How to stop selective feeding?

[AnnaB]

Hi guys, i am new to this forum.

I have 2 guinea pigs (Louie and Marshall) they are about 18-20 weeks old

I have been mixing some muesli with P@H pellets but they are only picking out the bits they like and not touching any of the pellets. I know that selective feeding is bad, but I feel cruel if I just took muesli away all together and only gave them pellets.

any advise how to get them to eat pellets?

Also, they wont chew any of their toys or treats and i am worried that their teeth will get to long?

Any advise would be great. Thank you .

Anna

 

[lauraboara]

Hi Anna and hello to your 2 piggies

I asked a similar question a few months ago and also asked my vet. They advised to stick to a nugget form of dry food - I use Excel nuggets which are pretty widely available. I did what you are doing and mixed a bit of museli food in for while and then phased it out completely. Now mine wheek their heads off for nuggets so my experience would say just keep trying! Also try a different brand of nugget - some piggies like the Blackcurrant and Oregano ones. You are not being cruel - you are being sensible and thinking about their teeth / health.

Another forum bit of advice was to focus on hay - chewing hay will keep their teeth worn down. Especially longer pieces of hay. Hay should be the majority of their diet and dry food a smaller part. Mine also ignore chewing toys but love chewing hay in cardboard tubes! Hope that helps.

 

[BellasMummy]

I can't really help as mine eat all their food, they are on Wagg guinea pig crunch.

 

[AnnaB]

Thank you very much for your reply and advise . They eat ALOT of hay so at least I am not as worried about their teeth now.
I think nugget diet will be a New Years resolution for my guineas

Thank you.

 

[AnnaB]

Thank you very much for your reply and advise . They eat ALOT of hay so at least I am not as worried about their teeth now.
I think nugget diet will be a New Years resolution for my guineas

Thank you.

 

[paulag]

They will eat all of it if they aren't given any more until they've eaten the lot - it sounds a little mean, but if they have unlimited hay they won't starve. At the moment they are still growing, but once piggies reach full size I tend to limit the pellets so that they run out for part of the day and just put a small amount of muesli on top for interest. This stops them getting overweight and also is good for their teeth as they eat more hay.

Paula

 

[Little Piggles]

My lot love nuggets. I got some Wagg Crunch to give them some variety but they ignored it and just ate their nuggets rolleyes

As said earlier, the main thing is they're getting lots of hay

I think that, kinda like people, their tastes can change though so if you stick with it, I'm sure they'll end up enjoying the nuggets just as much! Good luck x

 

[Abi_nurse]

I would just get rid of the musli. Piggies dont need to have lots of pellets so long as they have plenty of hay (unlimited) rich vit C veg. It wouldnt be cruel to take out the musli at all. Get a different pellet diet maybe, might make them more interested. Excel or science selective are two good quaility feeds. And lots of people sware by wagg too.

x.

 

[AnnaB]

Just want to thank everyone who replied and given me advise

they have unlimited hay, and they cant get enough !

I finally can see the bottom of the muesli bag so now I think I shall try different type of pellets and see if they like it

Anna