Why Ritz Crackers Are A Treat Your Guinea Pig Should Avoid

The classic Ritz cracker has been a snack people have enjoyed since its creation nearly 100 years ago and is one of the most popular cracker brands sold today. However, while eating Ritz crackers may be enjoyable for most humans, the consumption of Ritz crackers isn’t quite as positive of an experience for your Guinea Pig.

Why Ritz Crackers Are a Poor Fit in a Guinea Pig’s Diet

To best understand why Ritz crackers should be avoided in a Guinea Pig’s diet, it’s important to note what kinds of food your Guinea Pig should be scarfing down.

Guinea Pigs are herbivores, meaning that they naturally only eat plants or unprocessed plant-based foods. This means that Guinea Pig diets should primarily be made up of hay and Guinea Pig food pellets.

Guinea Pig pellets are also a much stronger choice of food over a Ritz cracker, as the pellets are specially designed to bring maximum nutritional value to your Guinea Pig that can fulfill the dietary requirements they require.

Guinea pigs should also have limited amounts of fruits and veggies, as they heavily rely on having Vitamin C in their systems in order to stay healthy and happy.

The Ritz cracker, however, does not fulfill any of the Guinea Pig’s dietary needs. The ingredients of the Ritz primarily consist of flour, sugar, salt, and various heavily processed preservatives such as high fructose corn syrup, all of which are very difficult for a Guinea Pig’s stomach to digest.

These ingredients also lack any real nutritional value for the Guinea Pig, as it does not provide any nutrition nor the needed vitamins that your Guinea Pig needs on a daily basis. Processed foods may be okay for humans to handle, but too much of it could cause illness and nutritional deficiencies in your Guinea Pig.

In addition, Guinea Pigs can put on weight exceptionally fast. Having them eat the empty calories that comes from Ritz crackers would likely cause an unhealthy weight gain that could lead the already round creatures to develop various weight-related illnesses and additional pressure on their bodies.

What Happens If a Guinea Pig Eats a Ritz Cracker?

Upon eating a Ritz cracker, a Guinea Pig may have immediate side effects that stem from tummy troubles, as the Guinea Pig’s already sensitive stomach could react poorly to the Ritz’s processed ingredients, making them sick. However, if the Guinea Pig is only fed a very tiny amount of a Ritz cracker, they may be able to handle it without any harmful side effects.

The much more detrimental side effects of a Guinea Pig eating a Ritz would be long-term or repeated consumption of the cracker. If Ritz crackers become a staple in the Guinea Pig’s diet, the Guinea Pig could very well develop many different nutritional deficiencies. With the Ritz cracker not providing any real nutrition benefit, your Guinea Pig will be depleted of energy, causing them to be sluggish and weakening their immune systems and opening them up to develop illnesses.

Also, since Vitamin C is a crucial part of the Guinea Pig’s diet, the absence of Vitamin C in Ritz crackers would be devastating on your Guinea Pig. Vitamin C is so important for a Guinea Pig that they can actually quickly develop Scurvy when they are low on their nutrients (and yes, this is the same scurvy that pirates battled against in the 1600s). Scurvy can be fatal for your Guinea Pig, so make sure that they are well fed with fruits and vegetables instead of nutrition-empty treats such as Ritz crackers.

Can I Give My Guinea Pig a Ritz Cracker?

While it’s not recommended that you give your Guinea Pig a Ritz cracker, it’s not the end of the world if they eat one either. Ritz crackers are simply junk food for your Guinea Pig, just like if you ate a Krispy Cream donut. Eating one donut isn’t going to instantly wreak havoc on your health, but eating donuts every day or in large quantities eventually will.

This is very much the same as your Guinea Pig eating a Ritz cracker. Eating a tiny amount of a Ritz cracker won’t automatically harm your Guinea Pig, but feeding it Ritz repeatedly or in large quantities likely will.

Better Options to Give Guinea Pigs Instead of Ritz Crackers

It’s only natural that you want to give your sweet Guinea Pig a treat to make them happy. While a Ritz cracker might sound like a good treat to give your Guinea Pig due to their tasty nature, there are plenty of other treat options to give your Guinea Pig instead of Ritz.

Vegetables are always a favorite of Guinea Pigs, so giving them small cubed pieces of broccoli, beet roots, or bell peppers, will make them happy. You can also give them small pieces of fruit such as a raisin or an apple, but these should only be in limited amounts as vegetables are far superior than fruit for your Guinea Pig. Both of these options bring nutritional value as well as a tasty delight, and are much better treat options than Ritz crackers.

Of course, it’s always recommended to avoid treats and to feed your Guinea Pig healthy foods that are designed for their diets. There are many great options for Guinea Pig food pellets at pet shops, which are crafted to bring the optimal nutrition benefits that are far better than feeding processed foods like the Ritz cracker.

Recap

While the popular Ritz cracker may be delicious for humans, they should ultimately be avoided in the Guinea Pig’s diet due to its lack of nutritional value and highly-processed ingredients. The Ritz cracker may not have an immediate impact on the Guinea Pig’s health, but if you want to give your Guinea Pig a delicious treat, it’s recommended you give them a healthier option such as fruit or vegetables.