Roses look beautiful in your home, but they can also be a superb way of sprucing up your guinea pigs’ diets.
Although guinea pigs are herbivores that can eat rose petals in the right conditions, they are not the most beneficial part of the plant to give your pets. Keep reading to learn more about which parts of the rose plant you should consider feeding your guinea pigs and why.
Here are three reasons you might want to introduce roses to your piggies’ diets:
- Certain parts of the rose contain high percentages of vitamin C that will help with your piggies’ dietary needs.
- Feeding roses that are already in your garden to your guinea pigs is a great way to save money on treats and make the most out of your flowers.
- Roses not only add a pleasant smell to the cavy cage but could create a cute photo opportunity.
Are Rose Petals Safe for Guinea Pigs?
If you have been wondering what smells do guinea pigs like, then you have one of the best item here! Rose petals are safe snacks for cavies that look and smell amazing in your guinea pigs’ cage. However, it is important to remember that artificially dyed roses are not safe for your pet.
Sometimes it can be hard to tell if roses bought from supermarkets have been sprayed to change their color or make them last longer. If you are unsure whether your roses have come into contact with a potentially dangerous chemical, refrain from feeding them to your cavies.
The safest rose petals to feed to your pets will be those that you grow yourself. If you have an outdoor garden that you like to use to help feed your guinea pigs, planting roses can be a fantastic contribution to your cause. If you don’t trust the roses sold in stores, growing them yourself will guarantee that you can produce them in a way that’s up to piggy standards.
Dried Rose Petals
What if you want to display your roses before you feed them to your pets? Will the rose petals still be edible?
One way to make the most out of your roses is to dry them out after you’ve had them on display. This not only will allow you the time to appreciate your roses visually, but it can also make your supply of rose petals last longer as piggy snacks. Just be sure to watch your roses closely so that they don’t mold or become overly wilted before you start to dry them.
Can Guinea Pigs Eat Rose Hips or Stems?
Now that your guinea pigs have had a floral frenzy with the rose petals, what do you do with the rest of the rose plant? With the right preparation, guinea pigs can eat both rose hips and stems. Continue reading below to ensure that you take the appropriate precautions before feeding rose hips and stems to your pets.
Rose Hips
People who are not overly familiar with roses might not know that the flowers actually produce a fruit called a rose hip. This fruit is a fantastic treat for a piggy with the prerequisite that the pet owners first remove the seeds and hairs within the fruit. Rose hips are especially great for piggies because of their high percentages of vitamin C. This makes rose hip one of the potential temporary food to feed your guinea pigs when out of food.
If you are worried that your rose hips will not last long enough for your guinea pigs to consume them, you can try drying your rose hips to make them last longer. If you are concerned about eliminating the nutritional value of your snacks, don’t fret, dried rose hips also contribute to your cavies’ daily doses of vitamin C.
Always give rosehip and any other fruit and vegetable to your guinea pigs in moderation. A guinea pig’s fruits and veggies should be regularly cycled to maintain a healthy variety in their diet.
Too much of one thing isn’t any safer for guinea pigs than it is safe for us. A good rule to stand by is to not offer any fruit or vegetable more than three times a week to your cavies.
Rose Stems
The stem of a rose contains potential hazards for a guinea pig. The large thorns on a rose’s stem are not safe for cavy consumption.
Although the actual stem does no harm to guinea pigs, the thorns should be removed before giving them to your piggy pals. Never give your guinea pigs a rose stem with the thorns still intact.
It is likely that your guinea pigs will not enjoy eating rose stems as guinea pigs tend to be picky eaters, and rose stems aren’t typically a favorite flavor for piggies. If your piggies don’t like the rose stems, then remove them from their cage so that they aren’t left to mold.
Nutrition in Roses
Guinea pigs have strict nutritional needs that they require to avoid becoming vitamin deficient. Specific parts of the rose can help with satisfying your guinea pigs’ dietary requirements as well as add variety to your pets’ diets.
