Cucumbers are an excellent salad for us in summers but can our furry little pet enjoy it? Can Guinea pigs eat cucumber just like we do? Even I wondered the same thing a few years back, so I researched the same, and here is what I found out.
Guinea pigs can eat cucumber along with its skin, seed, and flesh. Cucumber contains some nutrients and a lot of water in it, which makes it an excellent choice for summer. Make sure you only feed a small portion two to three times a week to avoid any health issues.
Serving our guinea pigs with cucumber a few times a week shall ensure that they remain hydrated, and it’s also a great treat for them.
But we shall serve them in limited quantity to avoid diseases like diarrhea in guinea pigs.
Guinea pigs should be fed with a variety of food as it helps to ensure that they get a proper balance of all nutrients in their diet.
In general, Guinea pig’s diet consist of 80% hay, 10-15% of vegetables, treats and pellets cover the rest 5-10%.
Serving various foods ensures that they get adequate vitamins and minerals, which hay alone cannot provide.
Although the staple part of their diet is hay; Vegetables in their diet also play a vital role.
Serving our guinea pigs with 5-6 different vegetables every day shall ensure they have a variety of food to eat while they can get all the vitamins and minerals their body needs.
We can give our guinea pigs a mix of salads like cucumber, carrot, lettuce, Zucchini or bell peppers. Having a healthy mix is essential for your guinea pigs.
Nutrition In Cucumber?
Cucumber is an excellent treat for your guinea pigs. Cucumber contains 95% water and trace amounts of vitamins and minerals, making it a wonderful treat for your guinea pigs. Let us have a look at the nutrient requirement of guinea pigs.
Source: USDA National Nutrient data base
| vitamin c | 2.8 mg/ 100 g |
| Vitamin A | 1% |
| Vitamin K | 16.4 mcg/ 100 g |
| Calcium | 16 mg/ 100 g |
| Phosphorous | 24 mg/ 100 g |
| Potassium | 147 mg/ 100 g |
| Fiber | 0.5 g/ 100 g |
| Sugar | 1.67 g/ 100 g |
| Protein | 0.65 g/ 100 g |
| Carbs | 3.63 g/ 100 g |
| Calories | 15 Kcal |
| Fat | 0.11 g/ 100 g |
| Water | 95.23 g/ 100 g |
Cucumber contains a trace amount of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and Vitamin K in it.
These vitamins are an essential part of the diet as it helps improve their immune system, Improving their eyesight and cardiovascular health.
Cucumber also contains an adequate amount of calcium and phosphorous, which helps develop bones and teeth in the body.
Calcium is also vital in young and pregnant guinea pigs for the proper growth of their body.
Cucumber also contains over 95% water, keeping the body hydrated in the summer heat. It also includes a trace amount of fiber, which helps maintain the body’s digestive system.
A study also claims that eating cucumber with its peel helps maintain adequate blood sugar levels in the body. Serving the skin is an excellent choice as it is beneficial against diabetes.
You can learn more about cucumber benefits in this article.
Is cucumber bad for guinea pigs?
Cucumbers are not bad for our guinea pig’s health if you feed them in moderation. However, if we exceed the suggested serving quantity regularly, it may do more harm than good to our guinea pigs. Let us learn about some adverse effects of cucumber.
Just like zucchini, cucumber also belongs to the summer squash family. It contains an element known as cucurbitacins. This element is responsible for the bitter taste of cucumber on some occasions.
Although cucurbitacins are not harmful in small volume, it can be toxic for Guinea pigs if consumed in high quantity.
Overfeeding cucurbitacins often leads to an imbalance in the digestive system, thus leading to diarrhea.
Cucumber seeds also contain cucurbitacins and fatty acids. These compounds are diuretic in nature, which means consuming them in high quantity can lead to more frequent urination.
Thus, leading to a loss of electrolytes and water from the body and severe dehydration in fatal cases.
Cucumber available in grocery stores is often coated with wax and other chemicals while they are growing. These chemicals are used to prevent pests and transit damage in cucumbers.
