New Piggies Not Interested In Veggies

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Hi! Ive had piggies a couple different times in my life, but this is actually a new one for me. My newest piggies, Chewy and Han Solo aren't eating any of the vegetables we put out for them. We've only had them 2-3 days, so I'm assuming it's just that they're shy and don't trust us enough to eat them, yet. They are both eating hay and pellets from what I can tell. But they won't touch any of the veggies. Not even lettuce!

I hadn't realized it was possible for a guinea pig to resist lettuce. All my past piggies have LOVED lettuce above all other vegetables, haha. We've tried cucumber, brocolli, and lettuce, several times, so far. I think they ate the lettuce once we left them alone to it for a while. But all the others they completely shunned, even when left in the cage for an hour or two alone.

Any tips for enticing the little guys to try the fresh food?
 
Put it in or very very close to their hideys, I have a very scared piggy too and i started with food in hideys and she ate those!
 
I will definitely try that! The brocolli they ate was near their hidey, now that you mention it, so maybe that's the key. Hadn't thought of that! They walk past the veggies often enough they just shun them as if they aren't there, haha.
 
I would say give it more time.
Depending on their background they may not have learnt that fresh veggies are ok to eat, and it could take a few weeks for them to get brave enough to experiment and try new things.
 
Swissgreys said:
I would say give it more time.
Depending on their background they may not have learnt that fresh veggies are ok to eat, and it could take a few weeks for them to get brave enough to experiment and try new things.
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I'm starting to think this may be the case! We've had them a week now and have left lettuce out every day for them, as well as either a fruit or a vegetable (various kinds), and they haven't eaten ANY of them yet. I hope they don't give themselves a nutritional deficiency before they get around to eating them..
 
Also if they are new and seem nervous I would make sure you keep a large proton of their cage covered with a fleece blanket.
This may help them to feel more secure and venture further out.
I have had my piggies for nearly a year and they are (for the most part) ridiculously confident, but I still keep one part of their cage covered so they can always 'retreat' if they need to.
 
I would just place the veg and hay very near to their hidey houses. Then they can eat without having to come out. Once they feel more secure you can then try moving bowls etc away from their hideys. And it's always a good idea to provide tunnels or covered areas (like by a towel/ fleece blanket as @Swissgreys suggests) to make them feel more secure.
 
That's what I've been doing, placing the veggies near or inside the igloo, and their other hidey places. I may try the blanket idea when I get home today though, thanks for that suggestion!
 
Have you tried putting it in their bed? Or if they go to the toilet in a specific place, near there? I hope they start eating soon!
 
VeganIzzy said:
Have you tried putting it in their bed? Or if they go to the toilet in a specific place, near there? I hope they start eating soon!
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Yes, Chewy sleeps in their hay, and I've tried putting it on the hay, in the food bowl, inside the igloo, on top of their little tunnel spot, darn near everywhere! :( I hope they do, too!
 
Give it a bit more time. If they haven't previously been fed vegetables, they may not realize that they are even edible. Hopefully one will try it, find that it's good, and then they'll catch on. Our current younger pig, Hadley, really didn't eat vegetables until she saw the older pig eating them. Until then she would sniff them, but didn't seem to identify them as food. Keep making them available and they should figure it out with some time.
 
AHHHHAHAHAHAHA

I just caught Chewbacca munching on lettuce earlier. Finally they get it! Hopefully Han is getting it, too.

Thanks for all your help, everyone!
 
Excellent news!

They're funny critters aren't they?! I've had quite a few pigs be really fussy at first because they don't know, or trust the veg.

One of my boys must have had a very limited selection of veg as he would only eat carrot for the first week. And it took me probably a month of giving him red pepper every day before he was brave enough to bite it.

Once he tried things then carrot was one of the last things he ate in his dish.
 
Hehe! Yeah my eldest is still wary of new vegetables or fruit that don't meet his expectations. So far I've gotten the newbies to eat lettuce AND apple! Hooray! They're getting the hang of it, hahaha.
 
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