Fussy Pigs!

[ThatWelshOne]

Hi all,

I'm new to guinea pig ownership, ended up with my girls after someone was saying they didn't want their pigs anymore and I couldn't stand the thought of them going to a home where they wouldn't be loved or cared for. So I will admit it was a rushed decision and not one which was well researched!

Anyway, they now have a lovely piggie palace and they're well settled and friendly but my main concern now is their diet. When I first got them I did some skim reading and was feeding them a diet high in kale and spinach for about two months (I know how wrong I was and have corrected this now!) However they're fussy little piglets. I have introduced spring greens into their diet this week and let me tell you, they are not impressed! They rush to their food bowl and then just stare at it and then at me as if to say 'wheres the good stuff mum?' they do eat it after a while once they realise the kale diet is no more!

I'm after a bit of reassurance really, I've read the pinned posts about good food to feed. Their veggie diet this week has been mainly spring greens, green pepper and round/butterhead lettuce leaves (again I've read conflicting thing about this, I never feed iceberg!) Any tips on what else they can have daily to keep it interesting and nutritious for them? And anything that's best to stop feeding? They get occasional treats of parsley because they are real parsley hogs but that's twice weekly tops and it's only a few sprigs to garnish their meal ha.

Thanks in advance!

 

[sport_billy]

I would advise different coloured pepper each day - high in vit c and each one tastes different. Cucumber can be feed daily too and most pigs enjoy it. Coriander also. Little gem lettuce tends to be well loved also

 

[Merab's Slave]

Mine like lambs lettuce and chicory. They also like red pepper but any other colour. Celery cut into chunks and celery leaves are also popular.
Like you I was overdoing the parsley and spinach until I realised it wasn’t good.
Have you tried baby sweet corn and green beans as well?

 

[ThatWelshOne]

I would advise different coloured pepper each day - high in vit c and each one tastes different. Cucumber can be feed daily too and most pigs enjoy it. Coriander also. Little gem lettuce tends to be well loved also

Thanks for the reply. I will definitely begin to rotate different peppers. I didn't know cucumber could be fed daily, I assume a small amount only due to the water content? I have coriander growing on my kitchen window sill next to the parsley so I'll try adding that

 

[ThatWelshOne]

Mine like lambs lettuce and chicory. They also like red pepper but any other colour. Celery cut into chunks and celery leaves are also popular.
Like you I was overdoing the parsley and spinach until I realised it wasn’t good.
Have you tried baby sweet corn and green beans as well?

Haven't tried them on celery but I'll pick some up tomorrow I have tried them on baby corn and green beans and they went down well! Can baby corn be fed daily?

 

[Merab's Slave]

I don’t give them baby corn daily because they like it but not that much.
Spinach on the other hand........they’d eat it by the bagful every day if I let them.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Hi and welcome to the forum. You might find some of our diet guides quite useful.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diet gives details of amounts and a healthy diet.

www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/edible-and-forbidden-veg-and-fruit-list-with-vitamin gives lists of foods you can feed.

As with everything in life, moderation is key. Some veggies such as corn and carrots are high in sugar as well. I usually try and feed veggies that we also eat but for those that we don't eat they tend to get it almost daily until it runs out and then they might not have it for a month or two.

When piggies aren't used to veggies you just have to keep offering and leave them with it. They will keep going back and testing it and then you will notice that it all goes down well

 

[RescuedGuineas]

I've recently tried my girls with bamboo (see separate thread) which goes down well, and it apparently high fibre & high vitamin C, but I'm still researching any potential long-term risks.

 

[Pigwhisperer]

I think variety is the main thing. Mine don't like spring greens or cabbage so I alternate peppers, kale, chicory, baby sweetcorn, cucumber, green beans, carrot once a week, apple once a week (both too much sugar to feed more often apparently.) They did like the sprout peelings at christmas but I don't buy them regularly!

 

[Betsy]

Mine LURVE sprout peelings! Can't think why Mine get a mix of whatever is in the fridge. Meg's absolute favourite veg of all time is aubergine (egg plant) she will sniff it out under all the other veg and gobble it down before finding the next bit! Spring greens go down very well as does any type of lettuce (no iceberg obviously) they love spinach and kale but only get this for a treat every so often. Carrot peelings, brocolli stalk, sweetcorn silks and papers when in season go down very well too. Peppers (any colour), parsnip peelings (they won't eat the ends for some reason) and celery. All these go down a treat!

 

[anyar.dris]

My piggies love these salad from Morrisons.

 

[Betsy]

Looks very tasty!