Can Guinea Pigs Eat Pumpkin?

It’s Halloween time again and Halloween means Pumpkin (or turnips if you’re in Scotland…shh I know…) but as you carve your brightly coloured squash and slurp your spiced latte you may wonder if your Guinea Pigs can join in with the fun. So, today we ask;  

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Pumpkin?:

Yes, Pumpkin skin and flesh is perfectly edible by Guinea Pigs, however due to its relatively low nutritional value it is best kept as a treat. 

Nutrition:

• Like all squashes; Pumpkin is mainly water with most nutritional benefit coming from the skin.
• The high water content makes it very low in fat and sugar but also low on fibre and carbohydrates too.
• Due to its high levels of beta carotene (the bit that makes it orange); Pumpkin is very high in vitamin A.
• Vitamin A plays an important role in optic (eye) health, the skin, reproductive system and the immune system.

• 

• Vitamin C is probably the most important vitamin to Guinea Pigs because (like humans) they cannot produce their own so much get 100% from their diets.
• Low levels of vit C in their diets can cause everything from bad skin to paralysis.
• Pumpkin has a very low level of vitamin C compared to the likes of broccoli and kale; but actually contains more vitamin c than carrots.
• The high water content means that if you feed too much it could cause diarrhoea.

• The seeds inside a Pumpkin are not poisonous and perfectly edible by most animals, however they should be removed because seeds are generally considered a choking hazard by the Guinea Pig keeping community. Wild birds love them.

Conclusion: 

• Pumpkin is a very much comparable to carrot in its nutritional make up and should be treated similarly. 
• The Squidgypigs enjoy a piece of pumpkin as a treat and since a pumpkin can be bought as cheaply as 50p this month it makes a good cost effective treat once us humans are finished carving bits out of them! 🎃