Vegetable and fruit ideas.

Fiona1987

Fiona1987

Junior Guinea Pig
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Heya everyone,
Just after some suggestions really as I seem to have a very fussy 5 month old guinea pig. She eats hay and her pellets with no problem but when it comes to veg she will only touch lettuce, kale and a bit of spinach and in little quantities. She won’t seem to touch anything else apart from a nibble of a carrot🙁. My other 4 year old male piggy is literally a pig and eats anything going that he’s allowed to have.
I’m just trying to remember if he was as fussy when he was younger and if it’s normal?
Either way she’s energetic, healthy and always slowly gaining weight so I’m not too worried but would love to give her something a bit different.
I’ve almost gone through all the lists of approved foods but if anyone has any other suggestions, it would be hugely appreciated.
Thank you
 
Sometimes you just have to persist when it comes to veg. I wouldn’t feed fruit too often due to the sugar. Kale and spinach are high in calcium and I wouldn’t feed both in the same week, or more than once. Carrot is also high in sugar so should be a very occasional treat.

I would try her on coriander. Most piggies will eat it. Then bell peppers (green first), and cucumber. Do a small slice. If she doesn’t eat it then just take it out and try again the next day. Keep at it and she will hopefully eat it eventually.

Has she always been like this?
 
Siikibam said:
Sometimes you just have to persist when it comes to veg. I wouldn’t feed fruit too often due to the sugar. Kale and spinach are high in calcium and I wouldn’t feed both in the same week, or more than once. Carrot is also high in sugar so should be a very occasional treat.

I would try her on coriander. Most piggies will eat it. Then bell peppers (green first), and cucumber. Do a small slice. If she doesn’t eat it then just take it out and try again the next day. Keep at it and she will hopefully eat it eventually.

Has she always been like this?
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Heya Siikibam,

Thank you for the reply, and sorry I’ve only just been able to reply back to you now.
Yes she’s always been like this since we’ve had her from a few weeks old. I probably should have mentioned that she also won’t eat out of
her own bowl, always wants to be at the same bowl as the other pig and annoyingly to him, the same bit of food he’s eating.
She will have a few nibbles and then excitedly run around and eat some hay or pellets instead.
Like many other piggy’s, she gets overly excited when she hears the fridge door go or a rustle of a packet with a mad popcorn episode haha. It’s very sweet and I’m sure she will settle down a little as she gets older. Maybe the distraction stops her from eating haha.

100% I don’t feed fruit often at all, the odd nibble of a banana once a month or a grape due to the sugar in there.
What you mentioned about the kale and spinach is surprising to me! I have a document I’ve always followed about which fruit and veg are safe to give and daily with these two clearly saying ok!? My old vet also said this was ok in passing when mentioning about diet with a previous pig. This pig did have a kidney issue which caused a premature death so I’m wondering if this was related? Last night I had a good look at the food recommendations on this forum so I will try some things on there including coriander.
Thanks again 🙂
 
Fiona1987 said:
Heya Siikibam,

Thank you for the reply, and sorry I’ve only just been able to reply back to you now.
Yes she’s always been like this since we’ve had her from a few weeks old. I probably should have mentioned that she also won’t eat out of
her own bowl, always wants to be at the same bowl as the other pig and annoyingly to him, the same bit of food he’s eating.
She will have a few nibbles and then excitedly run around and eat some hay or pellets instead.
Like many other piggy’s, she gets overly excited when she hears the fridge door go or a rustle of a packet with a mad popcorn episode haha. It’s very sweet and I’m sure she will settle down a little as she gets older. Maybe the distraction stops her from eating haha.

100% I don’t feed fruit often at all, the odd nibble of a banana once a month or a grape due to the sugar in there.
What you mentioned about the kale and spinach is surprising to me! I have a document I’ve always followed about which fruit and veg are safe to give and daily with these two clearly saying ok!? My old vet also said this was ok in passing when mentioning about diet with a previous pig. This pig did have a kidney issue which caused a premature death so I’m wondering if this was related? Last night I had a good look at the food recommendations on this forum so I will try some things on there including coriander.
Thanks again 🙂
Click to expand...