Rose Petals
If you are looking to brighten up your piggies’ habitat and have a piggy photo shoot, then feeding your guinea pigs fresh rose petals can be a lot of fun. However, rose petals do very little to help meet the nutritional needs of your pets.
Rose petals are an excellent treat because they are all-natural, in contrast with some treats that can be sold in stores. This being said, rose petals cannot be considered a satisfactory option for the one cup of veggies suggested for your piggies each day. You will need to add more nutritional fruits and veggies along with rose petals to supply your piggies with a healthy meal.
Timothy hay and leafy greens should always be the essential components of your cavies’ diets. Make sure to compare the foods that you feed your pets to the first column of the chart below to verify that you are meeting your piggies’ needs.
Rose Stems
Although harmless to your pets once the thorns are removed, rose stems are not an ideal food to be added to your cavies’ diets. Rose stems will add little to no nutritional value to their feeding time. It would be more ideal to include leafy greens alongside the rose petals and rose hips instead of rose stems.
Rose Hips
Rose hips are high in vitamin C. Vitamin C is an essential component of a guinea pig’s diet, and it’s necessary to incorporate it into their meals daily.
Rose hips are a brilliant option for fulfilling the 200mg of vitamin C that a guinea pig requires daily. The chart below can help you get an idea of just how beneficial rose hips can be in your guinea pig’s routine. Notice that just 28g of rose hips can almost provide your piggy with their daily vitamin C goal.
It can often be difficult for guinea pigs to achieve their dietary requirement of vitamin C from pellets alone. Natural sources like rosehip can be highly advantageous for pet owners to feed their cavies since it can deliver their vitamin C so effectively.
| Nutrition a guinea pig needs per day | Rose hip (per 28g) | |
| Vitamin A | 28 mg | 0.37 mg |
| Vitamin D | 0.025 mg | – |
| Vitamin E | 26.7 mg | 1.6 mg |
| Vitamin K | 5 mg | 7.3 mcg |
| Vitamin C | 200 mg | 119 mg |
| Protein | 180 g | 0.4 g |
| Fats/fatty acids | 1.33–4.0 g | 0.1 g |
| Calcium | 8 g | 47.3 mg |
| Phosphorus | 4 g | 17.1 mg |
| Magnesium | 1 g | 19.3 mg |
| Potassium | 5 g | 120 mg |
| Sodium | 0.5 g | 1.1 mg |
| Copper | 6 mg | 0 mg |
| Iron | 50 mg | 0.3 mg |
| Manganese | 40 mg | 0.3 mg |
| Zinc | 20 mg | 0.1 mg |
How to Identify a Vitamin C Deficiency?
Rose hip is high in Vitamin C and can definitely be a factor in preventing vitamin C deficiencies, but how do you know if one of your cavies is vitamin C deficient?
Guinea pigs are small, fragile animals that require attentive, observant owners when it comes to uncovering illnesses. A guinea pig’s first instinct when they aren’t feeling well is to hide their illness, and this instinct is rooted in their desire not to be rejected by their piggy herds. This can result in owners being surprised, seemingly very suddenly, with an extremely ill guinea pig needing immediate veterinary care.
For guinea pigs that are experiencing vitamin C deficiencies, adding rose hips to their diets can help them achieve their vitamin C goals. If your guinea pig displays any of these signs below, then they may be experiencing a vitamin C deficiency:
- Anorexia
- Lethargy
- Diarrhea
- Rough Coat
- Swollen Joints
- Weakness or Difficulty Moving
If you notice any of these signs in your guinea pig, it is crucial to contact your veterinarian as these symptoms can crossover into other dangerous illnesses.
In conclusion, adding parts of the rose plant to your guinea pigs’ diets can be a fantastic idea as long as it is done under the correct parameters. Rose petals are safe and fun for guinea pigs to eat, but the best part of the rose for piggies will always be the rose hip.