Won't Eat Veggies

Mikknu

Mikknu

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
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Location
Nebraska, US
Hey everyone.

My two new pigs, Koda and Kenai, will NOT eat vegetables. I know they have been- they had vegetables the very day I picked them up. I was told they like green bell peppers, cilantro, parsley, and orange particularly. I've tried all of those, daily cilantro and peppers, as well as a variety of baby spring greens and red bell pepper. Plus cucumber. They've been here 5 days now.

No dice. I'm getting a bit worried about their vitamin C levels.

They're eating a ton of hay, and drinking a ton of water. Their poos all look normal, and so does their pee(fresh and dried). They eat all the pellets I scatter, and their pellets contain 400mg/kg of Vitamin C. I scattered, and put just a little bit of pellets in two tiny bowls on opposite sides of the cage, to double check that they're both getting some.

I've tried a plate, scatter fed, a bowl, in their hides, in their hay box, by their hay bag, chopped, whole, purified water washed, and in a cardboard bowl. Not even a sniff.

Should I get a liquid vitamin C to shake their pellets in? Or double up pellets until they start eating vegetables? I know it will take some time, but I don't want them to get sick. Especially not while I'm in quarantine.

The ONLY thing I've seen them eating is a dandelion and rosehip Meadowlands loop. But they wont est this either if it has any orange juice or pepper juice on it.

All advice is appreciated!
 
It is very early days for your boys and they are getting all the Vit C they need from pellets right now.
Try not to worry.
Just keep offering small amounts of fresh daily and remove the uneaten parts after a few hours.
Maybe offer fresh a night so they feel safer coming out to eat it?
They will eventually start eating fresh veg again, but it isn't something to worry about after only 5 days.
 
Alright. The boys are now approaching puberty, at the end of this month I think. I sort of have a rough idea of their birthdays, but they should be about 13 weeks right now. Give or take a week I suppose.

That being said, they still staunchly refuse any other vegetables I offer them. They will ONLY eat cilantro, parsley, and their pellets(plus Hay). I offer them vegetables on the daily, ranging from baby lettuce leaves, bell peppers, cilantro, parsley, cucumber, and I've even tried carrots, broccoli stems, green beans, eggplant, and orange just to see if they'll eat ANYTHING. No dice. I KNOW, for fact, that they were eating bell peppers, lettuce, and other leafy veggies at their old home. They hadn't been introduced to cucumber at that point, I know that too. I'm just so unsure as to why they won't accept vegetables from my home.

I've tried cutting them into strips, dicing them, chopping them, spearing them on apple sticks, threading them between their hay rack, washing them in purified water, handling them with gloves, presenting them on a plate, in a bowl, scattering them, and I always try to feed them right before bed time. I've also tried to get on their level, do the "wash" with them, and eat the vegetables in front of them to try and show them that they're good. Nothing seems to work. They've been with me nearly 7 weeks now, and I'm beginning to worry they aren't getting the nutrients they need. They appear healthy, and their heft is doing fine, but I don't want to wake up one day and discover one or both of them has scurvy. During a global pandemic feels a particularly bad time for it...

I can't tell if it's personal choice or what, because they will eat the dandelion and rosehip treats I offer them when doing trims and grooming, as well as pea flakes and various little herbs from a forage mix that I've got. If anyone has ANY suggestions, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you in advance!
 
They will learn from each other, you only need one of them to be interested and that might be enough to get them both to eat them.
Do you offer them grass? Grass is the best thing for them to be eating so plenty of that counts as a veg - although do add in grass very slowly so as to not cause tummy upsets.
The coriander contains vit c, so does grass and hay, plus supplemented from their pellets so don’t worry too much about that. Just keep trying really!
 
Piggies&buns said:
They will learn from each other, you only need one of them to be interested and that might be enough to get them both to eat them.
Do you offer them grass? Grass is the best thing for them to be eating so plenty of that counts as a veg - although do add in grass very slowly so as to not cause tummy upsets.
The coriander contains vit c, so does grass and hay, plus supplemented from their pellets so don’t worry too much about that. Just keep trying really!
Click to expand...
I got them to eat cilantro by getting Kenai to eat it, but he won't take to anything else offered, individually or otherwise. Koda likes to explore new things, but he rarely designs them tasty enough to eat.

