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Not Eating Hay?

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emiboo23

emiboo23

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Hi everyone

A couple of months ago my 6 year old pig Mags had to have her teeth burred, she pulled through but still hasn't really recovered.

Before her teeth issues she weighed about 930g, and is now down to around 730g. She's eating pellets like there's no tomorrow (burgess excel blackcurrent and oregano), and is fine with her fresh, but she absolutely will not eat hay.

I've tried her with around 6 or 7 different types of hay to try and tempt her, but apart from a tiny nibble when it goes in she just completely ignores it! I've tried it in different parts of the cage, in a hay rack, mixed with treats, and it's just not happening.

Does anyone have any tips that could help, please? It'd be much appreciated as otherwise she seems completely herself, and I don't want to lose her if there is a solution, and I can't afford to keep her on fine grind critical care to try and get her weight up!

Thanks in advance :)

xx
 
Hi! You may need to hand feed her to give her the fibre that should make up to 80% of the food intake. Guinea pigs often struggle after dental to eat fully again and may need more follow up treatments until they can chew properly again, as teeth (pre-molars) can overgrow very quickly/develop spurs very quickly if piggies cannot keep them ground down properly.

Here is our complete hand feeding guide. You may need to find out how much topping up she needs, but a dental piggy is usually a hungry piggy. It may also be good to have her teeth checked again.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/

I am tagging our dental specialist for you; she has got lots of experience caring for dental piggies, as she is running a pioneering sancutary for dental piggies in conjunction with a vet who is specialising in dental care.
@furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary
 
Thank you for your reply :)

She has been eating critical care food since she has had her teeth done, but it is maintaining the weight she was before she had the teeth issues. I don't know whether she is just not going to gain any of it back due to her age, or if there is anything else I can do or feed her to help with that.

I just find it kinda strange that she's happy to eat pellets and crunch them up, but won't eat hay or grass?

Thanks again xx
 
As Mags is an older piggy, she may never completely regain all the weight she has lost. However, as it is a couple of months since her dental there is a good chance that her teeth may need a bit of a 'tidy up' again. What was the exact problem before? Were her teeth trapping her tongue, or did she have spurs on the teeth or were they just generally a bit of a mess? Will she eat grass? A lot of the dental piggies here at TEAS don't eat much hay, but they all tuck into big piles of grass. I grow grass in seed trays through the winter months, so we have a year round supply.
 
Just to also add I have been soaking my B & O pellets in boiled water, leave to cool then syringe instead of Critical Care. Try to get as much in as she will take :)
 
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