Romaine lettuce every day?

RomeAndSmores1

Post   » Sat Mar 07, 2020 10:10 am


So I've been feeding my Guinea pigs about half a leaf of romaine lettuce every day for the past couple days now because I was worried that they might have not enough vitamin c in their diet. Since I've been doing this, they seem to be much more happy.

My question is, is this sustainable Long term, or is it unsafe?

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sat Mar 07, 2020 1:03 pm


Many of us have found that regular amounts of romaine can cause calcium deposits in the urine, so I would not feed it daily. Why do you think they aren't getting enough vitamin C? What kind of pellets are you feeding them? Most high quality, fortified pellets have ample Vitamin C, but there are a variety of other vegetables that contain vitamin C and can be fed regularly such as the bell peppers: red, green, yellow and orange. See:
https://www.guinealynx.info/chart.html#chart

Avoid veggies that are gassy or higher in calcium.

RomeAndSmores1

Post   » Sat Mar 07, 2020 1:46 pm


I don't know why I think that- it's just the pellets I'm giving them aren't blatantly saying that they provide enough vitamin C, and I don't want to assume it does.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sat Mar 07, 2020 1:51 pm


What brand is it?

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sat Mar 07, 2020 3:09 pm


I rotate between red leaf, green leaf and romaine lettuce so that my guinea pigs get a variety and not too much romaine. If you are worried that your piggies aren't getting enough vitamin c from their diet, you can change it or there are supplements you can get for them. The reference forum on this site has a pretty comprehensive list of things to choose from.

RomeAndSmores1

Post   » Sun Mar 08, 2020 10:17 am


The brand is kaytee, it's just the normal green pellets. Thanks for the responses guys. I'll try to rotate out the lettuce as well!

Edit- is romaine "Gassy?"

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Mar 08, 2020 10:40 am


It is not considered a "brassica" like broccoli and cauliflower so it is probably not thought of as causing gas.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Mar 08, 2020 10:42 am


Kaytee is considered a lower quality pellet. We recommend either Oxbow Adult or KMS Hayloft timothy pellets.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sun Mar 08, 2020 12:12 pm


Kaytee pellets are high in calcium and use calcium carbonate as the calcium source. It's been anecdotally linked to bladder stones.

RomeAndSmores1

Post   » Sun Mar 08, 2020 7:16 pm


Actually on second thought I'm not sure it's kaytee... I'll have to go look because I don't think it is. Also where I live both of those pellets aren't very available... I try to get the highest quality stuff I can find, but sometimes it's hard to find good stuff.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Mar 08, 2020 7:17 pm


You have to order KMS online. Oxbow, too, usually. It's worth it to pay a little more to get the good stuff.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:27 pm


They're both easily available online.

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