If they're getting all their vitamin C regularly that's the important thing. Does anyone else have experience with such picky piggies? Everyone here seems to have pigs that would never turn down a vegetable, and my boys will even turn down different types of woods and grasses that aren't to their likings. I've taken to keeping a list so that I know what toys and chews to get them, and what not.

I have tried cat grass/wheat grass that I've grown over the quarantine period. They wont wat that either however. I'd like wild grass, but I live in an area with farmland on in every direction around me. Crop dusting makes me extremely worried about there being pesticides on the grass, and wild cats make me nervous too. There are also people who will walk their dogs on the trails near my home.
 
I’d be careful when buying chews and toys. Cardboard boxes or wooden houses should be enough for them. Have you looked at the enrichment thread?

As for picky piggies, the girls were. It took a long time before they started eating celery. One of them refuses to eat pea flakes (note I don’t give them often - maybe one each once a month if I remember). Have you tried gem lettuce or romaine or salad mixes.
 
Siikibam said:
I’d be careful when buying chews and toys. Cardboard boxes or wooden houses should be enough for them. Have you looked at the enrichment thread?

As for picky piggies, the girls were. It took a long time before they started eating celery. One of them refuses to eat pea flakes (note I don’t give them often - maybe one each once a month if I remember). Have you tried gem lettuce or romaine or salad mixes.
Click to expand...
Sigh... they won't even chew cardboard either, but dont worry about the chews. The chews come from small pet select and are all natural grasses and hays. They'll run through and pee on cardboard, but no such luck for munching on it. I've looked at the enrichment thread a lot, and tried nearly everything inside of it.

I have tried baby spring mix, straight romaine lettuce, and the specialty 'artisan mix" lettuces.
 
I’m at a loss then really. Hopefully over time they’ll widen their diet.
 
Hi
I had the same problem with my piggy, wouldn't eat anything but pellets and hay. I found that chopping up the veg into teeny tiny bits and mixing it with his pellets while leaving a larger chunk of the veg next to the bowl worked. He got some of the veg with his pellets and realized it was actually yummy and ate the larger chunk too. This took a few days and A LOT of veg but eventually it worked.
I hope this helps you!
 
Mikknu said:
Alright. The boys are now approaching puberty, at the end of this month I think. I sort of have a rough idea of their birthdays, but they should be about 13 weeks right now. Give or take a week I suppose.

That being said, they still staunchly refuse any other vegetables I offer them. They will ONLY eat cilantro, parsley, and their pellets(plus Hay). I offer them vegetables on the daily, ranging from baby lettuce leaves, bell peppers, cilantro, parsley, cucumber, and I've even tried carrots, broccoli stems, green beans, eggplant, and orange just to see if they'll eat ANYTHING. No dice. I KNOW, for fact, that they were eating bell peppers, lettuce, and other leafy veggies at their old home. They hadn't been introduced to cucumber at that point, I know that too. I'm just so unsure as to why they won't accept vegetables from my home.

I've tried cutting them into strips, dicing them, chopping them, spearing them on apple sticks, threading them between their hay rack, washing them in purified water, handling them with gloves, presenting them on a plate, in a bowl, scattering them, and I always try to feed them right before bed time. I've also tried to get on their level, do the "wash" with them, and eat the vegetables in front of them to try and show them that they're good. Nothing seems to work. They've been with me nearly 7 weeks now, and I'm beginning to worry they aren't getting the nutrients they need. They appear healthy, and their heft is doing fine, but I don't want to wake up one day and discover one or both of them has scurvy. During a global pandemic feels a particularly bad time for it...

I can't tell if it's personal choice or what, because they will eat the dandelion and rosehip treats I offer them when doing trims and grooming, as well as pea flakes and various little herbs from a forage mix that I've got. If anyone has ANY suggestions, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Just a tip, beans are on the poison list
 
I was going to say, green beans are in the sample feeding guide.

@Siikibam Thanks for trying to help! I really appreciate it. We get so frustrated out of worry when our fur kids just won't do what's healthy for them no matter what we try... but I really appreciate all the advice you gave me.

@MWpiggies Thank you for this suggestion! I'll be sure to try this, and see if I can get them to eat it.
 
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