They aren't eating their pellets

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Jul 03, 2019 8:39 am


I wrote this for another forum -- you might find it helpful.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/th ... vegetables

samim21

Post   » Wed Jul 03, 2019 12:19 pm


I would recommend getting them some vitamin C in their diet. Bell peppers are great for pigs. It might take a week or two to get them to eat it, but it's important to get vitamin C in their diet so they don't get scurvy.

Mine don't like grape tomatoes either, but definitely don't give up after one try. If they won't eat it after like two weeks of offering it, that might be the time to give up. Though, it took one of my girls a month to eat bell peppers and now she loves them.

Maybe try some oxbow vitamin C treats or some bell pepper treats. They are good for your pigs and might get them used to the bell pepper flavor.

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CuteGuineas

Post   » Wed Jul 03, 2019 8:18 pm


Good suggestions; I am going to try wrapping little pieces of bell pepper in the lettuce to see if they will eat it that way. (No, I don't feed them iceberg lettuce.) 😊

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CuteGuineas

Post   » Wed Jul 03, 2019 8:39 pm


Well, that didn't work well. I tried several times and they managed to pull the leaf off and left the pepper. I am concerned about them getting enough vitamin C. They don't eat much of their pellets, and so far they will only eat greens: no bell peppers, no tomatoes.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Jul 03, 2019 10:38 pm


You can get an idea of how much vitamin C might be in their greens here.
www.guinealynx.info/chart.html

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:26 pm


I don't see where anyone asked, but did you try red, yellow or orange bell peppers? If she won't eat the green ones, she might eat one of the other colors. My 4 boars have different tastes in bell peppers. You could give her dandelion greens, but you have to watch with the calcium content. If all else fails you could get a vitamin c supplement and give her that if you are worried about her getting enough vitamin c through her diet.

samim21

Post   » Fri Jul 05, 2019 11:21 am


In the past, I have cut up vegetables they refuse to eat really REALLY small and sprinkled them over the things they definitely will eat. That might help get them used to the flavor. Definitely try other colors of pepper too.

Also, again, just keep trying over and over and over again. It takes some pigs a LONG time to get used to certain foods.

For my pickier girl, sometimes kinda (gently) shoving it in her face helps. She sometimes won't try something on her own so kinda (again gently) just smooshing it against her lips for sec sometimes gets her to bite it and then go "oh, wait this is actually pretty good!"

And again, get some of the oxbow bell pepper treats (or the vitamin C treats). They have a good bit of vitamin C in them and might help your pigs get used to the flavor.

Keep at it! They will come around eventually.

Edit: BTW you can get oxbow treats on chewy.com (they are way cheaper there than at a pet store.)

Also make sure you are feeding them good quality hay. I find my pigs are more willing to eat more things when they are also eating tons of hay. They got a little more adventurous when I switched from oxbow (which is fine but I kept getting kinda iffy batches) to rabbit hole hay

Edit 2: Sorry, just one more thought. Have they ever been to the vet? If not, bring them in for a check up. When my girls have been sick in the past, they have stopped eating pellets and refused any watery vegetables. They would eat lettuce but not any other veg and they drank less water. Might be worth bringing your girls in to the vet if you haven't yet. Guinea pigs need annual check ups anyway!

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CuteGuineas

Post   » Sat Jul 06, 2019 11:09 pm


Replying to Renonvsparky, you asked, "I don't see where anyone asked, but did you try red, yellow or orange bell peppers? If she won't eat the green ones, she might eat one of the other colors."

I initially tried the red and yellow, and they showed no interest in either. I am happy to update that I have finally gotten them to eat yellow peppers now, and they were even fighting over them today. 😊

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CuteGuineas

Post   » Sat Jul 06, 2019 11:48 pm


Replying to samim21: That is a good idea about cutting up new foods very small and putting them in their current food. I will try that in the future. Your other ideas are good too; thank you.

I am refilling their hay rack a few times a day. I am still using the bag of All Living Things brand timothy hay that I bought when they were new. I had not yet researched hay brands at that point when I brought it, but I think it is decent hay. It smells sweet when I open the bag, and it looks very comparable to the Oxbow 2nd cut hay (from what I can tell looking through the bag at the Oxbow hay at the pet store). I may try Oxbow next, although there were a lot of reviews on Chewy and Amazon that said the quality has gone downhill recently (maybe it's a seasonal issue).

They have not been to the vet yet. I will take them at some point, but they do seem healthy so far, and they are drinking plenty of water now too. Now if I could only get them to eat pellets! I think they might be eating a very few of them, but it should be more. Might just have to break down and buy them a different kind.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jul 07, 2019 3:29 pm


Did you ever end up ordering regular Oxbow adult pellets?

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CuteGuineas

Post   » Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:54 pm


Not yet, but I think I will just pick up a bag at the pet store tonight. If they like it, I will order more. I was hoping they would eventually eat the Garden Select pellets because the ingredients look healthier, but they aren't eating much of them at all. A little bit, but not much.

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CuteGuineas

Post   » Mon Jul 08, 2019 11:30 pm


They seem to like the Oxbow adult pellets; they were munching those tonight. They also like the Oxbow Vitamin C treats, which pleasantly surprised me. So I guess I don't need to worry too much anymore about them getting enough Vitamin C.

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