Can Guinea Pigs Eat Blueberries?

Blueberries are a popular and extensively spread collection of perennial flowering plants with purple or blue berries. You might already know that blueberry is one of the healthiest fruit you can have for your fruit cravings. Have you ever consider serving blueberries to your pet guinea pig as a guinea pig food?

You might be thinking, is it really ok to feed blueberry to guinea pigs? If the answer is yes then you might be considering how many blueberries I can feed at a time?

The quick response is yes, you can feed blueberries to your guinea pigs. When you consider sweet treats, guinea pigs are big followers of sweet treats.

Well, there are some facts you need to aware before feeding blueberries. There are a lot of information are discussed for your knowledge.

Are Blueberries Good For Guinea Pigs?

In many ways you may find blueberries are good for guinea pigs. As a guinea pig owner if you are thinking of guinea pig’s health you must serve blueberries in moderation to your pig.

Nutrients Of Blueberry

• Rich in vitamin C

Your guinea pig can fulfill its vitamin C intake by eating blueberries. The main reason is guinea pigs can’t make their own vitamins or they can’t store it appropriately. So they need an outside supply of vitamin C. Vitamin C benefits to guinea pig in many ways such as to maintain healthier mouths and teeth, improved digestion and mainly vitamin C helps to avoid scurvy.

• Good source of antioxidants

Antioxidants are very important as it can improve health and blueberries are rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants acts against free radicals which cause several diseases and aging. Anthocyanins are the main antioxidants which can be found in blueberries and anthocyanins by itself are one of the major health benefits of blueberry.

• Low in calcium

Guinea pigs a small quantity of calcium to develop teeth and their bones properly. Too much calcium can cause health risks to guinea pig and also can be fatal. Guinea pigs cannot control its calcium intake so they absorb everything from what they eat. Surplus calcium can cause kidney stones or bladder.

• Rich in vitamin K

Vitamin K is a collection of fat-soluble vitamins which plays a vital role. Vitamin K mainly does its part in recovering wounds and blood clotting. If there is no enough vitamin K in body, wounds would heal poorly.

By adding blueberries to guinea pig diet you can cover the required intake of vitamin K.

• Rich in manganese

Manganese is important ingredient that your small pet need. Manganese helps many vital functions in the body and insufficiency can cause serious health issues as bone abnormalities. When blood clotting is functioning vitamin k combines with manganese to help blood clot in wounds.

• Low in calories

Although there is a high sugar content in blueberries, this fresh fruit is low in calories. Mostly guinea pig’s diet does not contain high calorie foods which could lead to indigestion.  Your pet’s diet mostly consists of light and lean food such as leafy green, timothy hay and alfalfa hay and guinea pig pellets in addition. It would be better if your pet can stick to that diet as it is good for its health.

• Fiber

Blueberries are rich in fiber. Well there are both good and bad in fiber. Right quantity of fiber would promote proper digestion and too much fiber would lead to constipation.

• Regulation of blood pressure

Blueberries are a miracle fruit when it comes to heart diseases. It has been scientifically proven that blueberries can control blood pressure in both guinea pigs and humans.

Be Aware Of These Risks When You Feed Blueberries To Your Guinea Pig

• Contains high acid levels

When you consider blueberry with other fruits blueberry contains higher acid levels than other fruits. This acid level could cause mouth sores in some pigs more than others. So watch carefully if you pet mouth sores from blueberry that means it is not a good fit for your pet.

• Sugar content

Guinea pigs would love sugary food, mainly fruits. But be careful when you feed them blueberries because feeding too much to them could cause stomach pains, stomach upsets, diarrhea, discomfort and other digestive issues. So keep sugar content to minimum quantities.

• Obesity

If you feed blueberries regularly guinea pigs can be addicted to them and would cause rapid weight gains. Guinea pigs are also same as humans when it comes to weight gains. With minimum physical activities the situation could be worse for guinea pigs as they are inactive most of the time.

Obesity in guinea pigs could also lead to health issues such as heart diseases and diabetes.

How Many Blueberries A Guinea Pig Should Eat?

If you haven’t served blueberries or any other food to your pet before and if you are doing it for the first time you need to do it gradually and cautiously.

At first, give your guinea pig a blueberry at a time and after observe closely for roughly 12-24 hours to see any side effects such as diarrhea, indigestion, loss of appetite, loss of energy or mouth sores. If your guinea pig shows any signs of discomfort or pain, stop feeding blueberries and contact your vet for further instructions on the ongoing situation of your guinea pig.

