DIY Frozen Vegetable Treats for Guinea Pigs
Greens and vegetables are an important part of your guinea pig’s diet. They provide valuable vitamins and minerals, contributing to the overall health and well-being of your pet. Next time you’re looking for a healthy treat option, why not make these DIY frozen vegetable treats for guinea pigs? They will thank you!
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While you can purchase guinea pig pellet that are fortified with vitamins and other supplements, the best way to meet your pet’s nutritional needs is through feeding fresh vegetables.
However, not all vegetables are created equal!
While some vegetables (like red bell peppers) offer great nutritional value, others (like iceberg lettuce) fall short.
For this reason, it’s important to offer a variety of vegetables and greens to your guinea pig.
Which Vegetables Are Safe for My Guinea Pig?
The majority of vegetables that you should be providing to your guinea pig should fall into the category of ‘leafy greens’.
Greens are preferred due to the fact that they provide such high nutritional value without the starches and sugars found in many of the other options.
Examples of recommended leafy greens for guinea pigs include:
- Romaine Lettuce
- Arugula
- Dandelion Greens
- Endive
- Chicory
- Turnip Greens
- Basil
- Watercress
- Kale
- Bok Choy
- Dill Leaves
- Raspberry Leaves
- Spinach
- Cilantro
- Parsley
- Radicchio
You will notice that the list does NOT include iceberg lettuce. Why?
Unlike the other leafy greens listed, iceberg lettuce is largely water. This means that it holds little to no nutritional value.
Furthermore, its fibrous nature has been known to cause digestive problems, leading to diarrhea.
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In addition to leafy greens, you can include a small selection of other vegetables to add additional nutritional value.
These vegetables should only account for approximately 10-15% of the vegetable mix.
Examples of guinea pig safe vegetables include:
- Bell Peppers (Seeds Removed)
- Broccoli (Leaves and Stems)
- Brussel Sprouts
- Parsnip
- Zucchini Squash
- Carrots (With Leaves/Greens)
- Cabbage
- Cucumber (With Leaves)
In addition to fresh vegetables, guinea pigs can enjoy the nutritional benefits by snacking on commercial vegetable treats.
These are readily available at your local pet store, or for purchase online.
Benefits of Bell Peppers for Guinea Pigs
One vegetable that deserves its own special shout out is the bell pepper.
Guinea pigs can eat all colours of bell peppers, as long as you take the time to first remove the seeds.
Unlike many other animals, guinea pigs are unable to produce their own vitamin C.
This means that their diet needs to account for their daily vitamin C intake, which is approximately 25-30mg.
Regardless of the colour of bell pepper (red, orange, yellow or green), they have been found to contain a higher vitamin C level than most other vegetables.
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Interestingly enough, bell peppers have been found to have additional benefits for your guinea pig, decreasing the risk of developing bladder stones and urinary tract infections.
Although the exact reason for why this works remains unknown, studies have found a correlation.
Unfortunately, not every guinea pig will jump at the chance to dig into a serving of fresh bell peppers. Just like us, our pets have their own unique tastes and preferences.
Additionally, your pet’s tastes may change and evolve as they get older.
However, you may be able to entice your guinea pig to enjoy the benefits of a bell pepper by mixing it with other flavours in a DIY treat.
DIY Frozen Vegetable Treats for Guinea Pigs
Ingredients:
- 2 Bell Peppers (Any Colour, Seeds Removed)
- 2 Large Kale Leaves
- 1 Slice of Apple
- 1 Cup of Water
Directions:
#1 – Place all of your ingredients in a blender and blend until the mixture is smooth.
#2 – Pour your ingredients into an ice cube tray. Note: Silicone ice cube trays are generally easier to release the treat from after it has frozen. Cover the tray using either a lid (if your tray has one) or a plastic wrap.
#3 – Place your ice cube tray in the freeze and freeze until solid.
#4 – Before service, thaw your treats to soften them slightly. A treat directly out of the freezer could cause damage to your guinea pig’s teeth!
Does your guinea pig have a favourite vegetable(s)?
Did you try this recipe for ‘DIY Frozen Vegetable Treats for Guinea Pigs’? If so, I would LOVE to hear your guinea pig’s reaction!
Oh wow I had no idea that guineas could have a semi-frozen veggie treat! Our girls all have their own favourite vegetables but all of them love peppers, carrots and coriander and of course, the leafy greens! 🙂
Sounds like they have a good, well-balanced diet! It’s so important!
Although I’d never thought about giving pets frozen treats like this, I guess it makes perfect sense. Frozen veggies often have far more vitamins and minerals than fresh, don’t they? Great tips, Britt!
I believe it depends on how the vegetables are treated prior to being frozen – you can maintain the nutritional value OR you can accidentally remove it along the way.
Maybe I missed it, which can happen with my dyslexia, but are there vegetables that that are good for a guinea pig, worse than iceberg lettuce?
Most vegetables are safe for guinea pigs, however, there are a few that you should avoid such as iceberg lettuce, onions, potatoes, and mushrooms.
I had no idea that guinea pigs enjoyed all of these vegetables. That’s a great idea to create frozen vegetable treats!
There are so many great veggies to share with your pets!
Wow that was very informative. I learnt alot about vegetables, did not know iceberg lettuce does not have much nutritional value.
It’s largely just water – that’s why a lot of nutritional experts focusing on human nutrition recommend using darker leafy greens for salads.
