Can Guinea Pigs Eat Tortillas Safely? Here’s What You Need to Know
Tortillas are very popular all around the world, originating in Mexico. It’s eaten by tons of people around the world, and they’re often used in foods like tacos. But since they’re high in calories, many people are curious whether it’s okay to feed it to their pets such as guinea pigs.
So can guinea pigs eat tortillas? No, it’s highly not recommended to feed guinea pigs tortillas. They can’t properly digest it, and their stomach won’t be too happy about it either. It’s a processed food too and increases weight.
There’s much more to it than just that, though. So today, we’ll be going all over guinea pigs and tortillas, the nutritional facts, and more. Without further ado, let’s get straight into it.
Can Guinea Pigs Eat Tortillas?
![Can Guinea Pigs Eat Tortillas](https://caringtinypets.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Can-Guinea-Pigs-Eat-Tortillas.webp)
As mentioned earlier, guinea pigs can’t eat tortillas. This is because they contain a lot of calories that a guinea pig can’t digest, and it can get them obese too. Here’s a list of the nutritional facts for a 46-gram tortilla to help you get a better idea —
Calories
Flatbreads, like tortillas, are incredibly high in calories. A regular 46g tortilla can have up to 144 calories, making them a relatively fattening food for anyone on a diet. And since guinea pigs aren’t able to lose weight quickly, tortillas can get them obese very fast.
Carbohydrates And Protein
Along with calories, tortillas are also high in carbs and not much in protein. A 46g tortilla has around 23.6 grams of carbs and 3.8 grams of protein.
Fat
A tortilla usually has 3.6 grams of fat, which is relatively standard. It’s not too high, but not too low, either. Overall, both humans and guinea pigs should avoid having too much of it in their diet, especially on a daily basis. As they’re high in calories as well as carbs.
Sugar
Tortillas aren’t very sugary, coming at 0.9g per tortilla. But even though there’s such a small amount, sugar isn’t digested very well by guinea pigs.
Fiber
Guinea pigs need a lot of fiber, and thankfully tortillas have a relatively good amount coming at 1.4g. Foods like hay would still be better for fiber, though.
Vitamins
Tortillas have 2% of vitamin K. This helps with the production of a protein called prothrombin, preventing severe blood loss during an injury. They also have 17% of vitamin B1 or thiamine, keeping the health of their stomach, brain, heart, intestines, and muscles healthy.
Along with that, they have 8% niacin or vitamin B3. This reduces cholesterol, heart diseases, and diabetes. It improves skin quality too. But even though a tortilla may have necessary vitamins, it’s not recommended for a guinea pig.
Calcium
As for the other helpful nutrients in a tortilla, it has 59.3 milligrams of calcium. This is essential for getting strong bones, which is necessary for guinea pigs, especially when they’re young.
Magnesium
Coming at 3%, magnesium can keep muscle and heart tissues healthy, protect against diabetes and heart diseases, and decrease pain in the body.
Manganese & Selenium
Manganese is one of the strongest antioxidants, and tortillas have 11% of it. It works on reducing inflammation, preventing diseases, regulating blood sugar, and overall boosting immunity.
Selenium also works on boosting immunity, and reduces cancer-causing cells as well as heart problems in guinea pigs. Tortillas have 15% selenium.
Overall, all of these will cause some sort of health problem in your guinea pig.
What Problems Can Tortillas Cause In Guinea Pigs?
![What Problems Can Tortillas Cause In Guinea Pigs](https://caringtinypets.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/What-Problems-Can-Tortillas-Cause-In-Guinea-Pigs.webp)
Now that you have a good idea on all the nutritional facts, it’s easy to tell that you shouldn’t give tortillas to a guinea pig. If given at small proportions such as ⅛, they can have it as a treat. However, it’s still not recommended as it’s high in calories and contains salt.
Most tortillas are made from corn too, which isn’t the best for guinea pigs. And by taking a look at the nutritional facts, you can see that it has some good vitamins and antioxidants. But also a lot of calories, fat, and carbohydrates.
Overall, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Here are some of the most common and crucial risks you can get from feeding guinea pigs tortillas
Digestion Issues
Tortillas have some sugar in them. Although it’s not a lot, even the most minimal amount of it isn’t good for guinea pigs. They can’t digest it, and they’ll end up having a troubled stomach due to it. Along with that, they can get gasses, painful cramps, and indigestion.
A tortilla counts as processed food; any type of processed food isn’t good for guinea pigs and is often harmful. Because of this, try to avoid feeding any processed foods like tortillas to your guinea pig at all times.
Urinary Difficulties
Tortillas have a relatively high amount of calcium in them, enough to cause urinary complications for guinea pigs. Along with that, they’re prone to getting bladder and kidney stones, blood in urine, painful urination, and in some cases, infections.
If these problems aren’t treated as soon as possible, they may cause renal failure, which can be fatal, possibly leading to death. To have a better idea of health problems in guinea pigs, you can check out this article.
Weight Increase
As mentioned above, tortillas are very high in calories and carbohydrates, so eating them can get your guinea pig overweight very easily. Guinea pigs can’t exercise that often either, so it’ll cause even more problems later on.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Now that you have a good idea about tortillas, their nutritional components, and their effect on guinea pigs, let’s take a look at the most frequently asked questions we get to clear further confusion —
Can guinea pigs eat tortilla chips?
No, guinea pigs can’t eat tortilla chips. They’re high in carbohydrates, and your guinea pig can get a lot of digestive and health issues from them as it’s processed food.
You could give it as a treat every now and then, but only one or two chips at a time. This way, they won’t have much trouble digesting it.
What foods are toxic for guinea pigs?
Foods like tortillas, chocolate, onions, chives, raw potatoes, rhubarb leaves, and garlic are the most common toxic foods for guinea pigs. Any type of processed food, such as tortillas, aren’t recommended either, as it can cause digestion and health issues.
Highly sugary foods like cereal aren’t recommended either, but specially made ones like Weetabix can be fed to guinea pigs.
Can guinea pigs eat corn tortilla chips?
No, they can’t. Guinea pigs can’t eat most types of chips, including corn chips and potato chips. You can give it as a treat every now and then, but only in very small amounts. If you give too much, your guinea pig can get overweight as there’s a lot of salt and carbohydrates.
Conclusion
Hopefully, now your question of “can guinea pigs eat tortillas?” is answered. They can’t eat any processed foods, and they can’t eat any foods made from tortillas, such as tortilla chips. These are too high in carbohydrates, fats, and salt, making them extremely unhealthy for a guinea pig.
But as a final tip, we highly recommend you make the tortillas yourself if you want to feed them to your guinea pig. If you make low-calorie tortillas, both you and your guinea pig can enjoy them without any health risks. You can check out how to make one by watching this YouTube video.
Overall, you’ll be fine if you feed them these as treats rarely and in small amounts. With that said, cheers!