Quite normal for a young piggy to want the food the older one is eating. It can be helpful to scatter feed veg and pellets rather than use bowls if problems with food sharing occur

It’s standard forum advice to recommend that high calcium veggies are fed sparingly and only once a week due to the bladder stone risk from high calcium intake. Pellets and unfiltered drinking water contain more calcium than the highest calcium veg (kale) so keeping pellets limited and water filtered goes a long way to helping.
 
Does she have access to pellets all the time or you put in and remove/they eat them all? How much do you give them? And how long have you had her?
 
Siikibam said:
Does she have access to pellets all the time or you put in and remove/they eat them all? How much do you give them? And how long have you had her?
Click to expand...
She has pellets in the morning and evening in a bowl- same time as the vegetables. Not too many- around a small handful but these are never finished. I’ve had her since August this year.
 
Fiona1987 said:
She has pellets in the morning and evening in a bowl- same time as the vegetables. Not too many- around a small handful but these are never finished. I’ve had her since August this year.
Click to expand...

Pellets should be one tablespoon per pig per day. If she is having a ‘small handful’ twice a day it may be that she is getting too many - even if they aren’t finished, she may still be overfilling on them, which may be making her not want veg (might not be, might be that she is fussy with veg) . Best for her to eat lots of veg and not many pellets

I would recommend checking the pellet portion by using a proper tablespoon measure just in case she is eating too many - as I say, one tablespoon per pig per day only. If you want to give pellets twice a day, then that’s fine but only give half a tablespoon in the morning and half at night each.

Too many pellets aren’t good for their health (they contain a lot of calcium which can cause health problems).
 
Fiona1987 said:
Heya everyone,
Just after some suggestions really as I seem to have a very fussy 5 month old guinea pig. She eats hay and her pellets with no problem but when it comes to veg she will only touch lettuce, kale and a bit of spinach and in little quantities. She won’t seem to touch anything else apart from a nibble of a carrot🙁. My other 4 year old male piggy is literally a pig and eats anything going that he’s allowed to have.
I’m just trying to remember if he was as fussy when he was younger and if it’s normal?
Either way she’s energetic, healthy and always slowly gaining weight so I’m not too worried but would love to give her something a bit different.
I’ve almost gone through all the lists of approved foods but if anyone has any other suggestions, it would be hugely appreciated.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Have you tried your piggies with stuff like corriander and bell peppers and also salad mixes (ie not containing iceberg) My girls love both of them. Also I give my girlies on the very odd occasion a slice of apple each or a
Couple of red grapes .
 
Guinea lover 1982 said:
Have you tried your piggies with stuff like corriander and bell peppers and also salad mixes (ie not containing iceberg) My girls love both of them. Also I give my girlies on the very odd occasion a slice of apple each or a
Couple of red grapes .
Click to expand...
Also do u have another piggie friend for your 5 month piggie
 
Guinea lover 1982 said:
Also do u have another piggie friend for your 5 month piggie
Click to expand...
Heya, thank you for posting. She has little gem lettuce and cucumber. She won’t touch pepper in any colour.
When you say occasional with Apple and grape, is that once a week/month?
I’ve seen so many suggestions on different sites but so many contradicting to so I’ve just used instinct.
She is bonded with my older boar (neutered).
 
Fiona1987 said:
Heya, thank you for posting. She has little gem lettuce and cucumber. She won’t touch pepper in any colour.
When you say occasional with Apple and grape, is that once a week/month?
I’ve seen so many suggestions on different sites but so many contradicting to so I’ve just used instinct.
She is bonded with my older boar (neutered).
Click to expand...
I usually give them a small slice of apple each at the most twice a week as a treat
 
Fruit does not need to feature in their diet at all due to the sugars but if you do choose to feed it, it needs to be a very small amount for example a couple of blueberries, a thin slice of apple etc and no more than once a week.
 
