Guinea pigs are fun to have, and feeding them special treats is a fun way to bond with them. But when it comes to feeding them treats, you always have to make sure they’re safe for them. Considering treats, green beans’ green color can be tempting for your guinea pig. But, Can guinea pigs eat green beans? Are green beans safe for your pet guinea pig?
In short,
“Yes, your pet guinea pig can eat green beans. Green beans are perfectly safe for your pet guinea pig, and they won’t have any trouble eating them. Green beans are rich in nutrients and can be beneficial for your guinea pig’s health.
But there is a catch. Green beans are safe only if they are fed in moderation. This is because green beans contain high calcium and phosphorous content.”
The fact that green beans have a high concentration of calcium and phosphorous makes them unsafe for your pet friend’s health. It would be best if you only were feeding them as a treat rather than a part of your guinea pig’s diet.
Continue reading to find out how your guinea pig can benefit from eating green beans. In addition, you also need to know the risks and dangers involved.
Feeding Green Beans To Guinea Pigs – Everything You Need To Know
Introducing green beans as a treat to your guinea pig will bring variance to your pet’s primary diet. This will also allow your pet to receive the essential vitamins and minerals that he or she cannot receive from their main diet.
Keep in mind, moderation is the key when it comes to introducing your pet to new foods. Overfeeding green beans to your pet will make him or her susceptible to digestive issues. We certainly do not want that, right? This is why you need to keep your pet’s green beans intake to a minimum.
In addition to this, there are certain benefits of green beans that make them well worth it. But, before we get into all that, here is a bonus tip for you and your pet guinea pig.
Fun fact – Do you want your guinea pig to receive the full benefits of green beans? Feed your adorable little guinea pig fresh green beans. Yes, it is as simple as that. Fresh green beans are always recommended for your pet friend. They can eat both the leaves and seeds of the tempting veggie.
Here’s everything you need to know about the relationship between green beans and your adorable little guinea pig.
1) Can Guinea Pigs Safely Eat Green Beans?
“A BIG YES! Guinea pigs can safely eat green beans. They’re rich in nutrients and low in sugars, making up for a perfect treat for your pet friend.”
You might have noticed the word “treat” in the answer above. Yes, you read correctly. Green beans can only be fed to your guinea pig as a treat only. It can never be a part of your pet’s primary diet.
Always mix other vegetables with green beans when feeding your guinea pig. It will ensure your pet friend receives a touch of everything that he or she needs to stay active and healthy.
2) Can Guinea Pigs Eat Cooked Green Beans?
Simply put, No. Guinea pigs should never be fed cooked green beans.
In the process of cooking, most of the essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients are removed. This is why you should never feed cooked green beans to your pet guinea pig.
They are a potential health hazard for your guinea pig and may make your pet friend suffer from miserable health complications.
It is always recommended to serve fresh green beans to your guinea pig. Feeding them raw and fresh will keep your pet friend safe from all the health hazards and at the same time ensure your pet benefits from eating them.
3) Can Guinea Pigs Eat Frozen Green Beans?
In short, “Yes, they can. But do not feed them green beans straight out of the refrigerator. Always thaw frozen green beans prior to feeding them to your pet guinea pig.”
Guinea pigs have a delicate digestive system, which is why they require special care when it comes to their meals. Specifically when it comes to feeding them frozen food.
Frozen food is known to cause indigestion in your pet friend. You should avoid feeding your pet any cold food whatsoever.
Bonus tip – To help your pet’s digestion, always make sure your guinea pig has unlimited access to fresh water.
4) Do You Need To Peel Green Beans Prior To Feeding Them To Guinea Pigs?
The answer to this question is a single word, “NO.” There is absolutely no point in peeling them for your guinea pig.
Guinea pigs love the green texture of green beans, and they certainly would want to get a piece of it. All you need to do is thoroughly wash and clean green beans prior to feeding them to your pet friend.
Besides, always make sure the green beans you’re serving to your pet are raw.
5) How To Determine If The Green Beans You’re Serving Are Healthy?
