Eating Habits

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Cat906

Cat906

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My two pigs are nearly a year old and I'm worried for the first time that they aren't eating enough. They always finish their vegetables, but in the last month I have noticed that they are barely eating any nuggets. I thought that this was because they had burgess for the first time so I got them their usual pets at home nuggets. As soon as I put them in the cage, they were straight at them, but haven't eaten much since. They certainly don't eat 30-50g each a day- I put 30g in and it is often there for more than a day or two.

In terms of hay, I can't say for certain how much they are eating. In their hutch I used to put loads and loads in and it would go, but mostly because it would get trampled down. Now they are in a cage inside it is much more noticeable how much they eat. How much do people's guinea pigs actually eat in terms of hay per day?

They aren't losing weight- I've been weighing regularly, but still why aren't they eating hardly any dried food and should I stop vegetables for a few days to try and get them onto the nuggets?
 
Their food ratio of hay, veggies & pellets should be somewhere in the region of 80%/15%/5% but no 2 piggies are the same & some will eat more pellets than others & some more veggies. I give the guines pigs in my rescue which are usually in pairs approx a loose carrier bag of hay a day which is partly eaten & partly trodden down. They get 1/2 4" bowl of pellets which are topped up when I can see the bottom of the bowl & they get a 6" bowl of veggies once a day. They also get a handful of fresh grass each on a morning & a small bowl of readigrass. Most of these are eaten by most of the piggies :) x
 
I dont know if this will help but archie goes through phases of not eating much pellets. Theres no reason that I can see, he will just go some weeks not eating many, and then other times he will eat loads. I would say check how much hay and veggies they are eating, cause archie will eat normal amounts of hay, grass and veggies.
To me it sounds like your piggies are fine :)
 
Mine only eat a few grams of dried pellet food , but, they do eat a lot of hay, in fact they are more intersted in the hay , and that is the way l would prefare it
 
I wouldn't worry about them not eating many nuggets particularly if you give them a good variety of veg and lots of hay. They don't need nuggets to survive and they can make piggies fat. I give mine 15g each per day and they are still little porkers! So long as they aren't losing weight they are doing fine x
 
Thanks everyone! They've started eating a little more and are munching the new Timothy hay so it must have just taken a while for them to get used to. I'll keep giving them a variety to choose from
 
pellets aren't necessary so i wouldn't be too concerned to be honest. it's better for them that they prefer to eat hay and veggies :)
 
Joe doesn't eat that many nuggets to be fair, even though he really enjoys them! Hay is the main priority really, so as long as they are eating that and not losing weight I wouldn't worry too much :) Make sure they get plenty of different veg like pepper etc so they aren't short on vit.c ;)
 
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