The best food for guinea pigs: composition, description, rating

How to choose the best food for guinea pigs so that the nutrition of a little pet is healthy and balanced? After all, not every owner knows how to choose the right composition of the grain mixture or has the opportunity to independently prepare high-quality hay for a fluffy rodent. Therefore, the owners of guinea pigs should know which brands produce ready-made food for these animals and what components are included in industrial feeds.

Food for guinea pigs: types and categories

The basis of the diet of these cute animals is hay and various herbs, and cereals, seeds and nuts are introduced into their menu as an addition to the main foods. Manufacturers of ready-made dry food take into account the peculiarities of feeding small rodents and use meadow grass hay, dried plant stems and leaves for their production, and also produce grain mixtures enriched with vitamins and useful additives.

Food is divided into four categories:

• main food. It contains grains, dried fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds;
• granular feed. It is made from the same cereals, seeds, dried fruits and dried vegetables, but is produced in the form of granules;
• grain free food. Contains exceptionally high quality dry hay;
• treat food. It contains dried fruit slices and nuts.

Important: basic, grain-free and granulated food can be used for daily feeding of animals. But the delicacy, which includes raisins, dried slices of pineapple, melon, banana and apricot, is best given to pets in limited quantities and no more than twice a week.

Ready-made feed: the most popular brands

On the shelves of pet stores there is a wide range of industrial feed for guinea pigs, which differ not only in the content of the package, but also in price. But, judging by the reviews of the owners of small rodents, only a few manufacturers produce really high-quality and balanced food that meets all the needs of animals.

Some of the most popular brands include:

• Versel-Laga;
• JR Farm;
• White power;
• Beaphar;
• Lolo Pets;
• Mealberry;
• Fiora;
• Zoomir.

Each brand of dry food for guinea pigs has its own recipe and proportion of main and additional ingredients. And when choosing products of a particular brand, the owner needs to carefully familiarize himself with the composition of the finished food and check it for the presence of preservatives and flavorings.

The best staple foods for guinea pigs

The basis of such nutrition is grain, and herbal granules, slices of dried fruits and vegetables, seeds and vitamins are added as additional elements.

Little One by Mealberry

Pretty good food, according to many guinea pig owners. It contains wheat, barley and oats, herbal granules, dried carrots, sunflower seeds, carob and pressed lupine flakes. The food is enriched with vitamins C, A and D.

The advantages of the food are that it does not contain dyes and food additives to enhance the taste, and even the most fastidious animals eat it with pleasure. The main disadvantage of this diet is its fat content and calorie content.

Menu Vital by Vitakraft

Contains oats and barley, dried alfalfa granules, vegetable fats, fiber, Yucca extract and dried vegetables. Of the advantages of the feed, a balanced composition and content of vitamin C can be noted. The disadvantages include the high cost and the presence of dyes.

Корм JR Farm Classik

JR Farm food contains legume and cereal flakes, dried plants (clover, parsley, alfalfa, yarrow), pieces of dried vegetables, ascorbic acid and germinated barley.

Pluses of a forage in the low maintenance of grains of cereals and the balanced structure. Of the shortcomings, the presence of preservatives is noted.

Animals from the manufacturer Zoomir

It is a grain mixture containing barley and wheat, dried berries and vegetables, vegetable seeds, dried meadow grass granules, vitamins and minerals. The advantages include a diverse composition and an attractive price of feed. The minus of the mixture is in a large number of grains and that not all components are eaten by rodents.

The best food in granules

For the manufacture of nutritional granules, cereals, plants, seeds, vegetables and fruits are used, supplementing them with a useful vitamin and mineral complex.

XstraVital by Beaphar

As part of the granules, wheat and oat grains, flattened peas, vegetable protein, vegetables, echinacea extract, vitamins A and C, yeast and soybean oil. The advantage of nutrition is a balanced composition and a high content of plant components. Of the minuses, the high cost and the presence of dyes can be noted.

Cavia Complete by Versel-Laga

For the manufacture of pellets, seeds of garden and meadow plants (dill, clover, plantain, celery), dried herbs, vegetables, fruits and fiber are used. Contains minerals, vitamins and herbal extracts.

The advantages of the feed are in the complete absence of grain crops and in the fact that fragrant granules are eaten by animals without a trace. The disadvantages include the fact that this food is quite rare on the shelves of pet stores.

Micropills Guinea Pigs manufactured by Fiory

As part of the granules, dried extracts of meadow herbs (clover, plantain, alfalfa, burdock, mint), yeast, fennel and Yucca extracts, minerals and vitamins. The advantage of nutrition is that it does not contain cereals and is made exclusively of their plant components. Among the minuses note the high price.

The best grain free food

The composition of such feed includes dried hay of stems and leaves, both garden and meadow plants.

Most owners agree that Vitakraft and Lolo Pets are the best guinea pig foods in this category.

Dried hay in packages from these manufacturers is always of high quality and fresh, smells good and their fluffy pets really like it.

Top 8 Ready-Made Guinea Pig Foods

The table below lists the most popular foods that most owners choose for their pets.

Important: even the first place in the ranking of the best feeds is not an indicator that this particular food will appeal to a guinea pig. If the animal leaves more than half of the food untouched, then he does not like some of the ingredients, so it is advisable to offer the pet products from another manufacturer.

The choice of food is important and requires a responsible approach from the owner. After all, the health and well-being of a small pet depends on the quality of nutrition.

Video: guinea pig food review