If you like eating apples, you may like putting applesauce on your bread during breakfast.
You might want to offer your cavy some applesauce, but is it a good idea?
As a cavy owner, I’m always careful of what I feed them so I wonder – can guinea pigs eat applesauce?
The answer is NO! Guinea pigs cannot eat applesauce. This is a processed form of an apple, and guinea pigs don’t do well with cooked or processed foods.
As it’s cooked, there are little or no health benefits to offer your cavy. Moreover, they have added sugar in them, which increases their sugar content.
This is too much and too bad for your cavies’ health.
But what if you accidentally give your pet applesauce? What could possibly happen?
Let’s find out!
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What Happens If I Accidentally Give My Guinea Pigs Applesauce?
If you happen to accidentally feed your guinea pigs very little applesauce, they might not react badly at all.
However, if you happen to feed so much of it to them, they might experience digestive issues, which excess sugar can cause.
Having known this, let’s look at the risk of feeding guinea pigs applesauce.
Risk in Feeding Guinea Pigs Applesauce
Allergy
Guinea pigs can develop allergies to certain foods they try out new. However, this is not the case with every guinea pig.
Just like humans, some guinea pigs might react badly and some might not have reactions. For applesauce, your guinea pigs can experience symptoms once they eat it for the first time.
Common allergic reactions you might see are changes in their stool and skin irritation.
However, you should keep an eye on your furry friends till they get better as these symptoms go away on their own.
However, if it doesn’t stop, you should take your cavies to the vet.
Digestive Issues
Sugar isn’t something your cavy can digest easily. In cases when they get too much of it, it might just cause serious health issues for them.
Applesauce contains additional sugar other than the natural sugar in them. This makes it very high in sugar content for guinea pigs.
So, when your cavy eats applesauce and gets too much sugar, they can have digestive issues like bloating, excess gas, and even diarrhea.
Obesity
Too much sugar can promote obesity. Moreover, for little pets like guinea pigs, it’s just too easy! Applesauce is high in sugar and that’s enough to give your cavy weight issues.
Gaining unhealthy weight can also be very bad for your guinea pig’s cardiovascular health.
What Do I Do If My Guinea Pigs Accidentally Eat Applesauce?
If your guinea pigs accidentally eat applesauce and develop reactions to it, here’s what you should do:
Step 1: Monitor Your Guinea Pigs
You should monitor them for a while. These health reactions shouldn’t last for long as they can go away on their own.
Step 2: Visit the Vet for Help
This is what you should do when things are getting pretty bad, especially when your cavy hasn’t gotten better after a long time.
If nothing seems to change and your guinea pigs still face such health issues from applesauce, you should see a vet right away.
Let the vet attend to your cavy so things don’t get pretty bad.
Can Guinea Pigs Have Unsweetened Applesauce?
No, you shouldn’t feed your cavy unsweetened applesauce. Unsweetened applesauce may not have added sugar in them, but they’re still cooked.
Guinea pigs don’t do well with cooked foods.
They find it difficult to digest cooked and processed foods. In addition, unsweetened applesauce doesn’t mean they’re sugar-free.
Apples naturally have so much sugar, about 23 g per one large apple. So, your cavy can still get sick if they eat too much-unsweetened applesauce.
However, let’s look at the nutritional value of applesauce to know what it can offer guinea pigs.
Nutritional Value of Applesauce
| Nutrients | Amount Per 100 g |
| Fiber | 1.2 g |
| Vitamin C | 1.7 mg |
| Carbs | 17 mg |
| Sugar | 15 g |
| Calories | 68 Kcal |
| Vitamin A | 6 IU |
| Protein | 0.2 g |
| Potassium | 75 mg |
| Sodium | 2 mg |
| Magnesium | 3 mg |
| Fats | 0.2 g |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Baby Guinea Pigs Have Applesauce?
No, baby guinea pigs can’t have applesauce. They need mostly their mothers’ milk. Interestingly, baby guinea pigs start to eat solid foods when they’re just a few days old.
However, this doesn’t mean you should feed them anything you like. Applesauce is just a bad idea. Certain foods need to come to their diet first of all.
Baby cavies should start with hay, like timothy hay or oaten hay. They can have pellets too. Afterward, you can introduce healthy veggies, especially fresh leafy green ones.
You can then include fresh fruits into their diet later on. Baby guinea pigs need to gradually get used to solid foods.
Applesauce isn’t fine for adults so imagine what it could do to baby guinea pigs. Just do not feed it to them.
What Should I Give My Guinea Pigs Instead of Applesauce?
Instead of giving your guinea pigs applesauce, you can offer them raw fruits as treats. These fruits in their raw form have important nutrients that your cavy needs daily.
Moreover, I’ve prepared a table below on some raw fruits you should feed your guinea pigs just like raw apples:
| Apples | Nectarines | Raspberries |
| Oranges | Mangos | Pineapples |
| Plums | Cherries | Apricots |
| Peaches | Tangerines | Watermelons |
| Pears | Grapes | Kiwi fruit |
| Bananas | Clementines | Blueberries |
| Cranberries | Strawberries | Papayas |
When you pick a fruit from here, make sure you find out the correct serving sizes to offer your cavy. These fruits are only safe for your cavy in moderate amounts.
Additionally, you should always wash them very well before slicing them into tiny treats for your cavy. Hygiene is very important!
Can Guinea Pigs Have Apples?
Yes, guinea pigs can have apples. This fruit is rich in fiber and vitamin C, which are important nutrients for your guinea pig’s wellbeing.
Offering raw apple treats to guinea pigs is way better than feeding them applesauce. However, they can only have apples and in moderate amounts because they have so much sugar.
In addition, you can offer your cavy apple skin and leaves too. However, you shouldn’t give your guinea pigs the core and seeds. These parts are toxic for guinea pigs.
You should also keep apple juices or any other processed form of apples far away from your guinea pigs.
READ OUR FULL GUIDE ABOUT Can Guinea Pigs Eat Apples?
Final Thought
To sum up, you shouldn’t give your guinea pigs applesauce to eat. These are processed forms of raw apples and aren’t good for guinea pigs.
So, whether it’s sweetened or unsweetened, don’t let your cavy have them. Only stick to giving them raw apples just like other healthy raw fruits.
Moreover, looking at the nutritional value of applesauce, you’ll find out that there are less important nutrients to offer guinea pigs.
It’s mainly high in carbs and sugar, which aren’t all that important for guinea pigs’ well-being.
Hope you learned a lot from this article. Do well to share it with your friends!