Twice a week is too much. I would say even every week is too often. Mine used to get a lot more fruit when they lived indoors. But even then it was perhaps 1-2 blueberries or a half a thin slice of apple perhaps every couple of months. I can’t even remember the last time I gave them fruit now…they may have had an apple on the girls’ birthday in October…
 
Siikibam said:
Twice a week is too much. I would say even every week is too often. Mine used to get a lot more fruit when they lived indoors. But even then it was perhaps 1-2 blueberries or a half a thin slice of apple perhaps every couple of months. I can’t even remember the last time I gave them fruit now…they may have had an apple on the girls’ birthday in October…
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Provide fruit sparingly - no more than ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK. Click to learn more about providing vegetables and fruits. Provide a variety of vegetables. A variety is necessary in order to obtain the necessary nutrients, with one each day that contains Vitamin
 
Piggies can be fussy
No 2 or 3 to me are the same, my girl's love treats but not the same ones, lol
Small bit strawberry 🍓 emmmm yummy for Mrs Dougal but other 2 Mavis Moo nope leave it, tho a bean 1st thing is ok yet Mrs Dougal not for her
Lol no wonder I'm bald 🤣
 
Guinea lover 1982 said:
Provide fruit sparingly - no more than ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK. Click to learn more about providing vegetables and fruits. Provide a variety of vegetables. A variety is necessary in order to obtain the necessary nutrients, with one each day that contains Vitamin
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, this is a lot of misinformation out there on the internet. This thread may be helpful to you. It states:

"Fruit and tomato - sparingly no more than once a week
Fruit (including tomato) should not be fed more than once a week at the most!
Whatever fruit (including tomato) you feed, fruit should be on the menu no more than ideally once a week in a small quantity.
Please note that you can also feed strawberry greens and that organic banana skins contain the same amount of nutrients as the fruit and are often preferred by guinea pigs!
Please stay off any stone fruit and most exotic fruits; the latter can in some cases cause a really bad reaction.
Fruit fed too much or too often can lead to painful fungal or bacterial mouth and lip sores (cheilitis); advanced cases of this can be fatal."

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Hope this helps! It has lots of useful information on balanced diets and feeding guides 🙂
 
:agr: Our guides clearly state that fruit should be given no more than once a week ‘at most’. Twice a week is too much and we wouldn’t advise giving it that often.
They are much better off to get their varied nutrition from grass and vegetables, as fruit does not need to be in their diet at all.
You are of course free to feed yours fruit when you like, but our advice is only ever going to be no more than once a week only. Personally, my own piggies get fruit about once a year.
 
Last edited:
Piggies&buns said:
:agr: Our guides clearly state that fruit should be given no more than once a week ‘at most’. Twice a week is too much and we wouldn’t advise giving it that often.
They are much better off to get their varied nutrition from grass and vegetables, as fruit does not need to be in their diet at all.
You are of course free to feed yours fruit when you like, but our advice is only ever going to be no more than once a week only. Personally, my own piggies get fruit about once a year.
Click to expand...
 
Just an update around my fussy piggy that I posted about last week. She’s loving the coriander so thank you for the suggestion there. She’s even eaten pepper! I have now taken spinach and kale out of their diet completely due to the high calcium and I don’t think it’s being missed as they are happy to tuck in to what is given instead.
I’ve also scaled back their pellets after looking more in to it, I think I was giving more than recommended and I think they’re missing these the most. They wolf these down in no time when I give them their daily allowance.
As for the sweeter veg and fruit- lots of debate and opinions of what’s best for our little ones. I guess this is where we use our instincts as to what is best for our guinea pigs but a treat 1-2 weeks seems to be the norm 😀.
Good evening everyone
 
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