pellets..again

[ILoveGilbertTheGuineaPig]

well i talked about this before but i didnt get much helpful advice and it was a while ago so ill ask again

before i got gilbert the people fed him hay and pellets.
now. hes a picky eater D:< i givve him pellets, veggies, hay, and a varietyy of foods WITH the pellets and he compeltely ignores the pellets. i dont wanna spoil him. like 40% is pellets and 60% is everything else. should i just dump it away? if i dont give him new food he wont eat it! and eventually he eats all the hay so i have to refill that and so he jsut ends up only eating the hay! i try to not give him new food to make him eat it from hunger but then i worry about his health cause that food gives him vitamin c and I'm not sure if my other foods provvide that. basically i give him celery, carrots and bananas and ive tried grapes but he doesnt really dig it x[

sorry for the long post. please help

 

[gracie]

i didn't really understand what you mean in your post, sorry
but basically, as long as he's getting a regular supply of hay/water and dry food, and fresh fruit or veg at least once a day, then he'll be fine.
as long as he eats most of the dry food then it's okay, i think most pigs have favourite bits (mine only leave out the yellow bits) however if he's leaving most of it i'd keep trying different varieties until you find one he likes. there's many different types of dry food, so have a look for some you've not tried
just as an example, my local pet shop does a dry food which is a fruit mix, so things like that might be worth a try

 

[Briony_S]

You could also try lettuce as long as it is not iceberg (this is the tightly packed one) and also things like spinach and apple are ok in small doses there is a shopping list of other veg to try on the stickies at top of food section. I find kale and spring greens also go down well along with bean sprouts.

As long as he has plenty of hay and a variety of veg, dried food is less important but he does need to get vitamins through veg if not eating much of the dried food.

I wouldn't suggest leaving the dried food until he eats it as he just won't! You should give him fresh dry food each day as otherwise he will not touch it and he may loose weight, maybe see how much he is eating (weight wise) and give him that amount so he may be encouraged to eat some of the nuggets.

You could also try switching to another brand to see if he is just picky about the brand you are using or a pellet only brand may work if he likes the taste! You should mix the new stuff in with the old as they can get ill if you don't switch them gradually.

See if any of the companies in US do samples (try looking for a "contact Us" section on their websites. Companies do in the UK and I have tried a couple with my piggies and one they refused to eat so I did not waste any money buying that one!

 

[brownbrummie]

My boys were rescued and came with nothing from the previous owner as to what they actual ate.

It has taken several different brands and too be honest a tought stance to get them to a position I'm happy with.

I want them to eat P@H nuggets as my other piggies eat them and i buy them in bulk. But to start with they wouldnt touch them.

So this I went through a process of finding a museli they would eat - currently on Tesco purple bag and they eat everything out of that nuggets included. during this time i mixed in P@H nuggets. They currently have a bowl of nuggets and a bowl of Tesco nuggets but i dont fill the museli up until they have eaten the nuggets they are slowly but surely starting to eat the nuggets more. Its a time consuming and frustrating process I know.

As for the vegatables i buy items they havent tried when they are reduced some are more successful than others but they do tell you what they like and dislike

Hope that helps a bit

 

[KingBoris&HisFollowers]

hi just read your post and thought that maybe i should offer some advice.Guinea pigs should always have access to fresh food never older than 24 hours old,and i wouldnt worry to much about the hay, as much hay as a piggy wants is best its good for them,also are you giving celery leaves or stalks because the stalks aren't suitable for them the leaves are best.if possible to make your piggy more interested in other foods i would give a bigger variety of veges more than 3 types they get bored with the same thing, ours get between 5-10 diff types each day and i wouldnt hesitate to change the pellets.Some piggys maybe fussy but the are worth the spoiling.

 

[MissPiggy78]

Neither of my pigs eat many pellets (and I've tried a few different varieties), but they do get tonnes of hay and plenty of varied fruit and veg (I've found CC4's shopping list on here brilliant for this!). Guinea pigs don't actually need pellets to thrive as many of them are very high in protein- they can get everything they need from plenty of fresh hay and greens - remember they wouldn't eat pellets in the wild! A diet high in fibre is the main thing. If your piggie is not losing weight I wouldn't worry. x