Can guinea pigs eat celeriac?
Guinea pigs can eat celeriac but is it a safe vegetable to feed on a regular basis and what nutrition does it offer your small pets?
What is celeriac
Celeriac is a vegetable you may not have heard of but is widely available in the supermarkets. Despite the fact that it looks like a very knobbly turnip and has a similar texture to turnip, celeriac is actually a type of celery.
Celeriac also smells a lot like celery but is a root vegetable similar in size to a swede or rutabaga. It can also be known as celery root, turnip-rooted celery and knob celery.
Celeriac vs celery and carrots
We thought it would be interesting to look at celeriac in comparison to other popular and similar vegetables that we feed our guinea pigs.
Let’s take a look at some of the nutrients and find out how celeriac compares to carrot and celery.
How much vitamin C is in celeriac?
Guinea pigs need plenty of vitamin C in their diet. So which of these 3 vegetables has the most vitamin C per 100g?
In fact, celeriac scores the most here with 8mg. This is more than both celery and carrot. Celery has 3.1mg and carrots come second with 5.9mg..
So for vitamin C, celeriac is by far the best vegetable out of these. But even celeriac has nowhere near the quantities of vitamin C that are found in sweet peppers, parsley or kale.
How much fibre is in celeriac?
Fibre is essential to a guinea pig’s digestive system and it’s important to include high fibre vegetables in their daily diet.
Carrot contains quite a bit more fibre than both celery and celeriac with 2.8g per 100g.
Celeriac has 1.8g and celery has the least amount of fibre with 1.6g.
So celeriac has a good amount of fibre, in fact, twice as much as lettuce and sweet peppers. But vegetables like kale, parsnip, dandelion greens and herbs such as parsley and mint do have a lot more fibre.
How much calcium is in celeriac?
When it comes to calcium, celeriac has the most with 43mg, celery has 40mg and carrot has 33mg. This is a lot less than coriander, spinach or parsley.
Some people feel they need to limit their guinea pig’s calcium intake to prevent bladder stones. But it’s important not to cut out calcium. Your guinea pigs need this essential mineral so just make sure they get a good balance of different nutrients that work together in keeping them healthy.
Is celeriac high in sugar?
Compared to carrots, celeriac is a lot lower in sugar with just 1.6g per 100g. Carrots have 3 times this amount. In fact most root vegetables are higher in sugar than celeriac.
Celery has a bit less sugar with just 1.3g but popular guinea pig veggies such as cucumber, peppers and tomatoes all have more.
Summary
So celeriac is a lot less sugary than carrots, has a good amount of fibre and is not excessive in calcium either.
Celeriac is a good vegetable to feed your guinea pigs a couple of times a week mixed in with leafy greens and a couple of other types of vegetable to give them a good balance of vitamins and minerals.
Nutritional information for celeriac
Below is the nutritional value per 100g of celeriac
- Vitamin C: 8 mg
- Calcium: 43 mg
- Phosphorous: 115 mg
- Fibre: 1.8 g
- Sugar: 1.6 g