There is no rocket science behind this. The green beans that you’re intending on serving to your pet guinea pig should be firm. They should bend when you bend them.
Lastly, they should snap in the middle when you intend on breaking them or push them.
Try one, and if you observe the above reactions, you should know that the green beans that you’re looking at are, in fact, safe for your guinea pig.
6) Do You Need To Remove The Stirp On The Green Beans?
The strip that you may see on the edge is merely a fiber strip. At this point, it all comes down to personal preference. You can either remove it or let it stay. If you are wondering, the fiber strip is perfectly safe for your pet guinea pig.
There’s no harm in peeling it off, but we suggest you let your pet friend decide for himself in this case. If your pet likes to eat it, you can let it eat since there are no adverse effects. If he or she does not like the additional fiber, you can always remove it.
Introducing Your Pet To Green Beans For The First Time – Serving Guide
Before you go ahead and serve your pet piggy green beans, make sure you go through our serving guide to ensure you don’t overdo it.
1) How Much Green Beans To Feed To Your Guinea Pig?
In short, “Only feed one or two strings of green beans to your adorable little friend.” Keeping the serving small will help avoid flatulence and bloating in your guinea pig.
Guinea pigs should only be served a small meal of green beans. Feeding them a large meal at once will expose them to a high concentration of calcium and phosphorus. This will result in certain health complications, including digestive disorders.
You should also note that the serving size varies based on your pet’s age. An adult guinea pig cannot eat more than two strings of green beans without exposing himself to bloating.
On the other hand, young guinea pigs that are a little over 12 weeks old can eat more than two strings of green beans.
2) How Many Times Can Your Furry Friend Have Green Beans?
Keeping it short, “Feed green beans to your guinea pig 2 or 3 times a week.” This will ensure your pet’s health is not compromised in any way whatsoever.
While at the same time, it will also make sure your pet receives all the vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals that he or she needs to stay active, energetic, and in the best of their health.
3) Easy To Follow Steps To Prepare Green Beans For Guinea Pigs:
Preparing green beans for your guinea pig is relatively easy. All you need to do is thoroughly wash them since they are sprayed with pesticides. Fun fact, green beans are sprayed with over 44 different types of pesticides.
Just as large servings of green beans are harmful to your pet; sprayed green beans are also harmful to your pet.
In fact, they are poisonous, considering the number of pesticides that are sprayed on them. Always try finding organic or homegrown green beans. They have relatively lower chemicals sprayed on them.
Whether you find them raw or get them from a store, it is always a good idea to thoroughly wash and clean them. This will remove any pesticides or dirt that might still be there on the green beans.
After washing them, make sure to cut down the hard stem parts prior to feeding them to your guinea pig.
4) Green Beans Combo:
Since green beans are low in calories, you will need to mix them with 2 or 3 other vegetables. This will allow your pet guinea pig to receive all the nutrients he or she needs.
Nutritional Facts Of Green Beans
Green beans are rich in nutrients. There is no denying that. Here are the nutritional facts of green beans. Keep in mind, these are per 100g, and the nutritional stats might vary accordingly.
| Vitamin C | 12.2 mg/ 100 g |
| Vitamin K | 211 mg/ 100 g |
| Vitamin A | 35 ug/ 100 g |
| Vitamin B-6 | 0.14 mg |
| Vitamin E | 0.41 mg |
| Folate | 33 ug |
| Thiamin | 0.1 mg |
| Niacin | 0.7 mg |
| Calcium | 37 mg/ 100 g |
| Iron | 1.03 mg |
| Zinc | 0.24 mg |
| Selenium | 0.25 mcg |
| Phosphorous | 38 mg/ 100 g |
| Potassium | 211 mg/ 100 g |
| Fiber | 2.7 g/ 100 g |
| Sugar | 3.26 g/ 100 g |
| Protein | 1.83 g/ 100 g |
| Carbs | 6.97 g/ 100 g |
| Calories | 31 Kcal |
| Fat | 0.22 g/ 100 g |
| Water | 90.32 g/ 100 g |
7 Health Benefits Of Feeding Green Beans To Guinea Pigs
As you can tell from the nutritional statistics above, green beans are rich in nutrients. These include multiple vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients required for a guinea pig’s ideal health.
