Can Guinea Pigs Eat Micro Greens?

Sorry for the long absence. Our humans have been really busy at work for the past few weeks, and haven't had time to get us new foods and products to try. Shame on you, humans! Where are your priorities?

Today we're going to review micro greens. Micro greens are the seedlings of mature plants. As far as we could determine, micro greens are safe for guinea pigs to eat. However, keep in mind that micro greens have several times as many nutrients as mature plants, and guinea pigs shouldn't get too much calcium. We had trouble finding information on whether micro greens have several times as much calcium, so our advice is to only feed small amounts occasionally.

I swear we didn't eat the ones on the left! The humans used it in their sandwiches.

Tasty!

Bored now.

Micro greens were pretty good, but not good enough for us to eat an entire serving. We'll give micro greens 3/5 stars.

How To Make Your Guinea Pig Happy Right Now

The humans just let us our for extra long floor time tonight and I have to say, it was awesome! Not only do we enjoy the exercise, but we really love the opportunity for foraging that floor time affords us.

We were made to nose around the floor, taking little steps, sniffing the floor, and tasting the occasional stray blade of hay. It's a strong natural instinct for us, and when we are let out of our cage for floor time, we get to explore and forage for food.

If you want to go a step further, you can hide little treats around the room we forage in. Take some stray pellets and hide them under chairs, in paper bags that have been tilted on their side (so we can crawl in) and we will make it our personal mission to sniff them out!

If you're concerned that we will pee and poop all over your nice carpet, have no fear! We are conditioned to only go in our cage, so just leave the cage open and we will return when nature calls. The exception to this is if there are covered areas that we have access to, such as under bookcases, or under tables, in which case we will designate these areas as our personal bathroom spots, so make sure you block these off beforehand.

One more thing: we need to be supervised during floor time because as gnawing animals we will chew on any and all things you leave on the floor: papers, shoelaces, etc. So keep a eye on us to keep us safe!

What do your piggies like to do when you give them floor time? Tell us in the comments!

Ask A Guinea Pig: Why Did My Guinea Pig Stop Wheeking?

Kathy asks: "I was a lonely rescued pig, and my humans brought me home a friend. Now instead of wheaking like I used to do all the time, I just sit and occasionally rumblestrut. My humans say they miss the wheaking. What should I tell them?"

Answer: Let's start by talking about what it means when your guinea pig wheeks. According to Guinea Pigs: A Complete Pet Owner's Manual by Katrin Behrend, wheeking (or "squeaking," as she calls it) means: "Pain, fear, loneliness; begging for food (expressed towards humans only); warning" (p. 47). Insistent wheeking is more likely to be about food, while faint or timid wheeking is more likely about fear or loneliness (p. 43).

No lonely-wheeks for us. Only food-begging wheeks!

With this in mind, here are a few possible causes that could make a guinea stop wheeking:

* Your guinea pig was lonely before, but now has a friend. The rumblestrut could mean your guinea pig is interested in mating or establishing dominance with the new pig.
* Your guinea pig might have been hearing a distressing noise, like an air conditioner, but now it stopped.

* Your guinea pig is too hot or cold. Make sure you read our post on the right temperature for your guinea pig.

* Your guinea pig may be sick. Make sure you check their weights regularly, and ensure that they're pooping normally.

Guinea pigs also tend to wheek more when they are babies. When Lola was a baby pig, she wheeked every single night, all night. But now she is grown, and we luckily do not have to put up with it as much.