Begging for pellets?

Adelyn

Adelyn

Adult Guinea Pig
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Every day I refill Clover and Stella's food bowl. One tablespoon of pellets each. In the evening their bowl is empty, and whenever I walk by they wheek at me. I give them a little bit more, and in the morning it's empty. We're back to where we started. Are they truly hungry, or are they eating just to eat? Thanks!
 
They aren’t hungry because they should be filling up on hay. They are trying their luck and it sounds like they have trained you and you give in to them! You need to be strong, not give in and don’t be tempted to overfeed pellets. Once they have had their one tablespoon each in the morning, then that’s it, no more pellets should be given that day.
Giving them more pellets when they ask is the equivalent of giving a child more chocolate bars

If they do ask for more pellets in the evening, throw fresh hay in instead.

The alternative is to give them one tablespoon between in the morning (so that makes it half a tablespoon each) and then another tablespoon between (so a further half tablespoon each) in the evening.
 
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Yeah mine beg but they do that most times on hearing fridge or anything plastic, I just pop in some fresh hay and that distracts them, I give them a few nuggets in morning and few a night and that’s it, few veggies morning and night, when it’s gone it’s gone, they have loads of hay which is their main source, stay strong and if you have a routine in place that helps,good luck 🤞
 
They will always beg lol.... my other half sneaks 2 pellets to our pig cos he can't resist the 'look'.... I can lol
 
Mine are great wee hay munchers, but I think it’s me who’s addicted to giving them pea flakes 😳. I’ll try to be strong if you will! 🤣
 
Ruth1 said:
It’s the faces - try not to look them in the face! Focus on the butts, not the wee pleading, ink drop eyes!
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:agr: Mine have upped their game – they stick their noses through the bars of the cage, wiggle around, and open and close their mouths. It is fiscally impossible to ignore them. 😭😭😭 💔 I will just have to be very quiet from now on. :xd:
 
Adelyn said:
:agr: Mine have upped their game – they stick their noses through the bars of the cage, wiggle around, and open and close their mouths. It is fiscally impossible to ignore them. 😭😭😭 💔 I will just have to be very quiet from now on. :xd:
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Very intelligent these piggies, know how to pull our heart strings and make us weak
 
I do poop-pick, hay and pellets in the evening which is quite useful as it marks the settling down for the night period.
I tried to stick to a veggie breakfast but it works better for us to divvy the portion throughout the day as mine live in the kitchen so 3 times a day there's someone making food and everyone gets worked up and comes round the corner to pester. Although they are happy to share a bowl of pellets, a pile of grass or a handful of hay they will snatch and run with anything veggie so it's not a social event at all!

So mornings we do a few bits of hand-fed veg, then a bit of a hay top-up to keep them busy, then grass (then a massive sleep)
Later it's a slice of something if they are determined or maybe a handful of different hay (there is a treat bag of more expensive stuff to ring the changes!)
Tea-time it's veg offcuts while I'm prepping, then poop-pick, big hay top up and pellets. And everyone settles.
 
I've just read this thread and now I don't feel so alone and controlling. My little beauties Betty (herd leader, 20 months) and her sidekick Ellie (17 months, " I'm cute and defenceless/feed me") were playing me like a piano for a while. In context, there cage in the dining room is close to the kitchen door and we all know they have sharp hearing for a fridge or chopping.


We're a vegan household so fridge and chopping happen a lot! I am also sole carer for my adult son who is bedridden so I am always wafting through to the kitchen, and being shrieked at to empty the fridge into deserving piggles.

Betty is top piggle so the voice of the herd of two. Ellie just slipstreams. I cruelly broke their reflex to the sound of the opening of the fridge/freezer by wandering in with freshly picked herbs/soft fruits at unexpected intervals, or getting very excited about pulling another portion of hay from the bale that is stored in their room. It was that simple.. "Proper meals" are now set in stone. Betty used to attack the corex like a jackhammer, which nearly reduced me to tears at times. Now that they understand the difference between meals and chancing their paws, all is well. I throw in favourite foods as unexpected treats now and again because why not. But we are all happier now. Plus, i can open the fridge and peer blankly inside before going to Lidl without feeling guilty and deafened (won't somebody think about the piggles?)


Be brave, and scuttle out of the room if you have to. Xx
 
We used to have a pair of girls that hubs called his 'pair of fluffy slippers'. LouLou came to us for company when her last companion passed. She'd been well looked after but living alone in a shed for a while, and she didn't wheek. Free ranging in a kitchen came surprisingly naturally - she and pig Ivy would hear hubs at the fridge and come round to look for veggies. When he pretended to ignore them they would stand one on each foot to get attention!
 
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