If we serve these types of cucumber to our guinea pigs without properly treating them, then it might do a lot of damage to our guinea pig’s health.
Also, cucumbers can cause gas, bloating, and diarrhea in some guinea pigs if you feed it in more than the suggested quantity.
Although this can be treated easily by serving hay and cutting down on veggies for a few days, it is best suggested to help cucumber only in limited quantity to our guinea pigs.
Is cucumber good for guinea pigs
Cucumbers are safe for our guinea pigs but only when we are feeding it on an occasional basis. Cucumbers contain some vitamins and minerals which are beneficial for our guinea pigs.
Cucumber contains Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and Vitamin A, an essential part of a guinea pig’s diet. Guinea pigs cannot synthesize their own vitamins, thus need some food in their diet to fulfill their vitamin needs.
Having food rich in these Vitamins helps the guinea pigs prevent scurvy, develop a good vision, and promote the healthy overall growth of the body.
Cucumber also contains an adequate amount of fiber in it. It is an essential part of a guinea pig’s diet as it helps maintain a healthy digestive system in guinea pigs.
Cucumber also contains a small amount of calcium and phosphorous in it. Calcium and phosphorus are essential for healthy bone growth and good dental health.
Although feeding a diet high in calcium can lead to bladder stones in guinea pigs. Thus it is recommended to be supplied in small quantities only.
Cucumbers are also rich in antioxidants. These antioxidants are beneficial for our guinea pigs as it helps prevent various chronic diseases associated with heart, lungs, and immune system.
Lastly, Cucumber contains 95% of the water in it. It helps to keep up the hydration in our guinea pigs. Some guinea pigs don’t like to drink as much water as others.
So, for them having vegetables rich in water is right for them. It helps their body by providing enough hydration in the high summer heat.
How often can guinea pigs eat cucumbers?
Guinea pigs can be fed with cucumbers a few times a week. We can supply our guinea pigs with a cucumber up to 3-4 times a week at the maximum.
It is recommended to mix cucumber with other veggies so that guinea pigs can get various nutrients from their diet.
Can cavies eat cucumber daily?
Guinea pigs cannot eat cucumber daily. It is recommended to feed Cucumber only a few times a week. Feeding cucumber daily basis can cause serious digestive problems in guinea pigs.
It will be ideal for serving our guinea pigs with cucumber once or twice a week only, although they can be fed with cucumbers up to 4 times a week.
It would generally be great if you mix things up and serve cucumber once or twice a week only. Serving a mix of veggies shall ensure your guinea pigs do not suffer from diarrhea, bloating, and other diseases.
How much cucumber can guinea pigs eat?
Guinea pigs can be fed with a couple of slices of cucumber a few times a week. Although ideally, it’s better to feed only 1-2 slices of cucumber to our guinea pigs as too much cucumber does more bad than good to our guinea pigs.
Always remember to introduce any new food in their diet very slowly. Guinea pigs are prone to digestive diseases if their food menu is changed drastically in a small period.
Slowly introducing new food shall ensure that they can adapt to the food, thus preventing various diseases like diarrhea.
Also, remember, Not all guinea pigs are the same. While some guinea pigs love to have cucumber, there are a few who don’t. That is completely natural.
Guinea pigs are very fussy when it comes to vegetables and fruits.
So, we must first serve them a small portion of a cucumber and see if they like it, and there are no unusual symptoms in them.
If everything goes terrific, then you can slowly add the cucumber to their daily diet. If you find any unusual symptoms, then stop feeding them with cucumber for the time being. You can later try again by starting with a smaller portion next time.
Can guinea pigs eat cucumber seeds?
Guinea pigs can eat cucumber along with their seeds. The cucumber seeds are soft and moist, so there is no chance of choking in our guinea pigs.
The seeds of cucumber also contain some essential vitamins and minerals suitable for our guinea pig’s health.
Although it’s is best to serve only in small quantity. Cucumber seeds contain cucurbitacins and fatty acids. These compounds are diuretic in nature.
