Guinea pigs are charming, welcoming, and easily lovable. For pets as endearing as guinea pigs, it is hard to resist sharing your yummy banana with them. But before you throw fleshy delicacy at your guinea pig, you must have wondered how healthy bananas are for it.
Bananas are healthy for a guinea pig’s consumption, but they must be fed moderately. Bananas are best provided as treats to your guinea pig. Your guinea pig enjoys such bananas fresh, and if they are ripe, the more enjoyable for these little darlings. Considering the significant processing (and enhancement with sugar additives) of banana chips, it is not recommended to feed them to your guinea pig.
Saying guinea pigs should be fed bananas moderately is quite generic, isn’t it? You would want to know what precise amount of banana you should feed your guinea pig. You are understandably curious about the nutritional benefits of guinea pigs and if you can feed them banana peels and green bananas. Allow me expansively answer these questions in this article.
Are Bananas Good for Guinea Pigs?
Bananas are not only delicious for your guinea pig, they are also enriching nutritionally. There are many essential minerals and vitamins your guinea pig stands to gain from a meal (preferably as a treat) of bananas. Chief among this bevy of nutrients are Vitamin C and potassium.
Your guinea pig needs a buoyant supply of potassium, and bananas excel at this job. A gram of banana packs as much as 3.6mg of potassium. This is good news for your guinea pig’s kidneys and lungs that critically need such potassium for optimal functionality.
But the potassium contained in bananas does just more than that. Such potassium also enhances your guinea pig’s cardiovascular health as far as reducing the occurrence of kidney stones.
Moving on, bananas are a go-to resource for guinea pig’s Vitamin C needs. Thanks to such Vitamin C composition, bananas can ramp up your guinea pig’s immunity and sustain the cavy’s metabolic equilibrium.
Of course, we were not going to forget the fantastic fiber bananas offer your guinea pig. What if I told just one medium-sized banana stacks as much as 3.1g of fiber? Such fiber can be instrumental in protecting your guinea pig from digestive dysfunction.
Other nutrients bananas contain worth mentioning include potassium and Vitamin B-6. The latter helps to sustain the guinea pig’s dermal health. Indeed, this can be relieving considering the prevalence of skin rashes in guinea pigs.
Can Baby Guinea Pigs Eat Bananas?
Yes, baby guinea pigs can eat bananas, but make sure to keep such bananas away from your guinea pig’s diet for the first 3-4 weeks it is born. Within this interval, the baby guinea pig’s diet should be dominated by alfalfa hay and breast milk (from its mother).
After this period, you can start incrementally incorporating bananas (and other vegetables) as snacks into the guinea pig’s dietary regimen.
How Often Can Guinea Pigs Eat Bananas?
Guinea pigs should be occasionally fed with bananas. Giving them tiny cuts of bananas at most three times in seven days suffices.
Ensure that they are not fed back to back. Those three days (where you would feed your guinea pig) should be reasonably interspaced.
How Much Banana Can I Give My Guinea Pig?
Given the reasonable amounts of sugar banana contains, feeding a guinea banana one whole banana at a serving is highly discouraged.
The smaller your guinea pig, the more reduced the quantity of banana you should feed it. Ideally, tiny pinches of banana flesh would do at a time.
More specifically, the total quantity of bananas fed your guinea pig shouldn’t exceed 15 grams in a week. Generally, your guinea pig’s combined intake of fruits and veggies should not be more than ½ cups. Bananas can provide a portion of this.
Can Guinea Pigs Eat Banana Peels?
Compared to the fleshy part of the banana, banana peels contain way less sugar. Shouldn’t that have made them healthier for your guinea pigs?
Not really. Banana peels compensate for reduced sugar content by being a bit overloaded with fiber. Your beloved guinea pig may struggle to adequately digest the enormous quantity of fiber contained in these banana peels, often resulting in constipation.
If you insist on giving your guinea pig these peels, one banana peel will do at a serving. Also, considering the significantly reduced tastiness of these peels (compared to the fleshy banana part), we can’t assure you of your guinea pig fancying such banana peels.
Can Guinea Pigs Eat Dried Bananas?
Dried bananas are not toxic to guinea pigs. Aside from the wealth of potassium, vitamin C, and fiber they supply your guinea pig, dried bananas also contain impressive quantities of Vitamin A, calcium, and antioxidants.
Vitamin A is beneficial for your cavy’s vision. At the same time, calcium enhances bone health. Nonetheless, considering that dried bananas are mostly processed, we would caution against an elaborate intake (on the part of your guinea pig) of dried bananas as they tend to be loaded with refined sugar.
Do Guinea Pigs Eat Frozen Bananas?
Guinea pigs can eat frozen bananas, but it would be challenging for them given the enhanced hardness. Being naturally curious, they would patiently dig into the frozenness of the banana.
Overall, guinea pigs would feed on frozen banana crumbs if they have no choice. But frozen bananas are definitely not your cavy’s favored delicacy as these little lovelies prefer their bananas fresh.
Can Guinea Pigs Eat Green Bananas?
Yes, guinea pigs can eat green bananas. However, the likelihood that your guinea pig will like it is less, even lesser when such guinea pig has consistently eaten yellow bananas.
As you know, ripe (yellow) bananas are enormously more delicious than their green counterparts. More specifically, there is pronounced sourness – if not bitterness – in green bananas.
Hence that reduced tastiness may turn off your guinea pig. Nevertheless, on the positive side, green bananas have far less sugar content when compared to riper ones.
As usual, moderation is of the essence when feeding guinea pigs green bananas. Being that green banana is higher in texture and starch, excessively feeding them to your guinea pig could result in constipation and other digestive malfunctions.
Can Guinea Pigs Eat Ripe Bananas?
Guinea pigs have a preference for ripe bananas, as such bananas are sweeter. However, ripe bananas are alarmingly high in sugar.
A completely ripe can have a sugar content as high as 16%. A guinea pig’s digestive system will struggle to process this. This emphasizes moderation when feeding guinea pigs ripe bananas.
Can Bananas Kill Guinea Pigs?
No, bananas will not kill your cherished guinea pig if you don’t feed your cavy exorbitant quantities of banana. When introducing bananas to guinea pigs, start with reduced amounts and gradually step up as their system gets used to such treats.
If your guinea pig suffers gastrointestinal issues like diarrhea and constipation when you feed it bananas, stop immediately.
