Never eaten veggies?!

Adriannecvr

Adriannecvr

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi guys, I just for a New Guinea pig 10 minutes ago. She just told me that he has never ever been interested in vegetables. I’ve yet to try but should he actually be as picky as they say, what would you all suggest?
 
Pop just a couple of veggies in the cage, if your piggy has never had veggies before he may not realise that it's food. Remove any uneaten veg from the cage after a couple of hours and keep putting in the same type of veg. He may get curious and try it. It took my rescue piggy 6 months to realise that aubergine (egg plant) wasn't poisonous! and she'd seen the other 2 eat it (it's Meg's favourite veg) Does your piggy have a friend?
 
As above. I would try coriander and bell pepper first. How old is he?
 
Betsy said:
Pop just a couple of veggies in the cage, if your piggy has never had veggies before he may not realise that it's food. Remove any uneaten veg from the cage after a couple of hours and keep putting in the same type of veg. He may get curious and try it. It took my rescue piggy 6 months to realise that aubergine (egg plant) wasn't poisonous! and she'd seen the other 2 eat it (it's Meg's favourite veg) Does your piggy have a friend?
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I will def try that thank you! He’s sadly been alone his whole life :(
 
Make sure you quarantine him in another room if possible. Hopefully he will learn veg is safe if you persist and he’s paired with another piggy.
 
I sat with our boar eating cucumber. He was watching me eat while he ate. He knew it was food already, but he was interested because I'm not a guinea pig. It was funny and I told my husband. I gave him cucumber when he sat with our boar but he took a big bite and there was a loud CRUNCH! George looked so startled and turned to stare at hubs eating - then he wouldn't eat himself!

I suppose I'm saying maybe you could sit and eat with him as long as you don't crunch too loud!

He might take just a little bit one day, a little bit the next - they wait to see if it has any ill effects. Eventually he will tuck in - delicious. But if he has a friend and he sees them eating he will be much more likely to go for it. When we got friends for George everything became an eating race!
 
My Jasper arrived in September at 2+ having never eaten veg either, I just took things very slowly with him. Great advice above :)
Jasper had extra small portions of everything he tried so didn’t upset his tummy, same with grass. He hated certain things at first (even carrot!), now eats pretty much everything so definitely persist if he turns his nose up at things the first or even second time, Jasper is now a hoover!
Good luck with new piggy :) Hope he can find a friend soon.
 
Siikibam said:
Make sure you quarantine him in another room if possible. Hopefully he will learn veg is safe if you persist and he’s paired with another piggy.
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Yes! I’m taking him to the vet this upcoming weekend so as long as everything is good, I then hope to start introductions with my other piggies. Also, he ate some cilantro last night :)!
 
alpacasqueak said:
My Jasper arrived in September at 2+ having never eaten veg either, I just took things very slowly with him. Great advice above :)
Jasper had extra small portions of everything he tried so didn’t upset his tummy, same with grass. He hated certain things at first (even carrot!), now eats pretty much everything so definitely persist if he turns his nose up at things the first or even second time, Jasper is now a hoover!
Good luck with new piggy :) Hope he can find a friend soon.
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Thanks for the help! I’m very happy to say he ate some cilantro last night :)! Yes! As soon as the quarantine period is over I will begin introductions with my other piggies
 
Free Ranger said:
I sat with our boar eating cucumber. He was watching me eat while he ate. He knew it was food already, but he was interested because I'm not a guinea pig. It was funny and I told my husband. I gave him cucumber when he sat with our boar but he took a big bite and there was a loud CRUNCH! George looked so startled and turned to stare at hubs eating - then he wouldn't eat himself!

I suppose I'm saying maybe you could sit and eat with him as long as you don't crunch too loud!

He might take just a little bit one day, a little bit the next - they wait to see if it has any ill effects. Eventually he will tuck in - delicious. But if he has a friend and he sees them eating he will be much more likely to go for it. When we got friends for George everything became an eating race!
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Good story haha! I will definitely sit with him and eat! With my other piggies, one loved everything I gave him but the other wouldn’t even try it but then he started mimicking his brother and started eating it too and now he loves it! I’m excited (yet super nervous) to have them meet and hopefully he will mimic my boys
 
Siikibam said:
Is he to be bonded with sows or a boar?
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I will be TRYING to bond him with 2 boars. He was in a bad home situation so I took him in because I know I can properly care for him. If they don’t bond together I plan on keeping them next to each other so they can still have contact and socialize a bit together but not harm each other. He seems to be a submissive pig but we will see how it all pans out!
 
