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Dangerous Guinea Pig Food List – Unsafe Foods

Published 8/23/2010 | Updated 4/8/2024
Category: Guinea Pig Diet | HappyCavy

Small guinea pig eating grass

Guinea Pig Dangerous Foods

The below Guinea Pig Dangerous Foods List is a compilation of vegetables, fruits, and herbs that are not safe for guinea pig consumption.



Jump to the Guinea Pig Safe Food List to find out what plants are edible for guinea pigs.

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FOOD / PLANT / FLOWER
Notes
Aconite
Anemone (windflower, tumbleweed)
Autumn crocus
Avodaco
Any kind – Too high in fat.
Baked goods (cakes, cookies)
Beans
Any kind – causes gas/bloating.
Bishop’s Weed (Ammi majus)
May contain toxic levels of nitrates.
Black locust
Buttercup
Caladium
Caster oil plants (castor bean, palma)
Cherry trees (wild and cultivated)
Chiles
Christmas pepper
Clematis (virgin’s bower)
Coconut
Any kind – Too high in fat.
Coffee, soda
High in sugar, caffeine.
Cycads
Daffodil (narcissus, jonquil)
Dairy products
Daphne
Delphinum (larkspur, staggerweed)
Dicerna (bleeding heart, dutchman’s breeches, squirrel corn, turkey corn)
Diffenbachia (dumb cane)
Elephant ear
English ivy
Euphorbia (annual poinsettia, mexican fire plant, fire-on-the-mountain, snow-on-the-mountain)
Four-o’clock
Foxglove
Garland flower
Garlic
Poisonous.
Glory lily (climbing lily, gloriosa)
Golden chain
Goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria)
See Bishop’s Weed
Ground Elder (Aegopodium podagraria)
See Bishop’s Weed
Gyacinth
Hydrangea
Holly
Horseradish
Too pungent.
Hot herbs and spices
Lettuce – Iceberg
Low nutrition, high water content.
Iris
Indian spurge tree (pencil tree, malabartree, pencil cactus, monkey fiddle)
Jack-in-the-pulpit
Jerusalem cherry
Jams, jellies, fruit preservatives
High sugar content.
Jasmine
Juice
High sugar content.
Lantana camera (red sage)
Laurels
Leeks
Foods in the onion family (like leeks)
are not guinea pig safe
Lilac
Lily-of-the-valley
Marsh marigold (cowslip)
Matrimony vine
Mayapple
Meadow saffron
Meat
Mistletoe
Monkshood
Mountain laurel
Mushrooms (amanita muscaria&amanita phalloides)
Poisonous.
Nightshade
Nuts
Any kind – too high in fat.
Oaks
Oleander
Olives (canned)
Pickled or brined vegetables are
NOT safe for guinea pigs
Onions
Green, yellow, and
red onions are not safe
Paprikas
Peppers – hot and chiles
Philodendron
Phytolacca (poke weed, poke berry, ink berry)
Pickled vegetables (dill, pickles, capers, sauer kraut)
Pine needles
Poinciana (bird-of-paradise)
Poison hemlock
Potato and potato tops (leaves)
Pothos
Potatoes
Poisonous if green or sprouted. Yams and sweet potatoes are OK in moderation.
Privet
Pyracantha (firethorn)
Raw beans
Rhododendron (laurels, rose bay, azalea)
Rhubarb
Poisonous.
Rosary pea
Seeds
Choking hazard.
Snowdrop
Snow-in-the-mountain (Aegopodium podagraria)
See Bishop’s Weed
Soda, soda pop
High in sugar, caffeine.
Spring adonis (pheasant’s eye)
Star-of-bethlehem
Strelitzia (bird-of-paradise)
Sweet pea
Taro
Dangerous of eaten unprepared or raw.
Tea
Tomatillo – leaves and stalk
Poisonous.
Tomato – leaves and stalk
Poisonous.
Trumpet flower (chalice vine)
Water hemlock
Wisteria
Yellow oleander (lucky nut, tiger apple, be-still-tree)
Yew

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Kelsey
Kelsey
14 years ago

omg! i gave my guinea pig elephant ear!! wats going 2 happpen!!! hes acting weird now 🙁

Chris
Chris
14 years ago

My guinea pig ate cheese once and they cant have cheese but he was ok.

Emilia
Emilia
13 years ago

can my guinea pig eat wheat grass? Ive been growing some and i use no pesticides or anything like that.

missy
missy
13 years ago

Oh phew, I haven’t given my girls anything on that list! 🙂 Is there any other kind of lettuce that my mum and I could give our girls?

