Won’t eat hay?

[eednasnaus]

My one month old piggies won’t eat their hay. I’m giving them Alfalfa hay because I read that it’s what you feed them when they’re young. All they eat are their pellets (also alfalfa based) and their favorite green lettuce. Not much with other kinds of veggies as well. I’m afraid that maybe they’re eating too much pellets it might be wrong for them?

 

[Bill & Ted]

I’d cut down on pellets. Perhaps have a look for some other hay, try meadow hay and see if that will get them interested. hay has to play a large part of their diet, their teeth grow all the time and they need hay to keep them balanced and worn down. It’s also needed for digestion.

Have a look at the feeding guides too at the top of the page, this will give you some ideas as to what they need diet wise. Good luck, they can be picky eaters, and it depends what their mother was given, they learn from her what’s good to eat, she may have had a very limited menu food wise. It will take a bit of encouragement x

 

[eednasnaus]

I’d cut down on pellets. Perhaps have a look for some other hay, try meadow hay and see if that will get them interested. hay has to play a large part of their diet, their teeth grow all the time and they need hay to keep them balanced and worn down. It’s also needed for digestion.

Have a look at the feeding guides too at the top of the page, this will give you some ideas as to what they need diet wise. Good luck, they can be picky eaters, and it depends what their mother was given, they learn from her what’s good to eat, she may have had a very limited menu food wise. It will take a bit of encouragement x

Thank you so much! But we do not have any meadow hay here and it's pretty hard to look for one too. Even our timothy hay is limited. However, they love grass. Would that be okay? I mean not as an alternative but as an addition to their hay.

 

[cavylover2002]

HI.
Guinea pigs can usually eat grass at any age and it's great for them to eat it in fact, I encourage it.
Btw I am sure they will start eating the hay once you've cut down on pellets for a bit.

 

[eednasnaus]

HI.
Guinea pigs can usually eat grass at any age and it's great for them to eat it in fact, I encourage it.
Btw I am sure they will start eating the hay once you've cut down on pellets for a bit.

Thank you! I will feed them more grass. I think they're used to banana leaves because of the previous owner since hay is pretty expensive here.

 

[cavylover2002]

Thank you! I will feed them more grass. I think they're used to banana leaves because of the previous owner since hay is pretty expensive here.

The previous owner maybe didn't give them hay as much and that's why your piggies may not like hay possibly, little do they know that it is benifical to their health xx. I'm not sure or maybe they are just picky little ones lol

 

[Seven7]

My Finn and Lara eat Oxbow hay all day long. They are given three meals of veggies a day of with some herbs and fruits and Oxbow pellets.
I make sure I never run out of Oxbow hay so I stock them up whenever possible.


17kg of Oxbow hay after stocking them up, 2.55kg per bag. I used to get Kaytee hay but mine prefer Oxbow hay so I changed to Oxbow hay. I get them shipped to my house and I also buy when they go on sale.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Thank you so much! But we do not have any meadow hay here and it's pretty hard to look for one too. Even our timothy hay is limited. However, they love grass. Would that be okay? I mean not as an alternative but as an addition to their hay.

Yes, grass is good for them, build it up a little at a time, because it can make them a bit bloated at first if you give large amounts x

 

[Bill & Ted]

Keep offering hay though as they may get used to eating it x

 

[eednasnaus]

The previous owner maybe didn't give them hay as much and that's why your piggies may not like hay possibly, little do they know that it is benifical to their health xx. I'm not sure or maybe they are just picky little ones lol

They are pretty picky. I sure hope they start eating their hay more. Although they have hay 24/7 in their haysack, I’m scared that if I don’t feed them other food like the pellets or veggies, they might starve. Is that possible?

 

[eednasnaus]

My Finn and Lara eat Oxbow hay all day long. They are given three meals of veggies a day of with some herbs and fruits and Oxbow pellets.
I make sure I never run out of Oxbow hay so I stock them up whenever possible.


17kg of Oxbow hay after stocking them up, 2.55kg per bag. I used to get Kaytee hay but mine prefer Oxbow hay so I changed to Oxbow hay. I get them shipped to my house and I also buy when they go on sale.
View attachment 107364
View attachment 107365

I hope we have those here. However, sometimes the shipping costs way more than the actual thing here if I order them outside our country. We have very limited sources of hay.

Other people seem to never feed their guinea pigs with hay here but only grass or banana leaves.

 

[eednasnaus]

Yes, grass is good for them, build it up a little at a time, because it can make them a bit bloated at first if you give large amounts x

Yes I just feed them once in a while and little by little.

Keep offering hay though as they may get used to eating it x

I hope they start eating it! It’s always available in their haysack though they rarely get from it.

Some people in our country rarely feed hay but just grass most of the time and their guinea pigs seem to be fine. Is that okay?


Thank you everyone for all your help! I really appreciate it.

 

[Seven7]

I hope we have those here. However, sometimes the shipping costs way more than the actual thing here if I order them outside our country. We have very limited sources of hay.

Other people seem to never feed their guinea pigs with hay here but only grass or banana leaves.

My Oxbow hay is grown in the USA, which I trust for my Finn and Lara. Not sure about other countries but Oxbow hay is highly recommended for guinea pigs where I live.
I also buy my piggies' veggies from Costco and I trust their high quality and freshness, especially the Organic veggies. My Finn and Lara get a lot of veggies as source of vitamins.

Organic Spring Mix veggies from Costco, and I get this all the time for my Finn and Lara. This has over 8-10 different kinds of veggies.

 

[eednasnaus]

My Oxbow hay is grown in the USA, which I trust for my Finn and Lara. Not sure about other countries but Oxbow hay is highly recommended for guinea pigs where I live.
I also buy my piggies' veggies from Costco and I trust their high quality and freshness, especially the Organic veggies. My Finn and Lara get a lot of veggies as source of vitamins.

Organic Spring Mix veggies from Costco, and I get this all the time for my Finn and Lara. This has over 8-10 different kinds of veggies.
View attachment 107402

We do not have those hay here from where I am. I just buy whatever hay is available. However, my guinea pigs are not eating theirs.