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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
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Notes
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Aconite
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Anemone (windflower, tumbleweed)
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Autumn crocus
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Avodaco
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Any kind – Too high in fat.
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Baked goods (cakes, cookies)
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Beans
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Any kind – causes gas/bloating.
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May contain toxic levels of nitrates.
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Black locust
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Buttercup
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Caladium
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Caster oil plants (castor bean, palma)
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Cherry trees (wild and cultivated)
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Chiles
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Christmas pepper
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Clematis (virgin’s bower)
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Coconut
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Any kind – Too high in fat.
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Coffee, soda
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High in sugar, caffeine.
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Cycads
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Daffodil (narcissus, jonquil)
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Dairy products
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Daphne
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Delphinum (larkspur, staggerweed)
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Dicerna (bleeding heart, dutchman’s breeches, squirrel corn, turkey corn)
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Diffenbachia (dumb cane)
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Elephant ear
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English ivy
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Euphorbia (annual poinsettia, mexican fire plant, fire-on-the-mountain, snow-on-the-mountain)
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Four-o’clock
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Foxglove
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Garland flower
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Garlic
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Poisonous.
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Glory lily (climbing lily, gloriosa)
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Golden chain
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Goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria)
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See Bishop’s Weed | ||
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Ground Elder (Aegopodium podagraria)
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See Bishop’s Weed | ||
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Gyacinth
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Hydrangea
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Holly
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Horseradish
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Too pungent.
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Hot herbs and spices
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Lettuce – Iceberg
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Iris
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Indian spurge tree (pencil tree, malabartree, pencil cactus, monkey fiddle)
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Jack-in-the-pulpit
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Jerusalem cherry
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Jams, jellies, fruit preservatives
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High sugar content.
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Jasmine
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Juice
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High sugar content.
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Lantana camera (red sage)
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Laurels
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Leeks
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Foods in the onion family (like leeks)
are not guinea pig safe |
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Lilac
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Lily-of-the-valley
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Marsh marigold (cowslip)
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Matrimony vine
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Mayapple
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Meadow saffron
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Meat
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Mistletoe
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Monkshood
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Mountain laurel
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Mushrooms (amanita muscaria&amanita phalloides)
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Poisonous.
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Nightshade
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Nuts
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Any kind – too high in fat.
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Oaks
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Oleander
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Olives (canned)
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Pickled or brined vegetables are
NOT safe for guinea pigs |
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Onions
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Green, yellow, and
red onions are not safe |
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Paprikas
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Peppers – hot and chiles
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Philodendron
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Phytolacca (poke weed, poke berry, ink berry)
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Pickled vegetables (dill, pickles, capers, sauer kraut)
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Pine needles
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Poinciana (bird-of-paradise)
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Poison hemlock
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Potato and potato tops (leaves)
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Pothos
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Potatoes
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Poisonous if green or sprouted. Yams and sweet potatoes are OK in moderation.
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Privet
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Pyracantha (firethorn)
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Raw beans
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Rhododendron (laurels, rose bay, azalea)
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Rhubarb
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Poisonous.
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Rosary pea
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Seeds
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Choking hazard.
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Snowdrop
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Snow-in-the-mountain (Aegopodium podagraria)
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See Bishop’s Weed | ||
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Soda, soda pop
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High in sugar, caffeine.
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Spring adonis (pheasant’s eye)
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Star-of-bethlehem
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Strelitzia (bird-of-paradise)
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Sweet pea
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Taro
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Dangerous of eaten unprepared or raw.
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Tea
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Tomatillo – leaves and stalk
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Poisonous.
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Tomato – leaves and stalk
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Poisonous.
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Trumpet flower (chalice vine)
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Water hemlock
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Wisteria
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Yellow oleander (lucky nut, tiger apple, be-still-tree)
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Yew
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what would happen if they ate pine neddles
Pine needles are toxic to guinea pigs. The result of eating them could be anything from debilitating illness to death. If you suspect that guinea pig has eaten pine needles, schedule an appointment with a guinea pig vet ASAP.
is it ok for guinea pigs to eat baby food?
Are fresh, non canned olives safe to eat?
Without knowing the ingredients, I would safe to say it’s probably not safe for guinea pigs.
I have 4 guinea pigs that love to eat kale. But, this is the second time that I have bought the kale, came home to wash and chop it, and found some little bugs on it. So, I looked up what they were, and it seems like they are aphids. It also said that aphids are on a lot of kale, and sometimes you can’t even see them. It’s gross to think that the pigs and I have been eating buggy kale. But, my question is, if the pigs accidentally eat these aphids, can it make them sick or give them some kind of mites or anything? Can it effect them in any way that would be bad?
I also put a folded pan with the hay in it. I buy grass hay bales so i can change it quite often with a very low price. I just make sure to get it with some green in it and also will mix some green alfalfa in mine. especially since mine are just a few months old.
Great idea! Thanks for sharing, Tim!
My guinea pig, Rocco, won’t eat unless I put treats in his pellets. I don’t want to give him too many treats, but I also don’t want him to stop eating his pellets! What should I do?
Give him only hay and pellets. When he’s hungry for them, he’ll eat them, I’m sure of it.
Guinea pigs are able to live on timothy hay alone, and many Humans think a “timothy hay only diet” is ideal. But to do this, the hay must be high quality.
what happens if my guinea pig eats garlic? -just wondering
my guinea pig somehow managed to grab a chilli pepper (picled) last night now he sounds weezy and not himself this morning can u help
Unfortunately, there’s not much help we can provide as we’re not licensed veterinarians. So it’s time for a trip to the vet! You can refer to the Guinea Pig Vet Directory to find a guinea pig doc near you: wheek.it/vets.
