worried about peter

[pinkita]

I'm worried about my abyssinian peter, I'm not sure if ive posted this in the right area, sorry if i havnt. he is eating hay and fresh when given but we havnt seen him eating his nuggets for a few days. he is healthy as far as i can see, teeth not overgrown , no runny nose ears are fine and eyes are bright. is there a chance he is just being stubborn? his companion tony is eating fine its just peter. he is still curious about everything and lively. i know he likes the nuggets because there has been no problems before now. any advice, and what can i do if he is being stubborn?

thanks in advance
michelle

 

[Shellza]

I don't really have any suggestions, but if its any consolation, one of mine doesn't eat her nuggets either. I don't know if this is something to worry about or not, but she just doesn't seem interested in them. How old is Peter? Is he still young?
Sorry I can't really help you, I hope you get some answers soon.

 

[Laura-CCC4]

Hi Michelle,

Given he is eating everything else normally, I wouldn't worry. Piggies can get bored of nuggets pretty easily. What brand of nuggets are you feeding? Do you usually keep the bowl topped up or just give them a certain amount a day?

You can always try another brand, see if he is just bored of the taste of his current one. Mine are not on pellets daily but when they are given them (2x weekly) I tend to give them a combination of pellets i.e. more than one brand, sometimes I will give two at once, sometimes just one at a time.

 

[pinkita]

Hi Michelle,

Given he is eating everything else normally, I wouldn't worry. Piggies can get bored of nuggets pretty easily. What brand of nuggets are you feeding? Do you usually keep the bowl topped up or just give them a certain amount a day?

You can always try another brand, see if he is just bored of the taste of his current one. Mine are not on pellets daily but when they are given them (2x weekly) I tend to give them a combination of pellets i.e. more than one brand, sometimes I will give two at once, sometimes just one at a time.

hi,

he is roughly 6 months old and tony his companion is 6 weeks older. they are given a amount every day to eat of nuggets, unlimited hay and some fresh food. he is holding a weight of 600g ish. we are using burgess excel nuggets which they both seemed to like more than the p@h nuggets we were using before.
saying that this afternoon i had an idea and covered up part of the roof of the cage with tea towels which we did when we first got peter to encourage him a bit more to come out, and since then he has been out playing more and been seen at the nugget bowl once so maybe he feels safer with the roof covered?

thanks for the advice it's appreciated

 

[missy]

I agree that piggies can definitely get bored of nuggets and it can be a good idea to try different types. If you're using the regular Excel nuggets then you could try mixing in some of the blackcurrant & oregano ones, just for a bit of variety.

A favourite combination here seems to be the Excel Blackcurrant & Oregano mixed with Wagg Optimum nuggets.

It can take a while for some pigs to feel brave enough to venture out from the safety of their "hiding place" whenever they fancy. I assume that Peter has some kind of house which he prefers to relax in. Perhaps you could try placing the nugget bowl right next to his house and then gradually move it further and further away, over the course of a few weeks, to try and encourage him to venture out to his bowl?

It sounds like a good idea to partially cover the cage top until he's feeling more used to being out in the 'open'. If they only have one hidey, then perhaps you could put some more in there (if there's space) to encourage him to move around the cage more. Some people even drape fleece from the sides/top of the cage, making a curtain to hide behind or snuggle next to/under. Tunnels are good too. My 6 month old rescue pig is still quite nervous so when he's in the indoor run, I put a chube type tunnel right up to his hidey house, so it joins onto the doorway and effectively extends his 'comfort zone'.

Good luck