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/informatio...ertebrate-prey

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by 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/informatio...ertebrate-prey

They need to update that chart with ASF's

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by 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?

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.