Friday, March 28, 2014

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Miner's Lettuce?

Miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), also known as Indian lettuce or winter purslane, is a leaf vegetable that miner's ate during the California Gold Rush for its vitamin C to prevent scurvy. (Vitamin C is very important to piggies as well, so we may rename it "Piggy Lettuce" if we really like it!) It's typically considered a forage food for guinea pigs, but our humans were able to find it in a grocery store the other day. Good job, humans!

No information was provided on how often we can eat miner's lettuce, so out of caution, we're going to say no more than 1-2 times per week in small amounts.
This is miner's lettuce.
Wow, this stuff is amazing! 

As you can see from the video, things got a little crazy when tried miner's lettuce! I had to fight Broccoli at one point to hold onto the piece I'm eating, and then he and Buffy got into a little tussle over a piece. We ended up devouring it all in less than a minute, so then I had to go ask the humans if they had any more.

I highly recommend this stuff up for your guinea pig if you can find it. Our humans managed to find some at an organic market. You can also forage for it if you know what you're doing, or even buy the seeds off Amazon.com.

We give it 5/5 stars!

5 comments:

  1. Sounds delicious!!!!!!!
    XOXO
    Ashley & Wendy

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  2. Hey, um, this is Ashley & Wendy's owner speaking. I have a question. Ashley & Wendy are sneezing. Is this normal, or should I take them to the vet?
    [WHEEEEK!]
    Hi! We're back! We do sneeze, but we don't know why! Help us!!!
    XOXO
    Ashley & Wendy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ashley and Wendy. A little bit of sneezing is normal. Have you been sneezing a whole lot? Are there any other symptoms? Have you recently changed beddings? Has your human started using any new products you might be reacting to (carpet cleaners, air fresheners, etc.)?

      Sneezing can be a symptom of an upper-respiratory infection (URI). Here are the symptoms of a URI: "Labored breathing, crackling sound from the lungs, eyes that are almost sealed shut, discharge from the eyes and/or the nose, sneezing, coughing, and wheezing can all be symptomatic of an upper respiratory infection (URI)." If you have these symptoms, you should definitely see a vet ASAP!

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  3. We only sneeze about 4 times a week. Based on what you've said, it sounds normal.
    XOXO
    Ashley & Wendy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds normal. Still, make sure your humans keep an eye out for any other symptoms. Hopefully, they're also weighing you regularly since that's a pretty effective way of detecting health problems.

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