Your morning adorable: Guinea pigs battle over a cucumber

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For the three guinea pig pets of YouTube user Gerald56, a cucumber treat is well worth the effort it takes to steal it from your compatriots. We find the resulting video oddly hypnotic, rather like watching guinea pigs eat watermelon. Why do we find these little guys’ eating habits so fascinating? We’re not sure, but if loving to watch guinea pigs eat is wrong, we don’t want to be right.

While experts in pocket-pet health say that the majority of a guinea pig’s diet should come from grass hay and commercially available pellet food, many pet owners give them extra treats in the form of fruits and vegetables. Provided these treats are free from potentially harmful seeds, many fruits and vegetables are actually good for guinea pigs -- which, like humans, can’t synthesize vitamin C. To make sure they get plenty of this nutrient, treats like an orange wedge or a bit of kale are an especially good choice.

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: Gerald56 via YouTube