Ted & Karina
Ted & Karina
13 years ago

Can we feed out Guinea Pig steak? It seemed excited when it smelled us cooking it two nights ago? I would make it extra rare.

trackback
Fresh Food Do you ever give your piggies wild foods?
12 years ago

[…] ever give your piggies wild foods? Elderberry is on this list of unsafe for guinea pigs foods– Can My Guinea Pig Eat… ~ DANGER LIST Blackberries, blueberries, and rosehips are safe. I haven't found anything on Oregon Grape yet. […]

Crystal
Crystal
12 years ago

Can guinea pigs eat pineapple by any chance? My one piggy love eating it every now and then but I’m not sure if I should give it to him again…

Hammy
Reply to  Crystal
12 years ago

Most guinea pigs love pineapple! But just be sure to de-vein and feed in small portions. Munch away, little piggies! 😀

K
K
12 years ago

I noticed onion on both this list AND on your list of foods piggies can eat. What’s up with that?

Hammy
Reply to  K
12 years ago

Onion is, in fact, safe for guinea pigs to eat. Its entry on the Guinea Pig Safe Food List is correct. When we first made this list, we were very careful about adding “potentially unsafe” foods. Since then, we learned that onion IS safe, we just forgot to remove it from this list.

Good catch! Thank you!! 😀

Katrina
Katrina
12 years ago

ummm… can guineas eat pumpkin?

Hammy
Reply to  Katrina
12 years ago

Yes, guinea pigs can eat pumpkin, just not the seeds. Just feed in moderation, just a few bits of the “fleshy” parts of pumpkin 1 to 2 times per week.

Angelina
Angelina
12 years ago

I’ve noticed that you said that guinea pigs can eat peas but then on the dangerous it says not too! I gave my piggie many peas.. Should I stop feeding it to him or is it ok? I mean the piggie is sick but not from that.. Also my piggie gets pink diarrhea even when I just feed him pellets.. Should I change brands? Thank you so much xoxoxo guz guz

Hammy
Reply to  Angelina
12 years ago

Hi, Angela!
Your guinea pig CAN eat peas. Thanks for noticing the error, it’s been removed from the Unsafe Food List.

About the pink diarrhea: that isn’t good at all, and regardless if you change his diet, he should see a vet immediately. It may be blood, which can indicate a variety of serious health issues. Best of luck to you and your piggie!

disqus_DDNUTwOAcT
disqus_DDNUTwOAcT
12 years ago

My husband accidentally fed my guinea pig turkey it was late at night he was squeaking and he just saw a piece of bread my mom left out and didn’t notice the piece of turkey he fed my guinea pig it will he be okay? I’m wondering what to expect Thank-you

Hammy
Reply to  disqus_DDNUTwOAcT
12 years ago

Just watch your piggie closely and monitor to make sure he/she is eating and drinking. If you notice that the cavy stops eating, take him/her to the vet immediately. It’s a good idea to keep some Critical Care around for situations like this; Critical Care can be fed if your piggie stops eating on his or her own.

if you notice weird behavior, “unhealthy” poos, or lack of interest in eating, it’s urgent you seek medical attention straight away.

By the way, tell your brother guinea pigs can’t have bread, whether it has turkey on it or not 🙂

jackelyn wolff
jackelyn wolff
11 years ago

what is the easiest/best way to give my little man timothy hay? i used a contraption that hooked on the side of his cage but it got hay all over the carpet 🙁 so now i put it in a ball sort of thing but it doesnt hold very much and he cant get it all out. suggestions??

Hammy
Reply to  jackelyn wolff
11 years ago

What about using a home-made hay rack, just use a piece of grid and bend into shape, like this: http://pinterest.com/pin/89016530105903587/

hotmoma091812
hotmoma091812
11 years ago

I am a new owner of two guinea pigs and I have a Fiancee and a daughter, but I am the one who does all the work and there is a lot of items on that list I did not know about. I am so thankful that I found it. Thank you So much. It is such a big help!!

Hammy
Reply to  hotmoma091812
11 years ago

Glad this list helped! Good luck! 😀

T.Manuel
T.Manuel
11 years ago

my guinea munches all the time, but i swear that these are pumpkin seeds in his food, i buy “timothy complete” from pet smart.

