Guinea pigs not eating hay

Konira

Post   » Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:06 pm


Hey, so i got 2 new guinea pigs a couple days ago (Both of them are about 3 and a half weeks old), I'm almost positive they are healthy, but neither of them are eating hay, they give small bites on the hay but never seem to actually eat big pieces...

-I feed them veggies daily, and give them an unlimited amount of pelets for now, they also eat fresh grass sometimes and have been eating alot of corn husk in the past days, wich they have no problem in eating any of those.


So, i have a few questions,

1-I wonder if this is related to them being so young and maybe not being used to the hay?

2- Ik that hay is important for them, but is it normal if they don't eat it/ or don't eat as much while they are this young?

3- Is it better to give them green, fresh hay... Or dry, yellow hay? (So far i've been giving them yellow, dry hay that i foraged from my yard, it's the same the horses eat, i live in a small town and most pet shops don't sell hay).

4- Regarding corn husks, i have been feeding it regularly to them, i put a handfull in the cage and it's usually all eaten by the next morning, is it fine for them to eat this much of corn husks?

5- I sliced the corn husks into thin strips and put them to dry, is it fine for them to eat the corn husks after they are dried?

Thanks in advance!
And sorry if bad english, it's not my first language.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Apr 17, 2018 6:20 pm


Green, fresh hay is much preferred to dry and yellow.

You don't need to dry the corn husks, but do throw away the outside layers. Corn is grown with a lot of pesticides, and the outer layers have the most pesticide in them. I'd cut back on the corn husks in the hopes that they'd eat more hay. Hay has the protein they need, and I'm not sure the corn husks do.

You've only had them a short while. Throw something over one end of the cage so they've got protection from the eagles that they are sure are circling the room to eat them. Put the food and water right at the edge of the sheltered area. And be patient, they'll learn to eat other things.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Apr 17, 2018 7:48 pm


Read over www.guinealynx.info/hay.html which may help you recognize a better, tastier hay.

kailaeve1271

Post   » Tue Apr 24, 2018 1:54 pm


Unlimited pellets can also make them want to eat less hay. At that age they usually don’t eat much hay but should be eating some. Grass could be a good introduction food similar to hay that will encourage them to eat it but make sure it’s free of pesticides and fertilizers. I don’t know how much you are giving them but such you pigs they don’t need the full cup of veggies. So much may make them full and even upset their stomachs.

Also how did you get guinea pigs so young?!? They should be with their mom until they reach at least 4 weeks old.

User avatar
lisam

Post   » Tue Apr 24, 2018 7:28 pm


You should separate boys from mom and sisters at 21 days of age, which is 3 weeks.

kailaeve1271

Post   » Tue Apr 24, 2018 8:36 pm


I had a guinea pig give birth myself and I had several professionals tell me the age to seperate was 6 weeks. That’s quite odd, but it’s been a long time since then and you can’t exactly trust anything people say these days. Thanks for reinforming me

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Apr 24, 2018 8:45 pm


Six week old males are almost always capable of impregnating a female.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:13 pm


We have at least a couple documented cases of a little over 3 week old males impregnating females and so 3 weeks is our standard advice.

kailaeve1271

Post   » Tue Apr 24, 2018 10:00 pm


Guess I got a lucky run there with Juuzou then! Phew

22_smyts

Post   » Tue Apr 24, 2018 11:00 pm


Beware with the fact that if they don't eat hay (or hard foods) they can get tooth issues; causing them not to eat and can start cysts in their mouth which can sometimes be really hard to get rid of.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Apr 25, 2018 9:31 am


Cysts in their mouth??? I think you are mistaken.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Apr 25, 2018 9:41 am


I think so too. In all my years on this and another large guinea pig forum, I think I've heard of one cyst in a guinea pig's mouth among the hundreds of pigs who've gone off their hay for one reason or another. I can't think of any reason why eating hay would prevent cysts.

Post Reply