Picky eater?

[Jolene]

Peanut's about 3 years old now, and he seems to be in good shape. But lately he hasn't been eating his carrots. He will nibble on them from time to time, but he won't devour them like he used to. I'm suspecting teeth problems, but I'd like to get other people's opinions first.
Thanks in advance.

[Fay]

Does peanut get loads of hay and other vegetables as well? Sometimes guinea pigs can get really bored of a certain food if they eat it daily. For example I would get bell pepper and they love it. But then the next day they don't want it anymore. So now I feed it every other day.

The answer to this is to make sure peanut gets a wide variety of vegetables to keep him interested in the food and make sure he eats a lot of good quality hay. Putting a wooden house in the cage will help wearing his teeth down as well.

I would also advice to weigh him daily to see if he's losing weight. If you notice him starting to eat less and less then see a vet immidiatly, you may have to hand feed him then.

[Jenah]

I agree with Fay. Watch for symptoms of teeth problems but also change things up. Pilot did that with carrots at one time. So I didn't give her any carrots for over a week. And then I started to give her and Emma one carrot at night - as our girls only treat after my son was in bed - and they are both so excited to get them again.

I've noticed it can be hard to really keep things "fresh" to them all of the time since some piggies will like more veggies than others, but I do try. I mix up the lettuces I give them in the mornings vs. evenings [and switch up days etc] as well as the "chunkier" veggies. . and so far it seems to be working.

Good luck!

[Jolene]

Thanks for replying. I usually feed him Endive, Romaine lettuce, and carrots. This will sound shocking, but I can't find bell peppers anywhere. I've been trying to spice up his diet a bit, but my selections are limited; I live in a very small town.

He really loves the endive though, so maybe that will distract him while I take the carrots away for a bit. thanks for the advice.