Some may show some difficulties but the majority of guinea pigs love blueberries. If your cavy doesn’t show any signs of discomfort or side effects, you can progressively increase the number of blueberries you feed until they enjoy a full serve which is not a lot and keep the excess blueberries for later.

The best thing is to give this serve a rotation, once in every week. Give your pig two blueberries maximum a day and no more than one time a week.  Even twice a week would be ok but do not feed them continuous two days.

Can Guinea Pig Eat Frozen Blueberries?

Yes your small pet can have frozen blueberries. Research conducted in South Dakota State University suggests that frozen blueberry provides higher dosage of antioxidants which could fight diseases than fresh blueberry. Take these steps to prepare frozen blueberry

• First defrost the blueberries until they reach to normal room temperature.

• Then follow you feeding steps and feed them with these tasty guinea pig blueberries.

Can Guinea Pigs Have Dried Blueberries?

No, you can’t feed dried blueberries to your guinea pig. Usually one cup of fresh blueberries restrains 15g of sugar and one cup of dried blueberries restrains over 100g of sugar. Sugar is not good addition to guinea pigs health so you should not feed this dried fruit to your cavy.

Can Guinea Pigs Have Blueberry Leaves?

Of course you can serve blueberry leaves to your guinea pig. Blueberries leaf contains antioxidants, same as tea leaf. If your guinea pig shows more interest in leaves you can feed blueberry leaves instead of blueberries.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Blueberry Branches?

You can feed blueberry branches to your pig. Chewing Branches is good for guinea pig’s teeth. As guinea pig teeth are continuously growing these blueberry branches can help guinea pigs to maintain healthy teeth. You need to prepare these branches before you serve as a treat. Wash branches thoroughly to remove any dirt and remove dead leaves from the branches first.

When you serve blueberry sticks guinea pig would love to play with them than eating them.

Can guinea pigs have blueberry muffins, a sweet treat made from blueberry?

Do not feed blueberry muffins to guinea pigs because they have a very sensitive digestive system. Their digestive system does not support to digest cooked food. So always avoid feeding this type cooked food. So do not feed blueberry muffins as it could cause serious health issues to your pet.

But as the guinea pig owner you can taste a delicious berry muffin whenever you like.

Can You Feed Blueberries To Baby Guinea Pigs?

When a baby guinea pig is born, it will need a special diet mainly containing mother’s milk, water, good quality grass hay (especially alfalfa hay) and other suitable food. During the first few weeks you should not feed blueberries to baby guinea pigs. Later you can commence feeding blueberries with other pellets, fruits, fresh hay and fresh vegetables and always try to serve fresh food.

If you are feeding berries for the first time even for adult guinea pigs, do it slowly and progressively and monitor for any side effects.

Can Guinea Pig Eat Blueberry Stem?

If your guinea pig likes to eat blueberry, then there is no reason for your pig to dislike blueberry stem. Normally guinea pigs like to keep something in his mouth to chew on to have a break on a busy schedule. These stems are not that hard and short and thin stems have tiny tubers so guinea pigs can eat them. But be careful as there is a risk of choking on stems for guinea pig as everything else you feed your pet. Always monitor your pig when it is enjoying a blueberry treat.

Steps To Follow When Feeding Blueberries To Your Guinea Pig

Step 1: Wash blueberries

You may find blueberries in the field or purchase them in store, first you need to wash the berries thoroughly before you feed them to your pets. You can never guess what might be with them.

Step 2: Feeding

It’s very simple, you don’t need to cut or do anything to blueberries. The best way to serve blueberries is serve them outside the guinea pig cage. The reason is your pet might drop the blueberry extract in the cage’s floor and make a mess.

Additional step: Mix and match

You can try mixing guinea pigs blueberries with other fruits or vegetable. But when you choose fruits to mix with blueberry, chose fruits which does not contain acid such as citrus fruit. In my opinion try mixing blueberry with kale. For humans this mixture won’t be suitable but for your pet it will be a good treat.

Can A Guinea Pig Get Blueberry Stains On Its Fur?

Well usually guinea pigs do not stain things and blueberry extract can stain objects. When guinea pigs eat, they are good at taking food into their mouth without making a mess. So you don’t need to worry about guinea pigs getting blueberry stains. But by accidents if you pig gets such stain, wash or clean your pet carefully to get rid of stains.