Natural supplements for rabbits, guinea pigs & chinchillas

Diet, plants & herbal medicine

Galen's Garden specialise in natural products for rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas & degus, animals designed by nature to eat large amounts of fibre rich plant material and which in the wild have access to a wide range of plants, many of which have traditional uses as herbal medicines.

Here at Galen's Garden we've been researching, designing and producing specialist herbal products for rabbits & guinea pigs for over 15 years, with a strong focus on using diet to prevent ill health and to help restore balance if it does occur.

The range consists of natural treats, food supplements, skin care and hygiene products.  We also sell single dried herbs, herb tinctures, fruit powders, vegetable powders as well as our cookie mixes, special tincture blends, powder blends and herbal syrups.

In sickness & in health

Although the diet of rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas has improved over the past few years with the recent understanding by commercial companies that these animals need a diet rich in grass, hay and fibre, inherited health problems mean that many rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas still suffer from dental problems.  This is why we have started to stock top quality Mountain Hay and will soon be adding Timothy hay, Alpine hay and other quality hays to the Galen's Garden range.

Many pet owners still do not know how important hay is in the diet of their rabbit, guinea pig or chinchilla and indeed pet shops, superstores and supermarkets to this day still sell hay as 'bedding', alongside commercial cereal based mixes.

The Galen's Garden products have been designed using the type of herbs and wild plants which rabbits, guinea pigs & chinchillas would normally have access to in their natural habitat.  Animals with diarrhoea naturally seek out and eat, plants with astringent and soothing properties for example, so we combine a blend of these in our ASAP Powder.

Dental problems in rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas can mean their mouth is so sore before and just after veterinary dental treatment that they are disinclined to eat their regular food. Galen's Garden's NutriPowder is a syringe feed mix made from entirely natural ingredients, balanced for calcium and phosphorous, high in natural fibre and protein with roots as the main energy source.

Healthy treats & special needs

Rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas and degus all require a diet high in fibre and with a good balance between calcium and phosphorous.  Grains and cereals are high in phosphorous but low in calcium.  Although wholegrain cereals provide humans with dietary fibre, the fibre is used by rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas as a source of energy.  The fibre they need is insoluble, lignified fibre such as that found in grass and wild plants.  The levels of calcium and phosphorous contained in individual vegetables are outlined in the vegetable section of this site.

Galen's Garden's Cookie Kits are balanced for these factors and provide a safe and healthy way to create treats for rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas.  A degu's diet is more restricted but, like rabbits, they will still enjoy the Edible Flowers and small treats can be wrapped in hay and placed in one of our Grass Logs (ready mid April), providing plenty of foraging activity.  For chinchillas only we have a luxury Fruits of the Forest mix with berries, buds and edible roots which provide a source of inulin, a prebiotic.  We also have Hay Cubes in stock to help encourage natural foraging activity.

Having researched the pet food industry for over a decade, Belinda is in a position to formulate the healthiest treats for rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas and degus which take into account the differences in their dietary needs. Guinea pigs, like humans, cannot synthesise vitamin C in their bodies and need a source of it in their diet daily. Almost all guinea pig foods on the market today include the daily requirement of vitamin C, but during pregnancy, or periods of  illness or stress, all animals benefit from additional vitamin C, especially guinea pigs. Our water soluble Amla and Acerola concentrated extract is an easy way to supply extra vitamin C and antioxidant bioflavanoids to the diet.

Health & hygiene

In a captive environment a rabbit, guinea pig, chinchilla or degu is safe from predators, Wood is very absorbent and it can be hard to clean below the surface.  Our BioBugs (coming soon) soak into the wood and eat up any waste. 

Our Herb Clean powder (coming soon) is a blend of concentrated water soluble soapnut, neem and tulsi (Holy Basil).  Safe enough to be diluted with water and use as a shampoo, it can also be used for routine hutch cleaning.  For the summer our Insect Repellent Hutch Spray Concentrate can be added to the hutch spray to help keep the bugs at bay.

Information pages on the site

Galen's Garden is information rich.  Belinda has many years of experience researching and writing about all aspects of the care of rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas and degus.  A lot of the basic information is included on this site which runs over several hundred pages.  There are individual sections for each of the species, rabbit, guinea pig, chinchilla and degu, plus homoeopathy, herbs, health, nutrition and links sections.

We encourage vets, rescues, boarding/holiday homes, clubs, breeders and those providing goods and services of interest to our visitors to list themselves in our free directory.  The directory creates a full page listing from the application form and the page can be edited at any time just by logging on.  The listings are searchable by visitors using drop down menus so, for example, the search could be restricted to guinea pig vets in Berkshire.  We also offer free mini sites on our specialist domain names for rescues, vets, clubs, shows and breeders.

General news appears in the Blog.  Site news will also be placed in the news area of the FAQ.  Please use the FAQ to ask any questions where the answer might be relevant to another visitor.  It is now running as it should. We also have a new Classifieds section where you can place advertisements.

We have recently added a Book Store and a Seed Store plus lots of pages with interesting nutritional information on various vegetables.