As guinea pigs are grazing animals they require a high fibre diet consisting of hay, a good quality guinea pig food and fresh fruits and vegetables.

While hay should form the main bulk of the diet and should be in constant supply as it is needed to keep their digestive systems functioning correctly and to help keep their ever-growing teeth worn down, a guinea pig food should be fed alongside it to ensure that a complete and balanced diet is being provided. We recommend feeding a nugget based guinea pig food as these offer a nutritious diet in the form of extruded pellets, allowing your pet to take in all the necessary nutrients from the food, whereas muesli based foods tend to encourage selective feeding which can lead to nutrient deficiencies.

Along with hay and guinea pig food, fresh fruits and vegetables should be offered regularly; kale, broccoli, cabbage and melon are all good options. Fresh fruit and vegetables are a good source of vitamin C as guinea pigs do not have the ability to produce it themselves and so need it in regular supply to stay in good health. To ensure that your guinea pig is getting enough vitamin C you could also add a supplement to their diet - these can be found in the treatments and supplements section.