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Yes, guinea pigs can eat celery, both the stalk and the leaves. The RSPCA lists it among the veg guinea pigs can eat often. Give a short piece of stalk, about a sixth of a stalk, chopped small with the strings pulled off, or a few leaves, two or three times a week as part of the daily veg mix.
| Safe? | Yes, as part of the veg mix |
| How much | About a sixth of a stalk, or a small handful of leaves |
| How often | Two or three times a week |
| Best served | Raw, washed, strings off, cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) pieces |
| Watch out for | Long strings, soft droppings, too much calcium |
Is celery good for guinea pigs?
Yes, in sensible amounts. Celery is crunchy, watery and low in sugar, which makes it a far better snack than fruit. Worked out from the Guinea Lynx food chart, it has about 2 g of sugar per 100 g (3.5 oz), compared with about 10 g for apple. It is not a strong source of vitamin C, though: about 3 mg per 100 g, so peppers and leafy greens still need to do that job.
The one thing to watch is calcium. Celery has about 40 mg per 100 g, around twice as much as iceberg lettuce. The Vet Desk warns that a lot of celery can add to urinary problems. Guinea Lynx explains that too much calcium can contribute to bladder stones in some guinea pigs, which is why we suggest a few times a week rather than every day.
How much celery can a guinea pig eat?
About a sixth of a stalk, or a small handful of leafy tops, per guinea pig, two or three times a week. The Vet Desk gives the same amount and suggests about three times a week. Count it as one part of the roughly one cup of mixed veg a guinea pig gets each day, alongside unlimited hay, as set out in our guinea pig diet guide.
How to prepare celery
- Wash it. Rinse stalks and leaves under cold water, including the base where soil collects.
- Pull off the strings. Snap the top of the stalk and pull the tough strings down, as the Vet Desk suggests.
- Cut across into small pieces. Pieces about 1 cm (1/2 in) long are easy to chew and keep any missed strings short.
- Mix it in. Serve with other veg, raw, never cooked.
If your guinea pig has had bladder stones or sludge, or squeaks when weeing, ask your vet before feeding celery and other higher-calcium veg. Guinea Lynx lists blood in the urine and squeaking while weeing as signs of stones.
Stalks, leaves and other forms
- Stalks: yes, strings off, chopped small.
- Leaves: yes. Burgess lists celery leaves as safe.
- Cooked celery: no. Serve it raw.
- Celery soup, salt or dips: no.
What to offer instead
On non-celery days, try cucumber for a low-calcium crunch, romaine from our page on lettuce, or a sprig of parsley for vitamin C. Bell peppers are the best daily vitamin C veg. For everything else, see what can guinea pigs eat and our guinea pig care guide.
Celery questions
Can guinea pigs eat celery leaves?
Yes. Burgess lists celery leaves as a safe vegetable for guinea pigs, and the Vet Desk says the leafy tops are fine mixed in with other greens. A small handful of leaves counts as one of the day's veg, in place of the stalk, not on top of it.
Do I need to remove celery strings?
We would. The Vet Desk advises cutting the stalk into thin slices and pulling off the stringy bits. Long, tough strings are hard for a small animal to chew through. Cutting across the stalk into pieces about 1 cm (1/2 in) long also shortens any strings you miss.
Can guinea pigs eat celery every day?
The RSPCA lists celery among veg guinea pigs can eat often, but it carries more calcium than lettuce or cucumber. The Vet Desk suggests about three times a week. We follow that and rotate it with other veg, which is also how the RSPCA says to feed.
Can guinea pigs eat cooked celery or celeriac?
Not cooked celery: the Vet Desk says serve it raw. Celeriac, the knobbly root, is not covered by any of the welfare or vet sources we use, so we would leave it out and stick to raw stalks and leaves.
