Pistachio nuts are very popular around the world. They are a nut that is a member of the cashew family and originates from central asia and the middle east.
They used in all kinds of culinary dishes including most famously, ice cream!!
So can guinea pigs eat pistachio nuts, and if so how much can they eat of them?
The common perception is that guinea pigs can’t eat nuts at all, but why is that?
Lets take a look at the nutritional data of pistachio nuts and find a bit more about them.
Carbohydrates 27.65 g
– Sugars 7.81 g
– Dietary fiber 10.3 g
Fat 45.97 g
Protein 21.35 g
– lutein and zeaxanthin 1205 μg
Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.84 mg (73%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.158 mg (13%)
Niacin (vit. B3) 1.425 mg (10%)
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.513 mg (10%)
Vitamin B6 1.274 mg (98%)
Folate (vit. B9) 50 μg (13%)
Vitamin C 2.3 mg (3%)
Calcium 110 mg (11%)
Iron 4.2 mg (32%)
Magnesium 120 mg (34%)
Manganese 1.275 mg (61%)
Phosphorus 485 mg (69%)
Potassium 1042 mg (22%)
Zinc 2.3 mg (24%)
As you can see pistachio nuts contain a huge amount of phosphorus, are very acidic, contain some calcium, are very sugary, and have a lot of fat in them.
These are all things that are horrible for guinea pigs and shows how incredibly bad pistachio nuts are for them.
If they do happen to nibble on one then they should be okay, but do not feed to them at all.