You may be wondering if your pet requires additional sodium chloride to stay healthy since salt is an essential part of the guinea pig's diet. Do guinea pigs require mineral and salt licks? Let's explore!
 |
| Salt and Minerals: Do Guinea Pigs Need Mineral Licks and Salt? |
These guinea pigs that have been fed high-quality food do not need salt or salt licks. A balanced diet of guinea pigs contains enough minerals and salt necessary for their body. However, if their diet lacks it and your vet recommends supplementing it, you can use these licks.
Salt is vital in animal nutrition, but should be consumed in moderation. Suppose you give the mineral and spice a lick, your guinea pig will know by instinct when its body needs extra salt.
You should never force feed or add extra salt or minerals to his diet. With that said, let's answer some common questions that most people have in mind.
Do guinea pigs need salt licks?
Salt is very essential for the muscles, nerves, and fluid regulation of guinea pigs. Thus, all guinea pigs should consume enough salt.
A balanced diet is crucial because your guinea pig needs the right amounts of salt and minerals in their diet. Therefore, you are not obligated to complete it.
In some cases, though, especially if your guinea pig's body has a mineral imbalance, your veterinarian may advise you to do this. You could do this by giving their cage a salt lick.
To lick salt, though, is typically not something your guinea pig wants to do. This is perfectly acceptable. Once they sense the need, they will act instinctively.
The same goes for mineral licks. Guinea pig food should contain the minerals a guinea pig needs in perfect amounts. Thus, no additional supplement would be necessary.
Are salt licks bad for guinea pigs?
Licks aren't very important to your guinea pig until he doesn't get enough minerals in his diet. However, too much salt can be harmful to your guinea pig as it can cause stress as guinea pigs are not able to sweat.
Too much salt and minerals can be dangerous for your guinea pig as it can develop sludge or stones in the bladder. You can provide your guinea pig with a healthy diet to get all the minerals and vitamins it needs.
Sodium requirement of the guinea pig
In the organism of the guinea pig, salt fulfills many functions. But none of the studies found how much salt guinea pigs need each day. However, some research indicates that the diet of guinea pigs should include up to 0.5% salt daily.
The body of guinea pigs will regulate salt intake on its own. Whenever their body needs additional salt or minerals, it will increase food intake to meet the need.
What purpose does a salt lick serve for guinea pigs?
In the past, guinea pig owners fed ready-to-use pellets to their guinea pigs in their diet. All of these foods were always natural diets with little or no salt.
At that time, the salt lick was used to deal with an unbalanced diet. But today, the pelleted food includes all the minerals that guinea pigs need.
In an ideal world, a diet with natural ingredients contains all the minerals guinea pigs need. But, the mineral levels of each plant differ greatly.
Agricultural techniques, soil quality, and external atmospheres like humidity and temperature are the factors that can affect mineral levels in plants.
Salt is obtained from the rocks by the undomestic guinea pigs. To meet their salt needs, the guinea pigs eat the sodium that is present on the surfaces of the stones. The food options available to guinea pigs are also varied.
Making a guinea pig salt lick at home
Here are some of the ingredients you will need to make a salt lick:
- Cardboard box.
- (which can be added, but is only necessary for hardening).
- Rope or hook (It is optional).
- Cardboard box.
- Clay.
- Molasses (which is simply an optional sweetener).
- Large wooden stick or spoon.
- Rock salt.
- Bone meal.
How to make salt licks for guinea pigs?
Also, here are the steps to make guinea pig licks:
- For this, you will need to have 2 parts rock salt, 1 part clay, and 4 parts bone meal. Put a little water in the bowl to mix all the ingredients.
- Add lime at this stage if you want the mixture to be solid. The amount of lime should be added depending on how much lick salt you want to solidify. Begin the process with a teaspoon at this time and measure the result.
- Add a little more water until it becomes a thick paste. At this point, if the mixture can easily be formed using a spoon, it means you have reached the perfect consistency.
- When the water has been fully mixed at this time, put the molasses in it.
- To make the salt lick, keep it long and less vulnerable to breakage, and empty the water. For this, shape the mixture to squeeze out the extra amount of water left in it. Get rid of the water. You have to repeat the process until it is completely drained. This may take several minutes.