Although little feeding of the same won’t impact much, a more massive serving can lead to frequent urination and diarrhea in some cases.
Can guinea pigs eat cucumber peels?
Guinea pigs can eat cucumber with its peel. Cucumber skin contains an adequate amount of fiber, essential for the guinea pig’s digestive system.
But we must make sure that the cucumber’s skin is not coated with wax and other pesticides as they are harmful to your guinea pigs.
If possible, we should serve only organic cucumber and other vegetables to our guinea pigs.
Can cavies eat cucumber leaves?
Yes, Leaves of cucumber are edible. Guinea pigs are herbivores, and just like grass, and hay guinea pigs can also eat cucumber leaves but only in small quantities.
Cucumber leaves often contain some compounds which induce vomiting tendencies. It can also cause a disbalance of the digestive system in guinea pigs.
Thus it is best to avoid cucumber leaves when it comes to serving guinea pigs. But even if you intend to help them, toss a few pieces now and then. Do not serve the leaves in high quantities.
How To Prepare Cucumber For Your Cavies?
We need to prepare cucumber in the right way so that guinea pigs can get the best out of it. There are a few factors to consider when it comes to serving our guinea pigs with cucumber. Let us have a look into those and see how we should prepare cucumber for our guinea pigs:
- Firstly, we need to choose the right cucumber for our guinea pigs. The cucumber we want must be fresh and not bitter. Usually, bitter cucumber is a sign of higher cucurbitacins, terrible for your guinea pig’s health.
- The second step is to wash the cucumber properly. Cucumbers are often covered with wax and sprayed with chemicals to keep away the pests. Not cleaning the skin correctly could be fatal for your Guinea pig’s health. It is suggested to use some warm water to wash your cucumber so that it’s wax coating gets annihilated.
- The third step is an optional one. In this step, we can use a simple peeler and peel the skin of our cucumber. You can do it if your guinea pigs don’t like the skin much or are not sure about the surface’s wax coating.
- The fourth step is to slice the cucumber into small slices. Small slices are more comfortable for guinea pigs to eat, thus reducing the chances of choking. Small slices also help in controlling the proportion we are serving.
- Finally, remove any part of cucumber from the cage within a few hours of serving so that bacteria doesn’t get formed in it. Helping only fresh vegetables to our guinea pigs is imperative.
A Quick Overview On “Cucumber For Guinea Pigs”
- Cucumbers contain 95% of the water in it. It also contains some vitamins and minerals essential for our guinea pigs.
- Guinea pigs need a variety of vegetables daily to fulfill their need for nutrients.
- Guinea pigs can eat cucumber on an occasional basis. We can serve them cucumber 3-4 times a week.
- We should only serve them cucumber in moderation. One to two slices of cucumber is enough for them.
- Try to mix cucumber up with other veggies to ensure they get an adequate amount of nutrients daily.
- Serving more than the suggested quantity can lead to digestive problems like diarrhea and bloating.
- Guinea pigs can eat cucumber and skin and peel, but we must first wash away all the chemicals from the skin.
- Cucumber is an excellent vegetable for our guinea pigs in hot summer weather at its supplements in keeping their body hydrated.
As you can see, guinea pigs can eat cucumber, and cucumber is an excellent vegetable as a summer treat for our guinea pigs. But we must ensure that we serve only a small quantity a few times a week so that they don’t get ill.
Related questions
Can guinea pigs eat mini cucumbers?
Yes, We can feed guinea pigs with mini cucumber. The mini seedless cucumber carries more nutritional values than the regular ones. So, feeding the guinea pigs with mini cucumber is quite subtle until we supply them in moderation.
Try not to feed cucumbers more than a few times a week and only one or two slices per serving. Feeding cucumber more often can lead to digestive off balance and various diseases in guinea pigs.
Source: Health benefits of cucumber, 7 Health Benefits of Eating Cucumber, Nutrient Requirements of the Guinea Pig, The effects of diet on guinea pigs, Guinea Pig Diet, Patterns of feeding in the Guinea pig.