Don't Forget, Vitamin C in Important!

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I am currently fostering 2 guinea pigs with scurvy. This is entirely preventable, so this prompted me to start this discussion topic. If only the owners had fed the guinea pigs vitamin C, they wouldn't have this problem. The good news is, with vitamin C treatment, it is reversible. However, you shouldn't let scurvy happen to your guinea pigs. Most commercially available pellets contain vitamin C. However, you can also provide vitamin C in the diet by providing veggies high in C. Good choices include: red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and cilantro. For more options, see www.guinealynx.info If you don't have a lot of veggies available in your area and you're unsure of the vitamin C content in the pellets you offer, you may give guinea pigs chewable vitamin C tablets (the kind for people are fine, look for the ones with the least sugar if possible). You want to give 25 to 50mg per day. Oxbow (www.oxbowhay.com) even makes specific tablets just for guinea pigs. Either feed the tablets directly, or crush and mix with water and syringe it to them. Don't put vitamin C in the water bottles. It makes the guinea pigs drink less water and is also useless. Vitamin C degrades quickly in water. So if you buy those drops at the pet store, you are just wasting your money. Don't let your guinea pigs develop scurvy!