My piggy isn't eating hay!

[Chesnut1]

Hello everyone.
So, I have a guinea pig that I've had for exactly one month now, named Chestnut. During the first couple of weeks of Chesnut being with us, he always ate his hay, and I constantly needed to refill it. Less than a week ago, my fiance and I went on a week and a half long trip and Chestnut stayed with a friend. I gave her detailed instructions, but I know that she may have fed him too much "junk food" while he was with her (apples, etc).
But now he's back home with us, and I've noticed that he isn't touching his hay at all. He eats his pellets, vitamin C treat, and veggies just fine (as well as drinks lots of water), but he doesn't want to touch his hay at all. I took him to the vet yesterday, and she said that he looks 100% healthy, but of course to bring him back if he stops eating any of his food and stops drinking water.
My question is, is it possible that he was just too spoiled and now just doesn't want hay? We've tried 3 different brands, all of which he won't touch. And when I try to hand feed it to him, he'll grab it but then immediately drop it. It doesn't look like he's losing weight, but I can't help but feel afraid and worrisome.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello everyone.
So, I have a guinea pig that I've had for exactly one month now, named Chestnut. During the first couple of weeks of Chesnut being with us, he always ate his hay, and I constantly needed to refill it. Less than a week ago, my fiance and I went on a week and a half long trip and Chestnut stayed with a friend. I gave her detailed instructions, but I know that she may have fed him too much "junk food" while he was with her (apples, etc).
But now he's back home with us, and I've noticed that he isn't touching his hay at all. He eats his pellets, vitamin C treat, and veggies just fine (as well as drinks lots of water), but he doesn't want to touch his hay at all. I took him to the vet yesterday, and she said that he looks 100% healthy, but of course to bring him back if he stops eating any of his food and stops drinking water.
My question is, is it possible that he was just too spoiled and now just doesn't want hay? We've tried 3 different brands, all of which he won't touch. And when I try to hand feed it to him, he'll grab it but then immediately drop it. It doesn't look like he's losing weight, but I can't help but feel afraid and worrisome.

Hi and welcome

I am very sorry! Hay is the base of any piggy diet; so a piggy that is not eating it is not too spoilt but is simply not able to eat it for some reason.

Has your vet checked his back teeth for dental overgrowth? Picking up food but dropping it is typical for dental problems. The premolars and molars at the back of the mouth are the ones that have evolved to grind down the silica rich grass fibre while the self-sharpening incisors at the front are for picking up and cutting foot.

Can you please look at the incisors whether they are nice and straight or slanted, jagged or inward pointing and not longer meeting? It is not a surefire method but it can help to pin down the problem.

Please step in with switching from weighing once weekly to weighing daily at the same time. Kitchens scales are fine. This to monitor the actual food intake. hay should make over 80%, so with not eating hay, your boy is just eating his snacks but not breakfast, lunch and dinner...
Here are our weighing tips and what kind of weight loss you need to look out for:
Weight - Monitoring and Management
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely

If your boy is losing weight (very likely!) then please step in with top up feed; ideally a timothy hay based recovery formula that can be fed on its own but can be mixed with mushed pellets (too soft on their own) in order to minimise any further weight loss:
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide (includes information on common recovery powder feeds).