How do I encourage my guinea pigs to eat more hay?

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isabisaaa

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Hello! I got my guinea pigs from a pet store (I live way out on a reserve there are no rodent rescues here) and in the store they were given a large bowl of pellets to graze on through the day and very little hay. They're used to eating pellets 24/7 instead of hay, how do I encourage them to eat more? I see them eating hay a few times a day but they'll mostly just eat whatever pellets are left in their stacking cups.
 
Welcome to the forum

Quite simply, cut their pellets right down to the recommended no more one tablespoon per day and don’t let them have constant access to them.

We don’t recommend you use any food bowls at all. Just take the one tablespoon of pellets and scatter them into a loose pile of hay on their cage floor. Let your piggies forage for the pellets as this encourages their natural abilities.
Once the pellets are gone for the day, they will then be forced to eat hay as there is nothing else on offer.
Any pellets they don’t find will simply be thrown away with the next bedding and hay change.

Make sure you weigh your piggies every week as part of routine care as that is the only way to monitor hay intake

Wiebke

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Wiebke

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Welcome to the forum. All the advice given by the mods will be spot on and consistent.
 
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