Gooseberries look like large grapes. they are relate to the blackcurrent and have a bright green colour with what look like veins on the skin and are hardy texture.
They are often eaten cooked in puddings when they are hard in the early season but as they become softer and sweeter later in season when they go yellow or red colour, they are eaten raw.
So if we can eat them, can guinea pigs eat gooseberries and if so how many can they eat?
Lets take a look and find out a bit more by looking at their nutritional data.
As usual, we’ll look particularly at the calcium, sugar, fat, oxelate acid and phosphorus content which reveals if they are any good for guinea pigs or not.
Energy 184 kJ (44 kcal)
Carbohydrates 10.18 g
– Dietary fiber 4.3 g
Fat 0.58 g
Protein 0.88 g
Water 87.87 g
Vitamin A equiv. 15 μg (2%)
Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.04 mg (3%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.03 mg (3%)
Niacin (vit. B3) 0.3 mg (2%)
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.286 mg (6%)
Vitamin B6 0.08 mg (6%)
Folate (vit. B9) 6 μg (2%)
Vitamin C 27.7 mg (33%)
Vitamin E 0.37 mg (2%)
Calcium 25 mg (3%)
Iron 0.31 mg (2%)
Magnesium 10 mg (3%)
Manganese 0.144 mg (7%)
Phosphorus 27 mg (4%)
Potassium 198 mg (4%)
Sodium 1 mg (0%)
Zinc 0.12 mg (1%)
(source: Wikipedia)
As you can see gooseberries do contain a bit of phosphorus, calcium, a hint of fat and are quite acidic.
However they do contain a nice amount of vitamin c and so do benefit guinea pigs in that regard.
With these factors in mind, guinea pigs can eat gooseberries but only on a once a week basis and in small amounts. However, they do present a welcome addition to the guinea pig diet because of their vitamin c content.