Hammy
Reply to  T.Manuel
11 years ago

Guinea pigs really shouldn’t be eating the seeds, as they can lead to digestive issues. Seeds in cavy food is the sign of low-quality feed. Try getting food that contains only hay-based pellets, like the kinds for sale at KMS Hayloft

newpiggiemom
newpiggiemom
11 years ago

You have ‘any beans’ listed as dangerous, but green beans listed as safe. This is the first time I have come across the dangerous foods list, so I have been feeding our piggies green beans. Which brings up another question. A different site stated that the small bean seeds inside the green beans had to be removed before feeding because they were poisonous to the piggies and a choking hazard. Do you agree that this is necessary? And thank you for all your hard work to bring all this valuable info to all of us newbies. The ear cleaning video was SOOOO helpful!!!

Hammy
Reply to  newpiggiemom
11 years ago

Raw beans of any kind are dangerous. This list is vague for a reason – it lists foods that are poisonous or simply not safe for guinea pig consumption, meaning dangerous or toxic if fed carelessly. Green beans are safe but I’ve never heard about the bean “peas” posing a choking hazard. But that is a good point, especially for small cavies or if the “pea” part is large and/or hard. That being said, greens beans, like any bean, should NOT be fed regularly as they can cause bloat/gas. Thanks for your kind words! I’m glad you liked How to Clean Your Guinea Pig’s Ears! Best of luck to you, newpiggiemom!

Chanda Bertch
11 years ago

I have yet to see a guinea pig eat anything unsafe.

Caitlyn Nicole Mezynski
Caitlyn Nicole Mezynski
11 years ago

what about peanuts or almonds is that okay some say it isn’t but it in there treat bag i got at pet-smart mad for guinea pigs and rabbits

Hammy
Reply to  Caitlyn Nicole Mezynski
11 years ago

Most nuts, especially peanuts, are too high in fat for to be considered safe for guinea pigs. It really is unfortunate that some large stores have treats for sale that are not appropriate for guinea pig consumption 🙁

Hammy
Reply to  Chanda Bertch
11 years ago

And that’s a very good thing! 🙂

Sheena Elmore
Sheena Elmore
11 years ago

is it safe to feed them canned veggies

Hammy
Reply to  Sheena Elmore
11 years ago

Nope, just fresh veg please!

kady trevino
kady trevino
11 years ago

what about fruit is that of any kind not good? like blueberry and water melon or melon ect????

Todd
Todd
11 years ago

Will my guinea pig die because she ate a caterpillar?

Hammy
Reply to  Todd
11 years ago

That is a pretty random question, and really gross. I honestly have no idea what consequences may be in store. Please consult with your vet, a trained professional is the only one who can give you a definite answer and treatment option.

Alexandra Lopez
Alexandra Lopez
11 years ago

What if I gave my guinea pig a little bit of tea from a straw. What will happen

Jes
Jes
11 years ago

can she eat tea leaves

Hammy
Reply to  Jes
11 years ago

Tea leaves, or any tea, is not safe.

Linda Mclay
Linda Mclay
11 years ago

The vets feed my we man weatbix is that safe

Linda Mclay
Linda Mclay
11 years ago

My we man was given weatbix to eat is this safe

Hammy
Reply to  Linda Mclay
11 years ago

If you’re referring to Weetabix cereal, then no. If your vet is referring foods like Weetabix, it’s probably time to look for a new vet 🙁

Linda Mclay
Linda Mclay
Reply to  Hammy
11 years ago

yes i am referring to weetbix they gave it to him before his surgery them they sent him home when it was plain to see he was not copping he passed away that night and there is not a dame thing i can do about it

Pásztói István
Pásztói István
11 years ago

Can Guinea Pigs Eat kiwi? I don’t see kiwi in the safe food’ list.

Hammy
Reply to  Pásztói István
11 years ago

Guinea pigs can eat kiwi on occasion. We just added kiwi to the Guinea Pig Food Nutrition Chart. Thanks for the suggestion! 🙂

adrienne
adrienne
11 years ago

can g pigs have acorns?

Hammy
Reply to  adrienne
11 years ago

No 🙂

Jen
Jen
11 years ago

Can this be printable like the safe foods list please?

Purva S
Purva S
11 years ago

My guinea pig likes to eat cooked rice and chapatis (a kind of thin whole wheat bread which is not baked.),.. are these healthy for her?

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The HappyCavy guinea pig blog shares the joys and challenges of raising happy and healthy guinea pigs.

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