My baby guinea pig won’t eat any veggies!

[Angelwingpie]

I am very worried as my month and a half old guinea is not eating any veggies, I’ve done lots of research and I see that guinea pigs need a lot of vegetables in their diet... I am wondering if I should bring her to the vet but I don’t want to pay $100 just for them to tell me that she’s just picky. I did Manage to feed her carrots and broccoli but she didn’t really eat any of the broccoli and she just nibbles on the carrot.. I can’t continuously feed her these things because they are not good for them in a constant diet and I really need her to eat lettuce or something they can eat regularly, any ideas on how to get her to eat properly?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum
It can take them a while to learn what they do and don’t like. All you can do is keep trying.
They don’t need lots of veggies though - just one cup of veg per day as veg is merely a snack.. Hay is always the most important part of the diet And as long as she is eating lots of hay, then learning to eat veg will come in time.

Does your piggy have a companion? Guinea pigs learn from each other about what is safe to eat. If your piggy is alone then she won’t have anybody to learn with or learn from. If she does have a companion, then it may just take time for her to work out what veggies she likes than from watching another piggy


New Owners' Most Helpful How-To Guides and Information
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading

 

[Angelwingpie]

Thank you! And yeah kinda, I have 2 adult females but I’ve just gotten them recently but I don’t put them in the same cage because I worry that if I put her in there they will fight with her, I am definitely going to in time but right now I don’t have a big enough cage for all 3 together so I have her in her own cage.. thinking about connecting them but I am moving in a few weeks.

 

[Angelwingpie]

Welcome to the forum
It can take them a while to learn what they do and don’t like. All you can do is keep trying.
They don’t need lots of veggies though - just one cup of veg per day as veg is merely a snack.. Hay is always the most important part of the diet And as long as she is eating lots of hay, then learning to eat veg will come in time.

Does your piggy have a companion? Guinea pigs learn from each other about what is safe to eat. If your piggy is alone then she won’t have anybody to learn with or learn from. If she does have a companion, then it may just take time for her to work out what veggies she likes than from watching another piggy


New Owners' Most Helpful How-To Guides and Information
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading

Thanks for those links too! Very helpful

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you! And yeah kinda, I have 2 adult females but I’ve just gotten them recently but I don’t put them in the same cage because I worry that if I put her in there they will fight with her, I am definitely going to in time but right now I don’t have a big enough cage for all 3 together so I have her in her own cage.. thinking about connecting them but I am moving in a few weeks.

Please do bond them together straight away and connect the two cages if acceptance has occurred after a few hours in a bonding pen. Piggies under four months of age are desperate for company, need to belong and should not be alone at all.

They won’t fight with her. Being younger, she should be accepted into their group as she is no threat to the older dominant piggy’s position. However, any bonding on spec has the risk of failure but it is important to try for the baby piggy’s high social needs. She is in her school weeks and needs the guidance of other piggies during this time.

Bonding needs to be done on neutral territory and following the correct procedure. Please don’t put the baby directly into the cage of the older piggies.

The guide below explains further the correct way to carry out a bonding.
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs