Tips for weight gain

[Ree]

My sweet little Harry has lost a lot of weight this month due to a misaligned jaw, malocclusion of his teeth and an abscsess in his jaw (which is thankfully getting better). He needs to put on quite a bit of weight as he'll probably be having another GA sometime next month.

He absolutely refuses to eat mashed up nuggets, baby food and the critical care I got him. Until Friday (when he had the abcsess lanced) the ONLY food he would happily eat was pureed cucumber but I think it was responsible for his diarrhea, and since he was showing an interest in other foods I stopped giving it to him.
His incisors still don't meet enough to 'chop' his nuggets so I've been smashing them into smaller bits with a rolling pin which he can eat, but very, very slowly. It takes him so long he's probably using more calories munching them than they're providing. It's the same with his veg.

I've been reading the shopping list thread on here and noticed a lot of foods shouldn't be given due to the high calorie factor, is that the only reason they shouldn't be given?

Soft high calorie food like avocado and banana would be perfect if he likes them, I also read someone gave their piggies goats milk?

ANY tips would be very welcome. x

 

[Wiebke]

Starchy sweetcorn is a good calorie popper. Banana is OK, but do not give too much because it is so sweet and can bung up guinea pigs. Porridge oats, soaked or dry, are another way of fattening up your boy. Try to make things a bit more interesting by sprinkling on fresh chopped herbs or a bit of dried herbs; many guinea pigs struggle with returning to normal food after tooth trouble.

Guinea pigs should not have dairy, ideally; goats milk is better than cows milk, but is mainly used as milk replacement for orphans and runty babies.

 

[MaxandChip]

I have heard that celery is fattening to guinea pigs? Have no idea if this is true or not though!

 

[Tracyxx]

Try this: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=44860