1) Vitamin K:
Green beans have a whopping 211 mg/ 100 g of Vitamin K in them. Guinea pigs like to do cute little tricks like turning in circles and jumping around.
Since they require a lot of energy and need their bones to be strong, green beans can be beneficial for their health. Vitamin K helps in bone mineralization, improves the growth of the cells, and serves as an anti-inflammatory agent.
The vitamin K content in green beans is also beneficial for improving heart health. In addition to this, it can also help prevent or lower the risk of bone fractures, which makes it a must-have.
2) Vitamin C:
Green beans have over 12.2 mg/ 100 g of Vitamin C in them. Although it might not be as concentrated as the Vitamin K content in green beans, it still is beneficial for your guinea pig.
The Vitamin C content in green beans serves as a powerful antioxidant. It can help strengthen your guinea pig when it comes to fighting against free radicals.
Similar to Vitamin K, Vitamin C can also help lower the risks of cardiovascular diseases.
In addition to this, your guinea pig’s skin conditions will also improve when feeding him green beans. This is mainly due to the vitamin C in them.
3) Prevention Of Scurvy:
Green beans contain the primary ingredient, Vitamin C, which helps in the prevention of scurvy. If you are wondering, a deficiency of Vitamin C is what leads to scurvy.
Some symptoms of scurvy include:
| Bleeding | Rough Coat | Discharge | No Appetite |
| Fatigue | Laziness | Diarrhea | Painful Joints |
Since guinea pigs cannot produce or store vitamin C in their bodies, they require foods that contain Vitamin C. This is why green beans can be an excellent addition to your pet guinea pig’s diet.
4) Improved Condition Of Blood:
Green beans contain iron, which is helpful when it comes to improving the condition of your pet guinea pig’s blood. Green beans can provide your pet with a portion of iron that is required to prevent anemia.
Symptoms of anemia include,
- Weakness
- No Appetite
- Frequent exposure to diseases
- Fatigue
The iron and copper content in green beans can help your guinea pig achieve the goal of healthy blood.
5) Improve The Digestion Of Food:
Green beans have a decent concentration of fiber in them. Fibers are required for the proper digestion of food. Since guinea pigs eat a variety of different foods, they require something that helps with their digestion.
The fiber in green beans can help your guinea pig with its bowel movements and digestion of food.
Here’s a fun fact for you. Since your pet’s digestive system is improved, you will have no trouble introducing him or her to new treats. Some fun treats for your guinea pig are.
However, do not let this distract you from the fact that you need to feed green beans in moderation.
Overfeeding green beans to your pet friend will expose him to an excess of fiber. Excess of fiber will affect your guinea pig’s digestion and result in loose stool.
5) Removes Free Radicals:
Green beans are rich in antioxidants, including Vitamin A, manganese, and selenium. These antioxidants will help remove free radicals from your guinea pig’s body.
When free radicals are removed from a guinea pig’s body, he or she will have a lower risk of suffering from several diseases. These include heart diseases and cancers.
6) Maintains Your Pet’s Weight:
With green beans, you won’t have to worry about your pet putting on excess weight. Guinea pig owners love to introduce their pets to new treats, but it can make your pet obese.
Green beans are perfectly safe for your pet due to the fact that they are low in calories, carbs, proteins, and fats. This is why you can safely introduce your guinea pig to a special treat like green beans.
7) Improves Your Pet’s EyeSight:
Green beans have a decent concentration of Vitamin A. The vitamin A content in green beans can improve the eyesight of your pet guinea pig. It will allow your pet to see better and have fun with you.
If you did not know, the guinea pig’s eyesight deteriorates over time. On top of this, their vision is not sharp as well.
Feeding them foods that are rich in Vitamin A will help improve their eyesight.
3 Potential Risks Of Green Beans – Make Sure To Avoid Overfeeding Your Furry Friend
The benefits of green beans are enough to tip the scales towards making this your pet’s new food. But, there are certain health risks involved as well. To be on the safe side, always feed green beans in moderation to your guinea pig.
