How to Make Nutritional Guinea Pig Treats

Part of being a good guinea pig parent is providing a balanced diet with sufficient nutrients for a long and healthy life. Treats are fine, provided they're nourishing and given in moderation. You don't have to spend a lot of money on sugary, store-bought treats. You can make nutritional guinea pig treats at home.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Slice a toilet paper tube lengthwise. Stuff high quality Timothy Hay into the tube, allowing the slit to stretch open slightly. Toss the tube into the cage and watch the fun. Your cavy will roll, snuffle, gnaw and happily attack this delicious treat.
2. Use a vegetable grater to peel a carrot over and over until you have a pile of peelings. Cut a green pepper in half and remove the seeds and stem. Fill the green pepper with the carrot peelings and serve.
3. Remove the rind off watermelon slices. A small amount of the red portion can remain on the rind if desired, but be certain there are no seeds. Use a knife to notch each end of the rind slice and hook them together like Lincoln Logs. You can build a small, edible log cabin your pet will enjoy. However, unless you have two or more guinea pigs, you'll need to remove the treat after a short while. An entire cabin is too large of a treat for a single guinea pig.
4. Core an apple, taking care to remove all the seeds and stem. Stuff the center with parsley, cilantro or a rolled up piece of romaine lettuce and watch the fun. Your guinea pig will roll the treat all over the cage until it can trap it in a corner to eat.

Tips & Warnings

• Even healthy treats can be overdone. When serving treats to your cavy, remove uneaten portions from the cage 15 minutes after placing them inside. This keeps food from rotting and your pet from overeating.
• Watermelon seeds are dangerous to cavies. Remove all watermelon seeds when you prepare the watermelon treat.
• Apple seeds contain toxins that can seriously harm your pet. When preparing apple treats, It's better to hollow out extra apple than to accidentally leave a seed inside.