet and what they’re eating.
Watch Out For Calcium In Hay
Reducing the amount of calcium in your guinea pig’s diet is very important because excess calcium intake will lead to stone formation and sludge issues. This is especially true if you give your guinea pigs ‘the wrong hay’ !
Watch Out For Calcium In Vegetables
Most vegetables are good for guinea pigs. But some have more calcium than others. So, some can be fed to guinea pigs more frequently and others not so often.
Watch Out For Calcium In Fruits
Per 100 grams of quantity, most fruits contain less than 50mgs of calcium. So, it’s unusual for piggies to end up with calcium-related health issues from fruits. It’s pretty tough to do.
Watch Out For Calcium In Pellets
Foods like cereal pellets or pellet based mixes too much calcium. And, if you mix in high calcium vegetables with your pellets, it’s even worse because your piggies are getting double the amount of unnecessary calcium.
Watch Out For Calcium In Water
The calcium in water varies between 1 mg and 200 mg per liter. You should always give your guinea pigs low calcium concentration water to drink.
What exactly is Calcium?
Calcium is a mineral which is essential for most animals, including humans and guinea pigs. It’s needed for several vital bodily functions such as regulating muscle contractions and heartbeat, and ensuring normal blood clotting.
What are the main sources of calcium for guinea pigs?
If you’re wondering where to find calcium, here’s the answer - calcium is in several different types of foods. You may be aware that, for us humans, dairy produce like milk and cheese are excellent sources of calcium. But how about guinea pigs who obviously CANNOT be fed dairy snacks such as cheddar or brie?
How much Calcium do guinea pigs absorb?
The average human being absorbs about 30% of the calcium they ingest. But guinea pigs absorb more - about 50% - of the calcium they ingest.
What are normal levels for calcium and phosphorus in guinea pigs?
As stated before, phosphorus is important for the absorption of calcium, so really we should be looking at both of them instead of just calcium levels. A healthy guinea pig’s calcium level should be between 2-3 mmol/L of blood and their phosphorus level should be in the range of 0.68 - 2.3 mmol/L per litre of blood.
How can guinea pigs be treated for bladder and kidney stones?
Treatment for bladder stones can be risky, which is why it’s important to be aware of what you’re feeding your piggy in order to avoid this painful health issues in the first place. Tara explains: “Treatment of stones will depend on your exotic pet vet. Many are managed with a low calcium diet and pain management.
Should I be worried about feeding high-calcium food to my guinea pigs?
If your guinea pigs are healthy, there is nothing to worry about. Just know which food are rich in calcium and only feed them two to three times a week ( For a comprehensive list of high and low-calcium vegetables, please check the very useful lists provided by the Guinea Pig Forum as well as Guinea Lynx ).
My guinea pigs have had an issue with calcium, what should I feed them now?
If your guineas are displaying signs of having too much calcium in their diets, limit the high calcium foods to just once or twice a week.
Calcium as a Percentage of Daily Calories
I asked my veterinarian friend what the ideal calcium intake should be for a guinea pig to avoid bladder and kidney stones. She just said I should use a diet that was 0.3% calcium.
Just Count the mg of Calcium
Here is an excerpt from Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals (1995) stating that a normal adult guinea pig should eat around 8g of calcium per day per kg of pellets:
Guinea Pig Pellet Manufacturers
Oxbow has been making quality guinea-pig pellets for a long time, and they have an extensive database of studies on the optimal nutritional requirements for guinea pigs.
How Guinea Pigs Absorb Calcium
Guinea pigs absorb more calcium from their food than humans do. On average, guinea pigs absorb about 50% of the calcium they ingest. People, on the other hand, absorb about 30% of the calcium they ingest. Of course, this amount varies based on several factors. For example, excess protein in the diet lessens the amount of calcium that gets absorbed.
How Many Calories Does a Guinea Pig Need per Day?
This question doesn’t have much to do with how much calcium your guinea pig needs, but I wanted to know the answer anyway. I searched the published literature, and there was no one definitive answer (that I could find).
Take Notice of the Calcium to Phosphorus Ratio, too!
The amount of calcium a guinea pig absorbs is interdependent on the amount of phosphorus and magnesium he ingests, as well. For example, a study published by Van Hellemond et al.
Other Ratios Matter, Too!
As you can see from the excerpt above, the amount of other minerals also play a role in how much calcium is needed or absorbed. In one study, decreasing the phosphorus and increasing the magnesium content lessened the amount of calcium guinea pigs retained.
What is the ratio of calcium to phosphorus in guinea pigs?
The ideal ratio of calcium to phosphorus in a guinea pig’s diet is around 1.33. While legumes (like alfalfa and clover) have a ratio of greater than 4:1, grass hays are closer to 1.5:1. Guinea pig pellets should be Timothy hay based for this reason, too.
What do guinea pigs need?
Guinea pigs under six months old need more calcium than adults; they’re growing most rapidly during this stage and need to build strong bones . Extra calcium in the form of alfalfa and veggies like spinach, parsley, and kale is a good thing for baby guinea pigs. You may want to feed separately from adult cagemates, however.
What foods have less calcium than phosphorus?
This means if you’re feeding foods with less calcium than phosphorus (like carrots, cucumber, sweet potato, and romaine lettuce) you need to also feed foods with the inverse ratio to balance things out (like cilantro, chard, kale, green/red leaf lettuce, celery, and okra).
How long does it take for a guinea pig to recover from a syringe
You can continue to give the guinea pig half the dose until they are fully recovered, which usually takes no more than a few days. These pigs may need a little more calcium in their diets than the average adult.
How to find Ca:P ratio?
To find the Ca:P ratio of a certain food, divide the calcium amount by the phosphorus level. For example, 40 grams of pumpkin has 8 mg of calcium and 17 mg of phosphorus, so has a Ca:P ratio around 0.5:1 (8 divided by 17).
What are the symptoms of calcium deficiency?
Symptoms of calcium deficiency include: Loss of appetite. Muscle spasms. Le thargy. Over time, not enough calcium can lead to brittle bones and teeth. A sudden reduction in calcium can cause the body to freak out a little and draw that calcium out of the bones, too.
What nutrients help the body absorb calcium?
Vitamin D (sunlight!), magnesium, and potassium help the body absorb calcium. Phosphorus and calcium are the dynamic duo. Phosphorus needs calcium. If there isn’t enough calcium for the phosphorus to attach to, sometimes calcium can leach from the bones – yep, that again.