When feeding green beans to guinea pigs, you need to take these risks into consideration. Or else, you might be risking your pet’s health.
1) Urinary Complications:
As mentioned earlier, green beans have a high concentration of calcium and phosphorus. While calcium and phosphorus are great for your pet, but they can be harmful to your pet at the same time.
Both calcium and phosphorus are found to improve and maintain healthy bone tissues. However, the same nutrient rich veggie will make your guinea pig suffer from numerous diseases.
A point to remember is that your pet will only suffer from these issues if he eats too many green beans.
Here are some of the health complications your pet will be exposed to if you overfeed him.
| Bladder stones |
| Presence of blood in the urine |
| Kidney stones |
| Urinary Infection |
| Painful urination |
| Renal Failure (In severe cases) |
Renal failure will only happen if you constantly feed your guinea pig foods that have a high concentration of calcium and phosphorus.
2) Digestion Complications:
Green beans have a relatively low concentration of sugar. But that does not necessarily mean you can feed him unlimited supplies of green beans.
The small amounts of sugar in green beans will result in a buildup if you overfeed him.
Since your pet’s digestive system is not capable of digesting too much sugar, it will lead to certain health complications.
These include,
- Upset stomach
- Bloating
- Cramps
- Poor digestion
- Diarrhea
All of these can be avoided if you feed them in moderation to your pet friend.
In addition to this, green beans are also rich in fibers. This means feeding too much fibery content to your pet will result in loose stools.
3) The Dreadful Flatulence And Bloating:
Green beans are known to cause bloating and flatulence. This is another reason that tips the scales towards making green beans a treat rather than a part of your pet’s diet.
Guinea pigs should only have green beans 2 or 3 times a week. Anything more than this will expose your guinea pig to flatulence, bloating, and other health complications.
15 Safe Alternatives Of Green Beans For Your Guinea Pig
Guinea pigs, too, have likes and dislikes. Although it is highly unlikely, if your pet guinea pig is not fond of green beans, you should not be worried. Your pet just has different likes than others.
Here are some of the best alternatives you can feed your little furry friend with.
| Celery | Apples | Broccoli | Zucchini | Pumpkin |
| Cilantro | Pineapples | Blueberries | Grapes | Strawberries |
| Melons | Bananas | Asparagus | Squash | Butter squash |
Frequently Asked Questions
1) Can Guinea Pigs Eat Green Beans’ Seeds?
“Yes, guinea pigs can safely eat green beans’ seeds.” Just make sure they’re raw, fresh, and young.
Guinea pigs cannot eat matured pods. This is mainly because mature pods of green beans are harmful to your pet guinea pig’s health. Feeding them to your pet friend will lead to health complications such as digestive issues.
Just like the actual beans, you need to feed them the seeds in moderation.
2) Can Guinea Pigs Eat Green Beans’ Leaves?
The answer to this question is plain and simple “YES!”
The leaves are perfectly safe for your pet friend, so there is nothing for you to be worried about.
Your guinea pig will have no trouble finding his way around the eats. Guinea pigs love eating green leafy foods, and feeding them the leaves of green beans will certainly be a nice treat for them.
3) Are Raw Beans Suitable For Guinea Pigs?
“Of course, yes!” Raw beans are the ones that you should be feeding your guinea pig. They have the most nutrients and are perfectly safe for your guinea pig.
However, you should know that they are sprayed with over 44 different types of pesticides. Just make sure they’re clean and have no pesticides or dirt on them whatsoever.
Conclusion:
Guinea pigs can safely eat green beans. They are rich in vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and other necessary nutrients that a guinea pig needs.
However, due to the high calcium and phosphorus content, you can only feed them 2 or 3 times a week. You should only give your pet guinea pig one or two strings. Overfeeding them will lead to certain health complications, including urinary and digestive issues.
Prior to feeding green beans to your guinea pigs, always make sure to wash them thoroughly. This will remove the harmful chemicals and pesticides from the green beans, making them safe for consumption.