How cool! I learn something new every single day. I think this was a great post, and I love how you included directions on how to prepare the frozen treats. I will share this with my neighbor, she actually just bought a guinea pig, and I am sure she will love this. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
It’s a fun way to make something special for your pet!
Guinea pigs are SUPER cute! I had no idea that they ate so many vegetables; that actually makes me want one as a pet so much more! One thing that makes me hesitant about getting a pet is that I don’t like the smell of their food ? but I could EASILY make a plate of vegetables for a guinea pig whilst I’m making my own breakfast/lunch/dinner/whatever! They honestly might be the perfect pet: tiny, fluffy, adorable, AND I’ll never run out of their food, because their food is MY food too!
They still need to be fed a balanced diet with nutritionally balanced kibble, however, kibble generally doesn’t smell as much as canned/wet pet foods. They do LOVE their veggies though!
I love guinea pigs so much! I had several growing up and I used to love feeding them cucumber and carrot, the way they’d nibble their snacks down was the absolute cutest and a lovely way to bond with my pets x
It’s a great bonding opportunity!
Wow! I have never thought about making frozen treats for our pets but this is actually a great idea. Thank you for sharing this and the information about the iceberg lettuce. Will definitely make use of other varieties instead.
I love making homemade treats for our pets – frozen, baked, you name it! it’s such a fun way to show love lol
Honestly iceberg lettuce isn’t good for humans either. People at it thinking it’s a ‘green vegetable’ when it holds barely any nutritional value. Guinea Pigs just like humans need nutritious veggies!
Right? I’m honestly shocked by how few people realize that iceberg lettuce isn’t the ‘healthy food choice’ that it was once plugged as!
This is false.
Iceberg lettuce is good for us. It does lack some nutrients compared to other leafy greens but it doesn’t mean it’s bad for us. That is a total myth.
The bigger concern with people is the number of people who believe it is comparable to other leafy greens, which, nutritionally, it is not. Why choose something with lower nutritional value when options like romaine lettuce and kale are available?
This is so cute. I will admit that I never thought that guinea pigs can eat such a variety of food. What a balanced diet they can have. And that we can essentially cook for them, Of course, iceberg lettuce is not good for us either, it makes sense not to feed our vegetarian pets with it either.
Right? I am surprised by how many people aren’t aware that iceberg lettuce doesn’t offer us any nutritional value either.
I’ve come to really enjoy learning these facts about how to care for pet animals. I don’t have pets myself now, but I have friends that do,. None of them have guinea pigs, but your content makes me more curious to understand how my friends care for their animals. Like, duh fresh veggies are great for animals, I would assume. But, fiber being mad for their digestive systems? How interesting!
There are so many fun little points that you can learn to treat your pet in a healthy way – the key is doing your research and educating yourself! I’m doing a dog nutrition course right now and learning SO much right now.
Guinea Pigs are so adorable. I love the idea of frozen treats for them, it allows to save and give the best you can
Exactly – you can mix it up a bit with the different veggies using the same recipe too!
I may have to get on a Guinea Pig diet of frozen Veggies to kick up my own Vitamin C levels as Cold and Flu season are right around the corner. Plus I love bell peppers too! Glad to know that Iceberg lettuce is not only worthless but also can cause some internal digestion issues for these little guys! Definitely don’t want to feed them any of that. I do love how you make them blended servings and then just freeze them for later! Very cool idea!
I feel like I’m going to be munching on bell peppers for weeks after doing the research and writing this one lol
What a helpful guide. I didn’t know that you could make vegetable treats for guinea pigs, but it seems like there are loads of veggies that are good for them. All the pictures are really adorable!
There are so many great vegetables. While I specified a couple of items in the recipe, it can easily be substituted with other vegetables as well!
I can’t say that I’ve ever considered feeding a guinea pig cilantro before! I honestly had no idea there were so many fresh vegetable options that those cute little critters could eat. I haven’t had a guinea pig in many years, but I wish I knew these things back in the day when I had one. I would have made them their own frozen treats all the time. It is so simple and fresh! After reading this, I feel like we could adapt more of that kind of fresh diet too. Because I doubt many of us are eating nearly enough fresh veggies.
That’s my favourite part of this – You can freeze veggies in this way and maintain the nutritional benefits for your pet when they do eventually enjoy them.
I actually had a similar thought about our own diets while writing this lol!
I love this! Have forwarded to my niece. Thank you
Thank you!
Aw how cute such a lovely animal. Love all your amazing ideas as it is important that we look at our animals diet and not just our own x
Exactly, their diet can have a significant impact on their overall health and well-being. It’s something that’s easy to do and doesn’t have to cost much either!
any vegetables colder that room temperature are harmful to you piggies stomachs.
DO NOT MAKE THESE FOR YOUR PIGS
It’s a controversial conversation that has come up on many different guinea pig forums. In speaking with a small animal veterinarian I have confirmed that they ARE okay with the feeding of frozen treats like these as long as a) the foods are fresh before being frozen (pre-frozen vegetables may contain chemicals, always clean and freeze fresh vegetables), b) they haven’t been frozen for too long (over time they can lose the nutritional benefits) and c) always take a moment to run frozen treats under warm water so that they aren’t rock solid as that could cause breakage in their teeth. That being said, most professionals that advice against frozen foods are referring to food that has been purchased frozen meaning that you can’t control what’s on/in the food that you’re providing.
Great recipe. Don’t forget, a guinea pigs diet should be 75% quality hay.