Guinea pig won't eat pellets?

Lotteluvspigs

Lotteluvspigs

Junior Guinea Pig
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One of my guinea pig's is a very picky eater she won't eat kale, broccoli, collard greens, different types of lettuces and so I don't even know what to feed her anymore because she won't eat any of it and I end up feeding it to the other piggies, (her cage mate is a little less picky but still won't eat a lot of stuff). They both love peppers, carrots, fruits and lettuce. But nothing else really works and it just sits there all day.

These guys have been through many homes 3 I think, and I was informed by the rescue that they were fed those muesli pellets at their last home which could explain why pumpkin (the super picky eater) will barely eat the pellets(I use oxbow pellets).

Anyways I need recommendations on what to feed them so she can get the nutrients she needs but also nothing high in calcium cause pumpkin is on a diet (long story not cause she's overweight but for a health problem). And what to do to make her eat more of the pellets I appreciate any help thank you!
 
Lots of hay is the main food intake.
Pellets do not need to be fed at all so not eating then doesn’t matter, but it does mean she needs a good variety elsewhere in her diet. I would personally never encourage them to eat more. Mine only get a few pellets three times a week and if I could get enough variety in fresh forage and enough grass year round to add to their veg portion then I wouldn’t feed pellets at all!

Safe daily veggies are lettuce, cucumber, bell pepper and cilantro.
How long have you been trying other veggies?
Do you have access to fresh grass?

Kale is too high in calcium to be fed often, broccoli and collard greens are also a once a week food. So the fact she won’t eat them doesn’t matter either.
Carrot and fruit also should not be in the diet as anything other than a very occasional treat.

What is your other piggy’s health issue - I’m assuming as she requires a low calcium diet then it’s bladder related?
If so, then you would not want to encourage lots of pellets to be available anyway, nor would you want to be feeding kale or other high calcium veggies.
 
Okay thank you! And I've been trying other foods for around 2-3 months but I guess the foods she won't eat she shouldn't haha! Also I try to feed fresh grass as much as possible it's just hard cause I always forget to trim some before mowing the lawn.

One of the problems is neither of them will touch cucumber at all, when I have it I try to cut some up thinking their gonna warm up to it but it's been a couple months. They LOVE cilantro and peppers though so that's good!
 
Comet was never fussed on cucumber til I started buying baby cucumber. It went down a treat, and then he started eating ordinary cucumber too. I dunno if you have access to something like baby cucumber but it might be worth trying.
 
Lorcan said:
Comet was never fussed on cucumber til I started buying baby cucumber. It went down a treat, and then he started eating ordinary cucumber too. I dunno if you have access to something like baby cucumber but it might be worth trying.
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I do yes and I've tried it before, I used to only get baby cucumbers cause that's all they had so I've tried both sadly none of them will do. I find it weird though because my other pigs will eat absolutely anything lol.
 
If it helps, Comet was the fussiest little beggar. He'd eat his hay like it was going out of fashion and would frequently abandon his fresh food for hay. At one point he was eating so little fresh stuff in desperation I tried him on thyme, thinking he'd ignore it. Turns out the thyme was the tipping point, he loved it and was back to eating a decent diet fairly swiftly. His cagemate Blitzen would eat almost anything, though, so it was just the one and not both.

Perseverance is all you've got, honestly.
 
Well thank you!
Lorcan said:
If it helps, Comet was the fussiest little beggar. He'd eat his hay like it was going out of fashion and would frequently abandon his fresh food for hay. At one point he was eating so little fresh stuff in desperation I tried him on thyme, thinking he'd ignore it. Turns out the thyme was the tipping point, he loved it and was back to eating a decent diet fairly swiftly. His cagemate Blitzen would eat almost anything, though, so it was just the one and not both.

Perseverance is all you've got, honestly.
Click to expand...
Well thank you!
 
I got lucky with the thyme with Comet. And they were both funny about eating spring greens til I ate them in front of them, although whether that was an "oh this food's safe" or a "hey stop eating our food" thing I was never sure. He'd see Blitzen eating the foods every day and still avoided them for some time. He did love his hay, at least.
 
Oh maybe I should try eating cucumber Infront of them! They are foster pigs so I'm trying to do whatever I can to make them suitable for a forever home.
 
Pellets will take time to get used to if changed. My Finn didn't get used to his new Senior Pellets from Oxbow until later on.
 
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