Leo’s not eating veggies

Sappyshelly

Sappyshelly

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Leo had his vet check up today. Doctor said he’s healthy. One thing I’m worried about though is that he’s not eating vegetables. I’m trying to get him interested. I chopped it really small and put it in his pellets, but then he didn’t touch his pellets. He seems interested when he sees Clifford eating, and ends up walking up to the bowl but runs away when he notices what it is. I’m thinking about mashing some up and syringe feeding it to him so he can try it. Idk. The vet was worried about him not getting enough vitamin C and reccomendes vitamin C tablets. Thoughts and assistance?
 
Did you mention this to the vet? I think the best thing to do would give supplements until you know he’s eating them, once again I’m no expert so wait until you get a second opinion, when I have sick piggies (only once, but my rabbit too) I used a powder once and sprinkled it in their food, can’t remember what it was called though :doh::doh::doh:
 
Sophie Blane said:
Did you mention this to the vet? I think the best thing to do would give supplements until you know he’s eating them, once again I’m no expert so wait until you get a second opinion, when I have sick piggies (only once, but my rabbit too) I used a powder once and sprinkled it in their food, can’t remember what it was called though :doh::doh::doh:
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I did mention it to the vet and that’s when he mentioned the tablets. Do you live in the UK? I’m not sure if we have what your talking ablout in the states...
 
I would get a second opinion on your guinea pigs health, whenever mine have gone off veg and pellets, this has been the first sign of an illness.
 
I have this for dot, i put it in her drinking water, alot of people advise not to, but she loves it. I am aware it degrades fast in water, but the taste has encouraged her to drink through rough times
 
My piggy loved it when he was unwell and on antibiotics, just mixed a little with water and syringed it, he thought it was a tasty, watery treat! :)
 
Skypipdot said:
I would get a second opinion on your guinea pigs health, whenever mine have gone off veg and pellets, this has been the first sign of an illness.
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I’m trying to introduce him to veg, as I don’t think he’s had it before. If he was eating veg and went off it, that’s a different story.
 
Yeah I’m planning on blending some lettuce and a very small amount of filtered water so he at least tries it.
 
Well I tried blending lettuce and doing the syringe method but it didn’t work well. He’s so squirmy that it was very difficult to get the syringe in. I did learn a bit about him though, since it was my first time sitting on the couch with him. He likes cheek rubs, chin rubs, and nose rubs. He also feels safe in my arms, since every time I tried syringing him in the towel, he would start making his annoyed noises, run into my arms, and then he would calm down. :) so I would say it was not all unsuccessful.
 
Have you tried him with fruit at all? A little slice of apple/a peeled grape or something to tempt him a bit at first? Lots of piggies have got a sweet tooth and could be a good start to get him interested? Then sneak things like red pepper (great for Vit C) into the equation :)
 
Mine all have their favourites- not always the stuff they should have often.
Some special favourites are:
Chicory, spinach, red chard, cucumber, carrots, apple, tomato

It sounds like it’s going to trial and error finding something he likes and then introducing other veggies
 
alpacasqueak said:
Have you tried him with fruit at all? A little slice of apple/a peeled grape or something to tempt him a bit at first? Lots of piggies have got a sweet tooth and could be a good start to get him interested? Then sneak things like red pepper (great for Vit C) into the equation :)
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Yup we tried apples, he wasn’t interested.
 
Merab's Slave said:
Mine all have their favourites- not always the stuff they should have often.
Some special favourites are:
Chicory, spinach, red chard, cucumber, carrots, apple, tomato

It sounds like it’s going to trial and error finding something he likes and then introducing other veggies
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I honestly think he’s just scared to try new things. This might be a long process.
 
Betsy said:
How about a bit of melon?
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I’ll try that when I get the store over the weekend. (Today’s thanksgiving and tomorrow’s Black Friday so most of the stores are either closed or in madness). The only problem is that Clifford basically loves everything, and he’s a very fast eater. This means he will probably finish it all before the little guy can even sniff it :( I doubt Leo will hand feed from me.
 
On another note, I keep finding matted for on Leo. He was probably neglected in his past home :( I found one and he cries whenever I touch it since it’s near his butt. I might ask a vet to remove it.
 
Rusty learnt to eat veggies from Bracken. I think Rusty may have been removed from his mum too young. I hope Leo starts eating soon.
 
Sappyshelly said:
On another note, I keep finding matted for on Leo. He was probably neglected in his past home :( I found one and he cries whenever I touch it since it’s near his butt. I might ask a vet to remove it.
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That's a good idea if it is so close that you don't want to remove it yourself with someone holding him.
 
Has he been interested when your other piggy's munching? May just take a while I suppose?! I know it's been a while already!
I've never really dealt with it with my pigs, all love their fresh stuff.
Bless him, would have thought all the tastiness would have been hard to resist by now!
Did you get his knotty bits sorted? My OAP Rupert tends to get a bit of a matted bum nowadays as struggles to get round there to clean as well, I'm a piggy hairdresser like I used to be with my old alpaca Sheepy :)
 
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