{"id":2549,"date":"2020-02-20T09:31:06","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T09:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.petz.co.uk\/?page_id=2549"},"modified":"2026-03-19T21:05:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:05:24","slug":"best-guinea-pig-food","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/best-guinea-pig-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Guinea Pig Food UK 2026: Hay, Pellets &#038; Fresh Veg Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Guinea pig nutrition is built on a single critical fact: <strong>guinea pigs cannot synthesise Vitamin C<\/strong>. Like humans (and unlike most other mammals), guinea pigs lack the enzyme L-gulonolactone oxidase needed to produce ascorbic acid. Without daily dietary Vitamin C, they develop scurvy \u2014 a painful and potentially fatal condition causing swollen joints, lethargy, poor wound healing, and internal haemorrhaging. Every aspect of guinea pig diet planning revolves around this biological vulnerability.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 80\/10\/10 Diet Ratio<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>80% Hay:<\/strong> Unlimited Timothy hay available at all times. Essential for dental wear (guinea pig teeth grow continuously) and gut motility. Without sufficient fibre, guinea pigs develop life-threatening gut stasis.<\/li>\n<li><strong>10% Pellets:<\/strong> One tablespoon (approximately one egg cup) of grass-based pellets per guinea pig per day. Provides concentrated Vitamin C and balanced minerals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>10% Fresh Vegetables:<\/strong> Approximately one cup of vegetables daily. Primary natural source of Vitamin C.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Quick Comparison: Best Guinea Pig Pellets UK 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n<div style=\"overflow-x:auto; margin: 1.5rem 0;\">\n<table style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:0.95rem;\">\n<thead>\n<tr style=\"background:#6B4226; color:white;\">\n<th style=\"padding:12px; text-align:left;\">Product<\/th>\n<th style=\"padding:12px;\">Key Feature<\/th>\n<th style=\"padding:12px;\">Best For<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"background:#fdf8f5;\"><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><strong>Burgess Excel Nuggets<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:10px;\">Added Vitamin C \/ Mint flavour<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px;\">Overall best \/ Most available<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><strong>Supreme Science Selective<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:10px;\">High-fibre, vet-developed<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px;\">Fussy eaters \/ Premium<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background:#fdf8f5;\"><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><strong>Beaphar CARE+<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:10px;\">Dual-fibre technology<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px;\">Digestive support<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><strong>\u26a0\ufe0f Avoid muesli-style mixes.<\/strong> Guinea pigs selectively eat the sugary, fatty components and leave the nutritious parts \u2014 the equivalent of a child eating only the marshmallows from a breakfast cereal. Single-component pellets (nuggets) prevent this selective feeding.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Safe &amp; Unsafe Vegetables<\/h2>\n\n\n<div style=\"overflow-x:auto; margin: 1.5rem 0;\">\n<table style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:0.95rem;\">\n<thead>\n<tr style=\"background:#6B4226; color:white;\">\n<th style=\"padding:12px;\">Daily (Safe)<\/th>\n<th style=\"padding:12px;\">2-3x Weekly (Moderate)<\/th>\n<th style=\"padding:12px;\">\u274c NEVER<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"background:#fdf8f5;\">\n<td style=\"padding:10px;\">Bell peppers (esp. red)<br>Romaine lettuce<br>Cucumber<br>Coriander\/parsley<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:10px;\">Kale, spinach (high calcium)<br>Broccoli (can bloat)<br>Carrots (high sugar)<br>Tomato (flesh only)<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:10px;\">Potato (all types)<br>Onion\/garlic<br>Rhubarb<br>Avocado<br>Iceberg lettuce<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><em>For housing your piggies, see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/best-guinea-pig-hutch\/\">Best Guinea Pig Hutch UK<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p><em>Part of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/guinea-pig-care-guide\/\">Guinea Pig Care Guide<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"petz-product-section\"><h2 class=\"petz-product-section-title\">\ud83e\udd6c Recommended Guinea Pig Food<\/h2><p class=\"petz-product-section-desc\">We&#8217;ve hand-picked these products for you. As an affiliate, we may earn a commission if you purchase through our links, at no extra cost to you.<\/p><div class=\"petz-product-grid\"><div class=\"petz-product-card\" data-provider=\"viglink\"><div class=\"petz-product-card-inner\"><div class=\"petz-product-name\">Nature&#039;s Feast Guinea Pig Food with Nugget, Grass and Veg<\/div><div class=\"petz-product-shop\"><span class=\"petz-shop-badge petz-shop-viglink\">Pets at Home<\/span>          View Product &rarr;      <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Guinea pig nutrition is built on a single critical fact: guinea pigs cannot synthesise Vitamin C. Like humans (and unlike [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2550,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"page_type":[5],"page_category":[22,143],"class_list":["post-2549","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","page_type-round-up","page_category-small-pets","page_category-small-pet-food"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2549"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13267,"href":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2549\/revisions\/13267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"page_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page_type?post=2549"},{"taxonomy":"page_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petz.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page_category?post=2549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}