Guinea pigs as food?

[kwaka_80]

my girlfriend just got some guinea pigs as pets to breed, and i was just going to ask are they worth while food item? is the nutritional level in them different to rats? do they caus any known problems. (they have large sharp claws even when dead)? should i get another female to start a colony? well any comments/suggestions/questions are welcome

cheers matt

[herpie boy]

i have never eaten them, but in some countrys their a delicacy

[inthegrass]

yes i have used them as food, only some of my snakes like them but i am sure i could coax the others if i had to. it is much easier to breed rats.
not to sure of the g/pigs nutritional value.
cheers .

[wood_nymph]

i agree with inthegrass pigs can be ahrd to breed, the babies are more developed when born and therefore the birth is riskier they usually only have 2 or 3 at a time and shouldn't really be bred that many times. whereas rats have many more babies and less complications.

[lozza]

? I was told guinea pigs are much fattier than rats -def dont feed to BHPs

[finny]

g/pig are super esay to breed just get a male and a female and in a few weeks u will have an extra 6 or so we keep them at home as pets and cant stop them from breeding we would keep breeding them if the pet shop would take them but they have just got to many so we have to seperate the males from the females
ive got no idea if they would make a good food source though

[pythoness]

pigs breed slowly and have too much fat and too much fur. but if you have a surpless of shorthairs they will work, but not as a main diet, more as a stop gap food.

[kwaka_80]

ok so i should only breed them every couple of months as "treats' and the girlfriend can keep the animals as pets.

and they arent short hair pigs... should i shave them to a degree?

[pythoness]

yep, once dead cut off as much hair as possible, it plugs up the snakes belly. hth

[spilota_variegata]

I only feed snakes guinea pigs if I can pick 'em up by their tails The pigs I mean....

[choppy]

be careful they are usually full of worms even pet shops will usually confirm this. fed my female diamond 2 she wouldnt eat for about a month then passed a ball of worms. now I could safely leave a live one in her cage and she wouldnt touch it. have tried her on them since [frozen to kill worms then defrosted] and she will not even strike them. stick with rats.

[Tatelina]

Originally Posted by herpie boy

i have never eaten them, but in some countrys their a delicacy

they're



They don't give many offspring..only about 2-4 a litter. And they are absolutely gorgeous as pets so I would recommened not using them as food. But I'm sure you'll gather alot of info before you decide.

[Davem54]

I have used GPs as food occasionally with no problems. I have heard that they are good for putting weight on a python.

[SnakeLover(coastals)]

yeh mate i think it would be better just to stick with the rats

[shellshock]

i gave my diamond 1 last week i think the heat killed it and my diamond ate its the biggest thing he has eaten so i was very happy he usually only eats mice and the occasional chicken when the chooks become broody but this worm thing scares me cause there always eating and ****tn worse than mice but yes we had ours for about 6 months befor they bred and had 2 babies.nigel