Greedy guinea pig

[Ellie-May]

Hi everyone,

I think we can all agree that our piggies love their food! However, I feel like Bert is hungry all the time. They get two tablespoons of pellets in the morning when I wake up followed by a teacup size amount of veg each, half in the morning and the other half in the late afternoon. I know it is normal for them to squeek when the fridge opens or anything that makes a noise lol, but I feel like he is still hungry. I recently weighed them both and Bert was 507kg. He is only four months so he is still growing, but I think I need to find ways to keep him stimulated. I have forage and spread that around which they both like, but Bert gets bored after a while. I scatter their veggies around too. I bought them these animal chew toy things that I cable tied to stop Bert chewing the bars and that has worked. Any ideas to help him become stimulated? I just feel like he is getting bored sometimes and is turning to food. Their playpen is big and there are enough hideys, chew toys etc

 

[Piggies&buns]

Your little man has got you trained already! The ‘its been five seconds since I was fed and I’m absolutely STAAAAARVING’ look is pure piggy manipulation, they know how to wrap us around their tiny toes! As he’s got a friend, then he won’t be bored, he is just trying his luck! He won’t be hungry if he’s got a constant supply of hay, so don’t worry about that!

We’d suggest, plenty of hay to eat and play in, swapping in and out of toys and hideys so they have something different, making castles and tunnels out of cardboard boxes, plenty of playpen time....but I know these are all things which I know you are already doing!

 

[Ellie-May]

Your little man has got you trained already! The ‘its been five seconds since I was fed and I’m absolutely STAAAAARVING’ look is pure piggy manipulation, they know how to wrap us around their tiny toes! As he’s got a friend, then he won’t be bored, he is just trying his luck! He won’t be hungry if he’s got a constant supply of hay, so don’t worry about that!

We’d suggest, plenty of hay to eat and play in, swapping in and out of toys and hideys so they have something different, making castles and tunnels out of cardboard boxes, plenty of playpen time....but I know these are all things which I know you are already doing!

He is definitely a manipulator and the instigator of it! He's not even the dominant one LOL. Once he starts then Ernie starts and I can see him just staring at me lol

 

[Ellie-May]

He is definitely a manipulator and the instigator of it! He's not even the dominant one LOL. Once he starts then Ernie starts and I can see him just staring at me lol

In the mornings it is him banging the cage bars lol

 

[Merab's Slave]

Guinea pigs are expert slave trainers.
Mine have even managed to train my husband.

Being hungry is normal - a guinea pig is basically an appetite with fur and personality

 

[Ellie-May]

Guinea pigs are expert slave trainers.
Mine have even managed to train my husband.

Being hungry is normal - a guinea pig is basically an appetite with fur and personality

I am definitely a slave to them

 

[Swissgreys]

I never feel bad as long as mine have large and unlimited piles of hay to eat.
They still wheek and press their starving little faces to the bars though.

 

[Lorcan]

I feel somewhat grateful reading these that I rarely got wheeked at for food unless a bag rustled. Sure Comet would yell his head off then, but that's because rustling meant either hay, veggies, or that I was trying to eat a bag of crisps, sigh. But no rustling, no wheeking except for a quick hello. Comet would come to the bars to check for food if you were nearby but mostly they just chatted to everything instead.

I say Comet because it didn't matter if Blitzen was at it or not, he didn't need to be. I suspect he didn't see the need to expend the energy when Comet would do it for him.

 

[Ellie-May]

I never feel bad as long as mine have large and unlimited piles of hay to eat.
They still wheek and press their starving little faces to the bars though.

I mean I feel bad for ignoring them wanting more food lol

 

[anyar.dris]

My new piggy Vegas, who we got on Sunday, is around 4-5 months old and she weighs 748g. She is very vocal and every small crinkle of plastic bag and paper sets her off wheeking soooooooooo loud! My 2 other piggies, Sierra and Rocky, aren't really big wheekers so everytime Vegas wheeks so loud they don't know what to do! Poor buggers think Vegas is in trouble all the time coz they always run to her looking anxious!