Feeding Muesli-style guinea pig food

Research conducted by Edinburgh University showed that muesli foods are unhealthy for rabbits. This same research cannot be carried out on guinea pigs, as there were detrimental effects to the rabbits which were fed muesli in the Edinburgh study, so it would be considered unethical to carry out the same research on guinea pigs with this knowledge.

Guinea pigs and rabbits have differences in their housing and dietary needs, and differences in their anatomy. However, they do share some similarities; they are both hindgut fermenters (have a specialised part of their digestive system which breaks down the fibre from tough plant material) and they have open-rooted teeth (this means that their teeth continually grow throughout their life and need to be worn down by chewing hay.) For this reason, we can extrapolate the results from the Edinburgh study for guinea pig feeding and reason that muesli foods are likely also unhealthy for guinea pigs.

Guinea pigs which are fed muesli, will likely selectively feed (picking out the tastier bits) which are higher in sugar. This, in turn, leads them to consume less hay, which contributes to dental disease as they are chewing less to wear down their constantly growing teeth.