picky eater

[Smores_n_choco]

either gus was not exposed to a wide variety of food, or I have a picky eater on my hands. so far he will only take, peppers , banana, romaine lettuce, kale, and apple. he turned his nose up at broccoli, clover believe it or not, and red cabbage, also isn't very fond of parsley, tho he will eat it. anyone else have issues with their piggy being picky

 

[gogoguineas]

I don't think that sounds too bad!
I have 2 out of my four that will only eat green leafy veg. They hate any kind of fruit, peppers, califlower, carrot, green beans, pea shoots, celery and many more. My other two will eat anything barr peppers.
Sometimes it's the smell, my fussy pair ran a mile last night when I showed them banana. Sometimes if you leave it in the cage long enough they'll eat it

 

[Shaz]

As far as I know the only food my two boys had before I got them was mouldy carrot peelings, wood shavings and their poo.

Anything new that comes along they regard it with high suspicion. However if I leave it in with them for period of time they do get brave enough to have a nibble and in some cases think its the best thing since sliced bread or they wee on it. rolleyes

I feed my boys at 10 on a night and because of the conditions they were kept in before I got them they tend to eat everything in a super speedy fashion anything they're wary off is left and I leave it in there until the afternoon of the next day or in some cases it's gone or if its got wee on it's removed straight away.

 

[Lilly]

When I first got Hazelnut I spent a small fortune trying out every fruit, veg and herb on the piggy food charts. But after more than a year of trying various foods, I've given up and just pander to his limited taste which is grass (no dandelions or clover, just grass), parsley, carrots and any kind of lettuce. I give him every lettuce I can find except iceburg (although he'd eat that if I let him). So it's cos lettuce, red oak lettuce, green oak lettuce, butternut lettuce - the fridge is always full of various lettuces so he can get some variety. The only fruit he ever opened his mouth for was seedless grapes and he'd eat one at best - now he's gone off that.

When I got Peanut Butter I discovered he'd try anything and was hopeful that Hazelnut would attempt some of it if only out of jealousy that PB was eating it. Nope - it turned out the other way around. PB would try anything but after he noticed Hazelnut was not eating it, PB would stop eating it too.

So, I guess it's not all that unusual for piggies to be picky. I have even heard of piggies starving rather than eating something they don't like. I find that unusual for an animal.

 

[Smores_n_choco]

Ive left them for a while...but he is very good at telling me what he likes and dosent. If he does like it he pulls it,out of,his veggie bowl,takes a tiny nibble and sets it to the side. If he dosent like it... he leaves it in the bowl it stays t there until I the pig slave collects it . If hand feeding, if he dosent immediately take it from me....i can forget it. Tried him on yellow squash and carrot tonight. He liked the carrot..the squash is still there. The ONLY thing smores n choco will leave is tomato. Everything else is yum to them...although mango n cucumber wasnt a favorite...they did eat it. Thankyou everyone...glad to know I'm not t the only one with a pickypig

 

[Wiebke]

You may want to try to wean him off eating too much fruit eventually; it can cause mouth/lip sores and diabetic problems in the long term. Guinea pigs that are used to a very limited (and often not very healthy) diet are the worst to shift, much worse than piggies who have never seen veg in their lives. Hopefully, wiwth patience and persistence you can get there.

Here are more things to try: http://www.guinealynx.info/chart.html

 

[Smores_n_choco]

Well he gets one apple slice as a treat a day. Hay unlimited small handful of pellets and kale and romaine lettuce . The other things have been a nibble here n there. Smores n choco actually prefer the greens over any th ing...th apple n bannana occasonaly is a treat for them. I f I offer a pea pod and a apple at same time....they go for the pea.lol

 

[Smores_n_choco]

Well bless him..gus tried the squash finally...decided it was yummy and promptly yanked another peice out of my hand this morning! Silly piggy. Still wont do brocolli. But thats ok...i hate it too. Heck I can live on poptarts :p

 

[twiams]

My piggies are fussy little things, so pampered they know they get there own way with everything, down to the point they only eat certain things if they are cut in certain ways, only certain colour peppers and some veggies the chose when they like them and when they don't !