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Could Something Be Wrong?

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Laurel Hallman

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So for the past two weeks it seems like my piggie is always hungry. I feed him hay or carrots and 20-30 minutes later he wants more food. He wakes me up early in the morning, he wheeks, and chews and pulls on the cage when he's hungry and it's very annoying. Could there be something wrong?
 
Not necessarily as pigs live to eat, does he have a constant supply of hay and any pellets?

Has he lost any weight?
 
I give him hay several times during the day. I also give him carrots and a occasional apple. He doesn't really like pellets so I don't buy them. No, he hasn't lost any weight in the past couple weeks.
 
How old is your piggy? If he is a baby/youngster he will need a pellet or muesli food as well. Mine are all fairly old now and they get a full bowl of pellets between 4 of them everyday, unlimited hay and a big bowl of veggies everyday. Although if anyone goes to speak to them they will create a huge fuss to try and tell people that I never feed them... such is the piggy way!
 
Mine start ten minutes after being fed and have unlimited Hay and pellets every other day .Thats just pigs i think
 
A typical piggies diet should consist of at least 80% hay (unlimited is better), 15% fresh veggies and 5% nuggets. If your piggy isn't used to fresh veggies every day introduce gradually to avoid tummy upsets.

Please find this attached link for a useful guide for feeding your piggies veggies -
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...veg-and-fruit-list-with-vitamin-c-grading.42/

It is important to supplement your piggies diet with a veggie high in vitamin C as they don't produce any vitamin C by themselves.

Lisa & Ali..
 
Carrots too regular i have heard are linked with health problems, they really should have a variety x
 
I feed my boys this every morning. Cucumber, romaine lettuce, 2 dwarf beans, parsley, celery and a fat slice of bell pepper. A cup of this each. Carrots are not good to feed constantly as they are high in certain vitamins that mess with a piggies liver I think. Vitamin A I think.

They have a small handful of pellets ( well 6 "Bunny" guinea pig pellets) every morning as well and unlimited hay. They still wheek and bite the bars and beg too!

I don't find it a annoying though as it is part of their genetic make-up and lovable personalities! Def piggies being piggies.
 
Hi, try giving him a more varied diet as he may be lacking nutrients. Carrots & apple aren't very nutritious don't have much fibre or vitamin c content either. You could try some fresh green foods cabbage, cauliflower leaves, broccoli etc. If he;s not used to these foods, introduce them in small amounts at first so it doesn't upset his tummy. Guinea pigs need hay to munch on all the time 24/7 and lots of it too & at least 2 or 3 types of vegetables and fruit a day to keep them healthy & happy :)
 
He's very picky though. He doesn't like cucumbers or leafy greens. Should I get some vitamin drops to put in his water?
 
Have you tried coriander otherwise known as cilantro? Piggies tend to love it...
 
Vitamin drops don't really work, I've heard this a lot so I ran it by my vet she said the vit c is soon weakened in the water making it pointless really. The best way to get vit c into your piggies is through veg (I've heard not to give carrots every day too) the link that lisaali shared should help you, try different things from the list and you can try the ones they don't like again at a later date they may start liking them. My boys have hay all day I always keep it topped up, a large bowl of veg in the morning, grass during their run time if the weather is nice, a little treat in the afternoon (which changes daily) such as a bit more veg or dandelion/raspberry leaves with a few slices of apple or some grapes, Then pellets in the evening and fresh water twice a day. May be use the guild to find things you eat eg things you have in the fridge and try them on them :) were having a meal tomorrow that has spinach, carrots, fresh herbs etc in it so my boys get some of them before I add the rest to my cooking same with our Sunday meal they have parsnip, green beans, cabbage, carrot, fresh mini corn, broccoli , colly etc (not that we have that all in one meal lol)
Hope that was of some help.
Kell x
 
Piggies
He doesn't like that either.
Piggies can be fussy...especially if they have been given the same veg often, it can also take over 5 times introducing a veg before a piggie knows if they like something (much like a baby). I would suggest trying some of these again eg sliced greens, peppers, celery, coriander, etc . Carrots are rather unhealthy to feed on a regular basis and especially if they dont eat pellets, they need a good quality veg diet (leafy greens and vitamin c high veg such as peppers).
 
I had a picky piggy once, mostly because he wasn't used to having fresh veg but I didn't really give him much option. I would put a selection of veg in his cage and leave it there as long as possible. After 3 days he ate the (at this point a bit dry and slightly shrivelled) bell pepper, I think he just needed to learn what it is and that it was edible.
 
I wish I could persuade any of our 8 to eat pepper. I've tried offering it frequently, leaving it there for ages, offering it with other veggies, offering it on its own but they are still having none of it! We eat loads of peppersso it would be great if I could get them onto them.

They do love lettuce (not iceberg) cucumber, celery and broccoli though.
 
Mine are also fussy about Pepper, one will eat Pepper, one wont. I always give both piggies daily a crushed animal oxbow vitamin C tablet on a peice of cucumber to each to make sure they get their vitamin c dose.
 
