Fussy piggies

[Fluffycavie]

I am a new piggy owner, have had my girls for 6 weeks. They were 10 weeks old when we got them and had been fed the usual nuggets, hay and cabbage. The first couple of weeks we stuck to cabbage then tried to introduce other veg. They wouldn’t eat any until they tried Kale. Now all they will eat is Kale. We have tried offering cabbage only but it just sits there for the day uneaten then I give them Kale because I want them to have some greens. We have also tried peppers, carrots, tomato, spinach but they won’t touch any of it. Is this normal for them to be so fussy? Suggestions welcome. worried about them not getting a mix of veg and also kale is much more expensive. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Piggies&buns]

First, welcome to the forum.

Guinea pigs learn what is safe to eat from older piggies, so if they haven’t been taught from a young age from their mother, then it will be a case of perseverance! But hay needs to be the biggest part of their diet (over 80% of what they need to eat in a day should be hay) so as long as they get enough hay, then don’t worry too much but keep trying with a few vit c veggies in the meantime. Nuggets and veg are supplementary to the diet. Coriander is often a favourite of piggies so try a bit of that! I attach in a veggie feeding guide below.

However, please don’t feed kale and cabbage regularly. They are not suitable foods for regular use. Cabbage can cause a build of painful gas. Kale and spinach are too high in calcium to be fed regularly - they can eat it in very small quantities but only once a week - as it can lead to bladder problems and stone formation. Tomato isn’t suitable to be fed too often as it can cause mouth sores and carrot is too high in sugar to be anything other than an occasional treat.

If you live in a hard water area, then it is advisable to filter their drinking water to reduce the amount of calcium, as well as ensuring nuggets are not overfed (don’t give them constant access to nuggets, they should be kept limited)

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[Fluffycavie]

Thank you for your reply. I will try some of the veg on the ‘plate’ picture and persevere. Good to know that I shouldn’t be giving them too much kale. I live in a soft water area so hopefully not a problem so far but will definitely stick to once a week now. They get and eat plenty of hay so I’m not so worried about the veggies now. Hopefully perseverance will work.

 

[PigglePuggle]

The above diet guide is very good
You might try a bag of mixed leaf salad, with babyleaf lettuce and red chard and peashoots or lamb's lettuce, gives them plenty of choice- coriander (cilantro) is also a great thing to try, it has lots of vitamin C and is low calcium so can be fed regularly. And beansprouts- my piggies love to eat raw beansprouts, they contain vit C too!

 

[alpacasqueak]

My piggy Luigi was very fussy when he first arrived, he was roughly a year old but a very fussy little man, wouldn’t touch many things, not even cucumber which is a massive piggy favourite! He eats whatever he can his paws on now six months later! I just persevered and gave him lots of different things to try, he also watched his cagemate Jess who is a piggy hoover when it comes to veg!
Good luck, sure they’ll come round soon and you’ll get non-stop wheeking for more like mine!

 

[Fluffycavie]

Thank you for your replies. Persevering with different veg now. Manage to get one of them to nibble some spring greens tonight so hopefully the other one will follow.

 

[Merab]

Mine adore cucumber.
It’s what I use as a treat for a piggy on meds.
Even though they get it most days it’s pounced on first