Piggie only eating lettuce

Cambridge Piggles

Cambridge Piggles

Junior Guinea Pig
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I’ve offered cucumber, red pepper, coriander, celery and carrot and all Mabel will eat is lettuce! Will she get enough vitamin c this way? I’m worried. Tibs eats everything I offer her !

Just to clarify she eats hay fine x
 
Wilbur&Rupert said:
I didn’t know the hay has vitamin c! And I’m a dietitian 😂
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Hay is fairly low in vitamin C but fresh growing grass is high and is the reason why guine pigs were able to switch off their vitamin C producing gene complex - they got enough in their main food, grass.

Could you try and see whether she eats grass? Start with 'lacing' her lettuce leaves with just a few fresh grass blades so she eats them with her lettuce and gradually gets used to the taste. Also give the gut microbiome time to build up the bacteria that can process it; too much too soon on an unprepared gut can cause real problems and can sadly even cause occasionally a fatal bloat. Make sure that the grass is not sprayed and free of dog/fox pee; fresh dog pee can kill. Once she eats it you can up the quantity with every passing day. Best fresh food around!
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
 
Wiebke said:
Hay is fairly low in vitamin C but fresh growing grass is high and is the reason why guine pigs were able to switch off their vitamin C producing gene complex - they got enough in their main food, grass.

Could you try and see whether she eats grass? Start with 'lacing' her lettuce leaves with just a few fresh grass blades so she eats them with her lettuce and gradually gets used to the taste. Also give the gut microbiome time to build up the bacteria that can process it; too much too soon on an unprepared gut can cause real problems and can sadly even cause occasionally a fatal bloat. Make sure that the grass is not sprayed and free of dog/fox pee; fresh dog pee can kill. Once she eats it you can up the quantity with every passing day. Best fresh food around!
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
Click to expand...
I'd be shocked if any guinea pig turned down fresh grass. When I first started feeding it to my two, they gobbled it without hesitation and they gobble a mountain of it every day now.

@Wilbur&Rupert - You may also tempt Mabel with fresh Dandelion leaves... another of my girls' addictions.... :roll: They can't have those all the time though because they're high in calcium. It took a while for my two to like coriander leaves and celery but at 6-7 months of age, they still won't touch bell peppers (I think the smell puts them off) and it's frustrating because they like sweet things and I know they'd love them if they'd just try them. :xd:
 
Minnou said:
I'd be shocked if any guinea pig turned down fresh grass. When I first started feeding it to my two, they gobbled it without hesitation and they gobble a mountain of it every day now.

@Wilbur&Rupert - You may also tempt Mabel with fresh Dandelion leaves... another of my girls' addictions.... :roll: They can't have those all the time though because they're high in calcium. It took a while for my two to like coriander leaves and celery but at 6-7 months of age, they still won't touch bell peppers (I think the smell puts them off) and it's frustrating because they like sweet things and I know they'd love them if they'd just try them. :xd:
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It’s rather frustrating as I just want them to be happy and healthy! I shall try some fresh grass this morning 🥰

Ps. Your piggie is GORGEOUS
 
Guinea pigs learn from their elders what is safe to eat and what not - by watching them eat, by smelling their mouths and by snatching food from their mouths. It is always so much harder for adult piggies on a no or very limited veg diet to start eating veg - or even learn to eat hay... They also learn to drink from a bottle or a bowl from their elders. Without that guidance, it is a lot harder.
You may find this article series about the development from birth to death interesting as it may help you to understand better what you are up against: Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs


Be patient and persist. My Dylan spent the first two years of his life in a hamster cage being only fed lettuce and carrots; he wasn't able to walk a yard without his back end breaking down. It took months for him to get fully onto a normal diet and to eat peppers (thanks to his young companions - due to social deficits he initially didn't work out with adults) and to learn to walk and run - but he did get there and lived another happy four years to the age of 6 years... He was a lovely natured and loving gent, nd is much missed. His two widows are still with me. :)
 
Wiebke said:
Guinea pigs learn from their elders what is safe to eat and what not - by watching them eat, by smelling their mouths and by snatching food from their mouths. It is always so much harder for adult piggies on a no or very limited veg diet to start eating veg - or even learn to eat hay... They also learn to drink from a bottle or a bowl from their elders. Without that guidance, it is a lot harder.
You may find this article series about the development from birth to death interesting as it may help you to understand better what you are up against: Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs


Be patient and persist. My Dylan spent the first two years of his life in a hamster cage being only fed lettuce and carrots; he wasn't able to walk a yard without his back end breaking down. It took months for him to get fully onto a normal diet and to eat peppers (thanks to his young companions - due to social deficits he initially didn't work out with adults) and to learn to walk and run - but he did get there and lived another happy four years to the age of 6 years... He was a lovely natured and loving gent, nd is much missed. His two widows are still with me. :)
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Poor Mr Dylan! A hamster cage?!
 
My two boys Bill and Ted ate a very limited diet compared to my four piggies which I have at the moment. I put it all down to what their mother was being fed - carrots, cabbage, lettuce. (They were bred on a farm) It took quite a while for them to enjoy corn, parsley, basil and cucumber and they would still run for the hills if you presented them with coriander and peppers. They always loved grass though and spent a good deal of time out in their run, weather permitting

try not to worry, as long as they are eating lots of hay then they’ll be fine
 
Wilbur&Rupert said:
I didn’t know the hay has vitamin c! And I’m a dietitian 😂
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Hehe, I doubt that you have ever recommended hay as part of a diet plan!
Have you tried the baby peppers?
My boys have been presented with fresh grass only in the last 2 weeks, they fell upon it with gusto!
 
fluffysal said:
Hehe, I doubt that you have ever recommended hay as part of a diet plan!
Have you tried the baby peppers?
My boys have been presented with fresh grass only in the last 2 weeks, they fell upon it with gusto!
Click to expand...
I tried the bell pepper and the longer sweeter ones and no joy 🥲
 
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