{"topic_id":"exotic_husbandry_guinea_pig_diet","category":"exotic-pet-husbandry","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_husbandry_guinea_pig_diet\ncategory: exotic-pet-husbandry\ntitle: \"Guinea pig diet — mandatory dietary vitamin C; no endogenous synthesis\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Merck Veterinary Manual — Guinea pig husbandry/environment\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/exotic-toxicology/guinea-pig.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-07-29\ntokens_estimated: 56\nverified: true\nverification: c1_substring\nsource_document: \"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Merck Veterinary Manual\"\n  title: \"Guinea pig diet — mandatory dietary vitamin C; no endogenous synthesis\"\n  url: \"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/rodents/guinea-pigs\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-07-29\"\n  ref: \"\"\n  doc_type: \"professional veterinary reference\"\n  needs_review: false\n---\n\n# Guinea pig diet — mandatory dietary vitamin C; no endogenous synthesis\n\nThe text below is reproduced verbatim from the first-hand source (Merck Veterinary Manual).\n\n> Guinea pigs of all ages require a dietary source of vitamin C. They are incapable of endogenous synthesis because they have a mutated gene for L-gulonolactone oxidase. A lack of vitamin C leads to defective type IV collagen, laminin, and elastin.\n> They are incapable of endogenous synthesis because they have a mutated gene for L-gulonolactone oxidase.\n\nSource: `pdf-raw/exotic-toxicology/guinea-pig.txt` (first-hand professional veterinary reference, tag-stripped).\n\n## Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)\n- `Guinea pigs of all ages require a dietary source of vitamin C. They are incapable of endogenous synthesis because they have a mutated gene for L-gulonolactone oxidase. A lack of vitamin C leads to defective type IV collagen, laminin, and elastin.`\n- `They are incapable of endogenous synthesis because they have a mutated gene for L-gulonolactone oxidase.`\n","sources":["exotic-pet-husbandry — Guinea pig diet — mandatory dietary vitamin C; no endogenous synthesis (retrieved 2026-07-29)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-pet-husbandry","title":"Guinea pig diet — mandatory dietary vitamin C; no endogenous synthesis","url":"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/rodents/guinea-pigs","retrieved":"2026-07-29","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)","verification_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-toxicology/guinea-pig.txt"},"source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)","source_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-toxicology/guinea-pig.txt","tokens_estimated":56,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}