@PiggySmitten hi, mine are so fussy with peppers too I have tried them on all 4 colours and they won't touch the green ones are picky about yellow ones will have try at the orange ones and seem to really like the red ones when it suits them lol.
Their favourite things are...cos lettuce, spinach, fresh parsley, honey dew melon, cucumber, cherry toms, celery, spring greens, raspberry leaves and grass :)
 
@PiggySmitten hi, mine are so fussy with peppers too I have tried them on all 4 colours and they won't touch the green ones are picky about yellow ones will have try at the orange ones and seem to really like the red ones when it suits them lol.
Their favourite things are...cos lettuce, spinach, fresh parsley, honey dew melon, cucumber, cherry toms, celery, spring greens, raspberry leaves and grass :)
Hi I have only tried red peppers tbh. I chose red as they are sweeter than the other colours and based (unscientifically) on my childrens' preferences. What you say about your piggies preferences really fits with the way peppers start green, then go yellow, then orange then red depending on how long they are left to ripen.

I must try raspberry leaves. How much of those can they have and I am thinking about the right thing aren't i - the leaves off the canes that I grow raspberries on in the garden for us to eat?
 
Yep there the ones :) there on my 'almost daily' safe food guild :) best to pick new green leaves making sure they don't have any bugs or disease on them. Our raspberry bush has taken over so I've been putting 4-6 in with their veg every other day they love them. I've just read parsley is not to be given that often I've been giving them parsley every other day as it said It was ok often know I've read it's not... It's so confusing some times to know what is best, eg we eat a lot of fresh spinach the vet said it's ok to feed it to piggies often I've read in the guilds not too because of the vit A :hmm:. Anyway yep I thought the same thing about the colour steps of the peppers...not fussy pigs....cleaver pigs.
I'm trying my boys on fresh mint for the 1st time tomorrow from my herb bed, and I'm switching from parsley regularly to coriander instead.
 
You state "He"

Is he on his own or does he live with a friend?

I have several Bar chewing/pulling/wheeking pigs - they are all single randy un-neutered males who have refused to bond with other males and so are clearly bored whilst waiting to be paired up with a nice spayed wifepig.
x
 
Vitamin drops don't really work, I've heard this a lot so I ran it by my vet she said the vit c is soon weakened in the water making it pointless really. The best way to get vit c into your piggies is through veg (I've heard not to give carrots every day too) the link that lisaali shared should help you, try different things from the list and you can try the ones they don't like again at a later date they may start liking them. My boys have hay all day I always keep it topped up, a large bowl of veg in the morning, grass during their run time if the weather is nice, a little treat in the afternoon (which changes daily) such as a bit more veg or dandelion/raspberry leaves with a few slices of apple or some grapes, Then pellets in the evening and fresh water twice a day. May be use the guild to find things you eat eg things you have in the fridge and try them on them :) were having a meal tomorrow that has spinach, carrots, fresh herbs etc in it so my boys get some of them before I add the rest to my cooking same with our Sunday meal they have parsnip, green beans, cabbage, carrot, fresh mini corn, broccoli , colly etc (not that we have that all in one meal lol)
Hope that was of some help.
Kell x
I feed my gang carrot tops every day and the actual carrots every two or three days. But I've never tried them on parsnip before! They love Cauli and cabbage and corn cob complete with the sheath. Oh, and cherry tomatoes every other day. This is not by any means the full list.
 
You state "He"

Is he on his own or does he live with a friend?

I have several Bar chewing/pulling/wheeking pigs - they are all single randy un-neutered males who have refused to bond with other males and so are clearly bored whilst waiting to be paired up with a nice spayed wifepig.
x


Hi, I think laurel Hallman is a teenage mum to ollie piggy if I'm right In thinking from another post and he's the only one as laurel is not allowed to have any more. :(
 
I have fussy piggies too. They don't like green beans but I decided to try introducing them again. It takes perseverance and repetition.

Monday: ignore a bean completely
Tuesday: pick a bean up and move it somewhere else - making sure not to eat it
Wednesday: bite a bean and spit it out
Thursday (this morning): bite a bean, spit it out, stand with brother trying to decide if it is a good idea to eat it. Toby went first and ate half a bean, barney copied (it was very obvious that barney waited until Toby had a go)

So we still aren't on a full bean yet but getting there. The same technique worked with sprouts and cabbage. We might try tomatoes next!

I used new beans each day and left it there for majority of the day.
 
Piggies eat sleep and poop in whatever order they fancy. I would like to repeat what many others have said, unlimited hay should be available as it is their main dietary requirement, always have some in the cage so that you piggy can eat when it wants.
 
Mine can be fussy but the trick is to keep trying. They love parsley and coriander, obviously their salad greens (none iceburg) and celery. They aren't so keen on pepper but will have a nibble. I have noticed since they moved outside for the summer they aren't eating as much hay as they did indoors but still have it available constantly.
 
Hi, I think laurel Hallman is a teenage mum to ollie piggy if I'm right In thinking from another post and he's the only one as laurel is not allowed to have any more. :(

Yes, Ollie is alone. My mom won't let me have another. I want another one though because I think he might be lonely.
 
Have you got a teddy bear in with him? It must be a one that is suitable for a new born baby so he can cubble up to it. Have you explained to you mom that they should be in pairs and the daily cost would not be much different if at all, because you already have a cage, bedding etc for ollie and I can not see it costing hardy anything more to feed another piggy. The lovely people on here could help you find a suitable rescue centre near you that you could take ollie to pick his own friend, have you got some money saved up so you could buy another guinea if you mom helps you find a suitable one? She would be overall reasonable for them eg vet costs because your only young Maybe you could show your mum some of this forum where people have commented about only having one piggy. Do you do all the care and clearing out of ollie? If it's often your mom doing it, it may be why she really said no to another one because it would be another one for her to sort out, she may not realising he really does need another piggy for company.
Hope that's of some help. :hug:
Kell x
 
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