- Line a baking dish with black polyethylene and pour the mixture into this box.
- Place the container in a cool, dry place. Secure a rope or hook before it solidifies so the salt lick can hang in your guinea pig's enclosure.
- Allow the mixture to solidify for at least 2 weeks.
Do guinea pigs have a salt limit?
When it comes to getting enough salt, guinea pigs are aware of their limits. When they consume enough sodium, they are conscious of how to manage their levels. In order to reduce their salt levels, Guinea pigs that have consumed excess salt will start drinking a lot of water.
The amount of water will reduce the level of salt in the bodies of the guinea pigs in their system. And then the guinea pigs will eliminate this extra salt through their feces and urine. However, you must be careful not to add salt to their food as it can throw off their nutrient needs.
Do guinea pigs like salt licks?
Guinea pigs know very well when they want other minerals and salt. Thus, guinea pigs always like to lick salt to supplement their diet or certain bodily needs.
If your guinea pig has a healthy diet, he will skip salt until he is low on sodium. But, every guinea pig is different and may follow or chase a salt lick for many reasons outside of their nutritional needs.
For example, some guinea pigs like the taste of salt, which is why they lick the salt. Also, some guinea pigs take salt as a treat. And other guinea pigs treat salt like a nice toy to play with.
Your guinea pig can be selective. They may ignore or refuse the salt lick even though they need the sodium. This may be due to the taste, smell, or texture of the salt lick.
If this happens with your guinea pig, you can vary the angles through different types of licks until you find the one your guinea pig is happy with. Or, you can try providing these foods to your guinea pigs, which contain salt to compensate for the gap in their diet.
Do guinea pigs need mineral chews?
Mineral blocks are made up of various trace minerals, including iron, manganese, copper, zinc, and iodine, in addition to sodium chloride, which is found in salt.
If your guinea pig is fed a portion of good quality food, he will not need the mineral blocks. Additionally, Guinea pigs gain weight by consuming mineral blocks. Guinea pigs that consumed mineral blocks gained weight compared to guinea pigs that did not consume mineral blocks.
What minerals do guinea pigs need?
A guinea pig needs magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, sulfur, and chloride. Additionally, vitamin C is very important in your guinea pig's diet.
Guinea pigs that are young, pregnant, nursing, and sick need more vitamin C. You can provide up to 50 mg of vitamin C to your guinea pig each day.
Mineral Chew vs Salt lick
Every time you look at mineral blocks and salt you will know that more and more products are being labeled as salt licks.
Many products labeled as salt licks contain minerals added during the preparation of salt and mineral blocks. Technically, that makes them mineral blocks.
The difference in terms or phraseology becomes problematic because the products consist of rare pure salt. The best way to determine the contents of salt and mineral blocks is to look at the ingredient list.
Many products contain additional minerals. But still, you need to find those salt licks that only contain sodium chloride.
Why do guinea pigs need salt licks?
Salt licks are intended to deal with an imbalance of mineral requirements in guinea pigs. The following are some of the salt lick's features:
Power need
Sodium is essential in all animal diets, but some foods do not contain enough salt. This frequently occurs in the diet of these animals, which consists of grass hay, and plants.
Salt includes many types of nutrients and minerals. The purpose of salt includes stabilizing electrolytes and regulating blood pressure and fluids in the body.
Wear Down the Teeth
Guinea pigs are susceptible to dental problems which will cause difficulties for your guinea pig. To wear down teeth, salt licks may be the right choice.
Whenever you buy a salt lick for your guinea pig, you have to look at the first thing: its ingredients, because not all salt licks are the same.
Some of them consist of pure salt, but many of them contain added minerals. So, check the ingredient list to make sure for yourself.
Take a look at the calcium content. Calcium is an essential element in the diet of guinea pigs. But, the amount of calcium should be limited otherwise it can create kidney stones. According to a study conducted by the National Academy of Science, guinea pigs need an average of 8 grams of calcium/Kg of their body weight.
You should think about where you will put the salt lick in your guinea pig's enclosure. However, some salt licks offer the hangers, strings, and clips needed to easily attach it.
Comments