Help! My guinea pig won't eat fresh vegetables!

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marlanab

Hi!
My guinea pig is about a year old. I bought her about 3 weeks ago from some people that couldn't handle taking care of her. The owners told me "she won't eat fresh veggies, she's very picky."
However, I feel like she really needs more vitamins from what I'm reading, since all she's eating is Hay and Pellets (pellets have special vitamin pieces or something, but she picks around those too).
Any advice on how to get her to eat veggies?
I've tried giving her the following veggies...Green peppers, carrots, lettuce, grapes, apples, and broccoli. She will take very very small nibbles of broccoli and romaine, but that's all.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
 
It may be that your new piggy wasn't offered a variety of veg and fruit in her previous home. Two young boars that I rescued some months ago took a while to start enjoying the wide range of fruit and veg they were offered. I think that all they had to eat in their previous home was gp mix and manky hay. Now they guzzle a wide range of tasty stuff! Keep trying her on little bits and I'm sure she will learn to enjoy them soon.:)
 
The only way is - persevere. Never offer more than one veg at once and let it lie around for a day. You might even eat a bit yourself next ot her, so she can see you doing it!

Have you got the room to (let her) find a friend for her in a rescue?
Quite often the "I want what you have" reflex is the quickest and easiest way of getting a piggy to eat! Piggies in rescues have been exposed to veg, which you can't guarantee with shop or breeders' piggies. (Apart from the fact that a piggy should preferably have company of its kind, as they are very social animals).
 
Like everyone else has said, keep at it, give her a fresh piece of veg every day, maybe stick with something you know she'll at least nibble. Piggies are creatures of habit, once she gets used to a fresh piece of veg every day she'll be complaining if it doesn't turn up on time!

As Wiebke has said, a companion with a good appetite will definitely help.
 
Some of the guineas we have had coming into the rescue would not eat veggies, as they had rarely been offered them. When they did get them it would usually be cabbage, or lettuce possibly carrots. So these are the things we offer them first, and gradually build up. Cabbage is usually the favourite, but it does take time. As Piggypal said grass is great, and even though the weather is rubbish, you can still scissor cut some dog/cat free grass for them to munch on. xx
 
As everyone else has said I too would imagine they just don't know the veg is tasty food and just keep trying. One little trick I often use is to add the veg into the pellet bowl so that the recognise it as a food.
 
I tried carrots first with george who had never had veg I gave him a couple of sticks every day for a few weeks to a month before he finally ate any (Can't remember exactly how long but it felt like forever). You just need to keep doing it. I would give him it in the morning and then leave until the next morning then remove old veg and replace with the new one. once he was eating carrot for a week or so I added the next veg and each week I added something else, now he will eat almost everything except brocolli but they all have to hate something :))
 
If she is friendly and a tame piggy have you thought of cutting them into tiny piece and gently pushing them into the side of her mouth so she can taste them if she does not like it she will spit it out though, but at least she will taste it.....
 
The king is spot on! Please make sure you give high fiber hay such as Oxbow Botanical Hay or Orchard grass which are great for encouraging eating! Also, try and change over to a pellet form and stay away from the mix feed which is like giving them junk food...

Just stick with it and keeping offering veg but just one type at a time!

YOU WILL GET THERE IN THE END!

Good Luck!
 
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