Can they eat chesse?
Nope!
Can my
They shouldn’t “eat” them as food, but they can chew on the tubes to trim their teeth (make sure to remove or carefully cut away each piece with glue!). They shouldn’t have the paper provided to them at all.
Thank You so much!!!!!!!
Can/should they chew on dyed/colored wood or not?
Yep, as long as it is animal safe, non-toxic dye, and if the wood is guinea pig safe. 🙂
thank you!
They have eaten a couple of leaves of English Ivy, what will happen!?
I am not entirely sure, as it can cause discomfort, but has a low toxicity level. You should place a call with your vet immediately to get their expert opinion.
Some food has corn should i take it out or can i leave it?
Take it out. And, in the future, purchase pellets without corn. Local feed stores are a great place to find timothy hay-only pellets for guinea pig adults. To find local feed stores, use a search string like “feed store timothy hat pellets [CITY NAME HERE]“)
Our guinea pigs have eaten oak leaves my little sister gave them. Could this kill them?
Your guinea pig should be OK, they can tolerate oak tree leaves. But I don’t recommend feeding them oak tree leaves with any kind of frequency.
I’ve been giving my guinea pigs pepper since I got them 3 years ago and they’ve been fine? Well one of them, Bert died this morning and I’m really not sure why! My mum found him just on his side and he was gone 🙁 any suggestions on why he died? would he have been in pain? he’s been acting fine until about yesterday when he was being a bit shy and timid, usually he’s right at me for food when I come out to feed him! 🙁 so upset 🙁
I have a herb garden, I know cilantro and dill are ok, but would basil (purple and green), sage, or cuban oregano be safe for my pups?
I had a guinea pig who had a stroke once… Maybe a heart attack or a stroke?
hi I have my kids nursery guinea pigs for the weekend it was a last minute thing. but can they eat sprouts, carrot, sugar snaps and green apple? thank you. I’ve had rabbits before but not guinea pigs so bit unsure x
Do not feed them peppers all the time!!!!! But once a while every 2 time a week it can cause source so since u feed them it all the time they may die or get sick take them to a vet ♥♡
It dies
No but never feed it to them again
Ice burg lettuce also causes bloating in guinea pigs
I noticed in the comments that you said peppers should only be fed magbe twice a week but red peppers are one of the highest in vitamin c on the list of safe things for them and they only need 2 table spoons a day to give them their daily requirement on vitamin c.
my guinea pig is bloated! is there anything i can do?? there is no change in diet and nothing has changed so i really don’t know why this has happened.
Oh no! If it truly is bloat, an immediate trip to a vet is required. Bloat can be very deadly, and happen very fast. Find a guinea pig expert near you at http://wheek.it/vets and start reading up bloat at GuineaLynx here. They have some great advice!
I fed my piggy iceberg lettuce.. Is it totally bad for them?
This web site is helpful!!!. Thank you Evan age 8 it is helping my 2 pigs
Hi, Evan! I’m glad we can help! 😀
Can i give my pig clover out of my yard
I can’t find any info on the USDA Nutritional database, and there isn’t anything online that I could find, either. So, it’s probably best to skip it just to be safe 🙂
First off, the most important thing is that your guinea pig gets enough food with vitamin C, because it cannot make it on its own. (and for the love of god avoid the Vitamin C drops which make their water thick and icky and dissolves within 10 minutes anyway – there is a reason these drops have been removed most places)
Secondly NO, lettuce, cucumber and so on is not DANGEROUS, but as most owners should know guinea pigs shouldn’t be fed items that are too full off water.
Thirdly, it really frightens and saddens me that numerous people ask if they can feed their guinea pigs the most ridiculous things – USE YOUR HEAD. You are clearly not mature or responsible enough to own a guinea pig when you are asking if you can feed it cheese.
NO it cannot have cheese, pizza, gummy bears or anything else your immature and silly mind would like to feed it.
NO it can’t eat chilli peppers, radish, garlic, onions or anything else that spicy.
NO don’t “try” to feed it something that is even dangerous for humans, such as flowers of various kinds.
It makes me angry, use your damn head.
I know I’m going to upset a lot of people but my girls LOVE rich tea biscuits, when I open a packet and let the smell of them wonder through my living room, the girls smell it and start to go crazy until the get a bite.
The girls below in the pic 🙂
I use those over the counter wire grid basket from out of the kitchen section in walmart. I use the large thick clamps that are on some key chains that hook onto your belt looks to put the baskets on the cages.
Clover can be given as an occasional treat only if pesticides haven’t been used, if you can be sure no animal has urinated/defecated on them and if they don’t have car exhaust fumes on them. Personally, I wouldn’t risk it, there is also the problem of parasites. If you want to, you can get seeds and plant your own in pots indoors though. Make sure to use safe organic soil too.
Yes, those are okay in small amount and occasionally as rare treats.
Personally, I don’t take a chance. If anyone donates that kind of food to our rescue, I will either return it to the store or toss it. We only approve of two foods for guinea pigs at our rescue. With Oxbow Cavvy Pellets being the top choice and second choice is Kaytee Timothy Complete.
Cam my guinea pigs eat those store bought treats? the associatell at the pet store said they give the piggies vitakraft drops with milk and honey so I bought some but wanted to double check if they are safe….