Guinea pig babies as food?

[ben_marko]

I have two nicaraguans boas and three BCI. I thought breeding guinea pigs instead of rats and mice might do as better food. Has anyone tried this?

[chairman]

Guinea pigs are higher in fat than rats or mice. Adult animals also contain more calcium than young animals, making it better to feed an adult mouse vs a baby rat, or a young adult rat vs a baby guinea pig.

That said, people do feed guinea pigs to snakes. It probably isn't harmful just to add variety or help a skinny animal gain some weight.

Here's a link to the nutritional profiles of some common feeders:

https://www.rodentpro.com/informationcenter/resources/nutrient-composition-of-whole-vertebrate-prey

[Aaron_S]

Guinea pigs are higher in fat than rats or mice. Adult animals also contain more calcium than young animals, making it better to feed an adult mouse vs a baby rat, or a young adult rat vs a baby guinea pig.

That said, people do feed guinea pigs to snakes. It probably isn't harmful just to add variety or help a skinny animal gain some weight.

Here's a link to the nutritional profiles of some common feeders:

https://www.rodentpro.com/informationcenter/resources/nutrient-composition-of-whole-vertebrate-prey

They need to update that chart with ASF's

[Aaron_S]

I have two nicaraguans boas and three BCI. I thought breeding guinea pigs instead of rats and mice might do as better food. Has anyone tried this?

You can. As mentioned, higher in fat and calcium. As far as I am aware, their skulls are thicker than other prey items so takes a bit longer to digest. That is anecdotal and I don't have proof.