Adriannecvr said:
I will be TRYING to bond him with 2 boars. He was in a bad home situation so I took him in because I know I can properly care for him. If they don’t bond together I plan on keeping them next to each other so they can still have contact and socialize a bit together but not harm each other. He seems to be a submissive pig but we will see how it all pans out!
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Please do not try to bond him with two others to make a trio if that is what you mean. A boar trio won’t work - they almost always end in failure as boars generally do not function this way. If you are bonding him with an existing and established boar pair, trying to add a third also has the potential of destroying the bond between the original pair meaning you could end up with three single piggies.
Particularly as I see both your boars are very young, one still in his teens. Attempting to add a third with their ages would be highly advised against.
The space required to attempt to have a functioning a boar trio is very large - a cage covering at least three square metres (so each piggy can have a square metre of territory each), but even this isn’t the deciding factor.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
 
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I think they will probably fight. And if they have fought they will be less happy to live as 'bar-neighbours', certainly at first, as they will each worry about the other invading. But if they can interact through bars - seeing and smelling each other - it's nearly as good and probably better than a strained live-in relationship. Here are two of my bar-neighbours. Young Flora (black and white) can jump onto this fence and perch - and most likely jump straight over, but she hasn't so far. Let's just say Louise is not likely to be the problem pig of the pair-next-door! For young boars I'd have a higher fence but, Flora aside, my other 3 are waddlers 😁
neighbours Louise and Flora.webp
 
My guinea pigs tend to get picky sometimes too. I always make them interested again by adding some red bell peppers. They are super sweet but only give it to them once or twice a week because of the amount of sugar😁
 
@Adriannecvr it would be better to either try and bond him with another boar from a rescue or put him in a cage next to your pair. I agree with the above and wouldn’t risk trying him with your established pair. We’d love to see some photos, I’m sure he’s very handsome 😍
 
Thank you all very much for the advice! I might look into getting him neutered and getting him a wife! I’m not sure yet but def taking it one step at a time!
 
wafflesandcosmopiggies said:
My guinea pigs tend to get picky sometimes too. I always make them interested again by adding some red bell peppers. They are super sweet but only give it to them once or twice a week because of the amount of sugar😁
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So far he’s not been interested in orange peppers, lettuce, blueberry, cucumber or carrot but as long as I’m consistent in trying and giving him some other form of vitamin c I think it’s okay! I’ll def try red peppers next!
 
Free Ranger said:
I think they will probably fight. And if they have fought they will be less happy to live as 'bar-neighbours', certainly at first, as they will each worry about the other invading. But if they can interact through bars - seeing and smelling each other - it's nearly as good and probably better than a strained live-in relationship. Here are two of my bar-neighbours. Young Flora (black and white) can jump onto this fence and perch - and most likely jump straight over, but she hasn't so far. Let's just say Louise is not likely to be the problem pig of the pair-next-door! For young boars I'd have a higher fence but, Flora aside, my other 3 are waddlers 😁
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Well I’m still quarantining Rocco (my new boy) so they’ve yet to even meet yet! Thank you for all of the advice :)
 
Siikibam said:
@Adriannecvr it would be better to either try and bond him with another boar from a rescue or put him in a cage next to your pair. I agree with the above and wouldn’t risk trying him with your established pair. We’d love to see some photos, I’m sure he’s very handsome 😍
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I’ll definitely look into getting him a wife because I would like soars. I keep getting wrapped up with boars😭it’s okay though! I love them all the same. I’ll most definitely share pictures once I can take him out and have him pose for me
 
If you get him a sow (is he neutered) they’ll have to be in a separate room - just their scent can drive the boar pair crazy and could lead to a fallout. It’s possible so best to avoid it.

I wouldn’t offer him too many fruits for now. They’re not really essential in their diet, more a treat.
 
Siikibam said:
If you get him a sow (is he neutered) they’ll have to be in a separate room - just their scent can drive the boar pair crazy and could lead to a fallout. It’s possible so best to avoid it.

I wouldn’t offer him too many fruits for now. They’re not really essential in their diet, more a treat.
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Wow thanks I had no idea it could cause issues for the other piggies! He’s not neutered but should I decide to get a sow then I will have him neutered!
 
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