Baby Piggy Food

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mylittlepiggies

mylittlepiggies

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Hello All, some advice please..... I got a baby female piggy yesterday, 6 weeks old so she is tiny and anted some advice on her food.

Currently I feed my other piggies Wagg dry food along with veggies etc but my baby does not seem interested. I appreciate she may never have had this dry food or veggies yet for that matter so..... I have been syringe feeding her water and was thinking about dissolving some of the pellets found in the Wagg food and doing the same? She is absolutely fine in herself etc I just want to make sure I am doing the right things for her until she is big enough to eat normally etc etc so any advice would be appreciated x

Many thanks in advance
 
Is she in WITH the other pigs? 6 weeks is more than old enough to be eating normally, but if she hasn't had normal food before she should learn quickly by watching the others, unless she's housed separately. Yoshi was 6 weeks old when I got him, and he had no problems; if I was giving him something new that he didn't recognise as food, however, he would usually wait for his older cage mate to eat some before trying it himself. Feed them all together if you can, as long as the older ones don't bully her.

Is she eating hay ok? Weigh her every 1-2 days to be sure she's putting on weight. If she isn't losing weight I probably wouldn't syringe feed her or mush up her pellets; you don't want her to become dependent on that.

Perhaps try a different pellet, or one with smaller nuggets. I use Harrington's and they're very small. Again, she should be able to eat a normal pellet at her age, but maybe it's just a bit overwhelming for her.
 
When I first got my pigs they didn't eat much for a couple of days until their nerves had settled. What they did eat was at night, so I didn't see them eating. If you give it another day she will probably settle down. Make sure she has food like cucumber with a high water content to keep her going.
 
SpinningNickel said:
Is she in WITH the other pigs? 6 weeks is more than old enough to be eating normally, but if she hasn't had normal food before she should learn quickly by watching the others, unless she's housed separately. Yoshi was 6 weeks old when I got him, and he had no problems; if I was giving him something new that he didn't recognise as food, however, he would usually wait for his older cage mate to eat some before trying it himself. Feed them all together if you can, as long as the older ones don't bully her.

Is she eating hay ok? Weigh her every 1-2 days to be sure she's putting on weight. If she isn't losing weight I probably wouldn't syringe feed her or mush up her pellets; you don't want her to become dependent on that.

Perhaps try a different pellet, or one with smaller nuggets. I use Harrington's and they're very small. Again, she should be able to eat a normal pellet at her age, but maybe it's just a bit overwhelming for her.
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Thanks for your advice. I do feel that it is just nerves getting the better of her bless her x x i saw her nibbling some hay earlier but she still wont take water from the normal water bottle (mind you the spout does look big for her) so i have just given her a few syringes of water which she welcomed just for peace of mind that she is staying hydrated etc.....
 
Hiya - my piggies were 8 weeks when I brought them home and they were already on Burgess excel with oregano so I kept them on that - can you find out what your piggy was on before you got her? I think I am right in saying guineas can eat solid food from only a few days old (maybe even within 24 hours of birth I think I read) so certainly by 6 weeks there should be no problem.

It might be - as others suggest - that she is a bit shy and that she will do most of her eating and drinking at night when you aren't watching!
 
My little one wouldn't drink in front of me for a week or so. He was definitely drinking at night though, because the water levels in the bottle were going down a LOT, and my older pig never drinks much. I caught him once or twice by sneaking into the room, but otherwise I didn't SEE him drink for ages. I think the little ball makes so much noise, and maybe they don't want to make noise when they aren't used to you -- their instinct is to keep quiet and hide!

If you are worried about her water intake, give her cucumber, which is full of water, or wash some lettuce leaves and give those to her still wet. She'll take plenty of water in that way. (As mentioned, my bigger lad almost never drinks, and I think it's because he gets most of his water from fresh greens.)
 
Has she got company or is she on her own? Guinea pigs are group animals and need the company of others. Especially youngsters will feel very vulnerable when they are all on their own and don't have the guidance of an older piggy or the company of age mates.
http://www.guinealynx.info/companionship.html
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36239

Here is our map of recommended rescues, which offer to carefully bond your girl with a friend of her own choosing under expert supervision at the rescue. All sows from a good rescue are guaranteed healthy and not pregnant. https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=209994852075231951564.0004b8fd9391b4257d8eb&msa=0

PS: Make sure that she has a soft (safe) cuddly toy to snuggly into.
 
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tabelmabel said:
Hiya - my piggies were 8 weeks when I brought them home and they were already on Burgess excel with oregano so I kept them on that - can you find out what your piggy was on before you got her? I think I am right in saying guineas can eat solid food from only a few days old (maybe even within 24 hours of birth I think I read) so certainly by 6 weeks there should be no problem.

It might be - as others suggest - that she is a bit shy and that she will do most of her eating and drinking at night when you aren't watching!
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Do you think Wagg GP food is too big for a baby to handle?
 
no not at all. The only problem with wagg is that you get selective feeding where the piggy picks out his favourite bits and leaves the rest. Size wise, your guinea should cope with any food - but it would be good if you can give the same type she had before you got her so that it.s familiar. Then you can phase in any change slowly
 
Mine have Burgess Excel Blackcurrant & Oregano, the pellet size is very small, so it's a good one for little mouths.
 
Doing well

Now named her baby Pippa and pleased to say things are starting to progress nicely. She is starting to use the water bottle and nibbles on a carrot at night time. She has already gained 15g so heading in the right direction.....:))
 
Connie said:
She looks so sweet :) Does she have a friend?
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She will have. I have a 2 year old already but just keeping them apart whilst they get used to each others sounds and smells etc as part of the bonding process. She is really starting to get a little character now as she gets braver each day :-)
 
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