Cold Turkey on Pellets?

[Wheekie]

My piggies are so picky about their veggies and their pellets. I've read these posts and I'm working on it.Would it hurt them if to get them to eat their veggies, I didn't give them any pellets for 1 or 2 days, so they had no choice but to eat their veggies(and hay, of course)? I only ask this cause if pellets are in there, they won't touch their veggies and I also read here that pellets are the least important part of a piggies diet(otherwise, I would have never even thought of it!)? Does doing things'cold turkey' upset their tummies? I know when you switch pellets,you need to do it gradually so they can adjust.Thanks!

[bunnys n pigs]

hmmm.... i dont know but ill ask some of my friends and reply to you in a little bit. Tricky question!

[TX_2_Pigs]

Maybe you could just not give them their veggies and pellets at the same time. Give them veggies in the morning and at night right before you go to bed and the pellets some time during the day, like when you get home from work/school. That way they may be more inclined to finish off their veggies and they still get their pellets.

When I switched my pellets from Kaytee to Oxbow, I had almost a whole bag of Kaytee and I just trashed it and gave them the Oxbow. I didn't give them a choice. I don't think they even noticed the difference.

[Wheekie]

Originally Posted by TX_2_Pigs

Maybe you could just not give them their veggies and pellets at the same time. Give them veggies in the morning and at night right before you go to bed and the pellets some time during the day, like when you get home from work/school. That way they may be more inclined to finish off their veggies and they still get their pellets.

When I switched my pellets from Kaytee to Oxbow, I had almost a whole bag of Kaytee and I just trashed it and gave them the Oxbow. I didn't give them a choice. I don't think they even noticed the difference.

Thanks! Great idea! I didn't even think of that!Duh! My brain takes naps sometimes, I think!

[Wheekie]

Originally Posted by bunnys n pigs

hmmm.... i dont know but ill ask some of my friends and reply to you in a little bit. Tricky question!

Looking forward to hearing your answer!

[Ly&Pigs]

It's not a tricky question at all. Just do what TX mentioned. Give pellets at different times than veggies and they should eat both. Pellets are the least part of any pigs diet. So if you don't tempt them with pellets while they are having their veggies, they should eat their veggies.

What brand of pellets do you feed?

And there are a lot of very knowledgable people here on the forum and you really don't need to wait for someone to go ask their friends the answer that may or may not even be right. Please just put your faith in those here who know what were talking about.

[Wheekie]

Success! Thanks TX and Ly and the Pigs! They ate some carrot,green bell pepper and were fighting over the last piece of cucumber! They both had an end in their mouth and wouldn't let go, but it finally ripped in half so they both got some! They ran to opposite corners of the cage to safely eat their treasure!

[TX_2_Pigs]

Yay! Good for you and your piggies!

[Guinea_Piggin]

Originally Posted by TX_2_Pigs

When I switched my pellets from Kaytee to Oxbow, I had almost a whole bag of Kaytee and I just trashed it and gave them the Oxbow. I didn't give them a choice. I don't think they even noticed the difference.

Wow, you got lucky there! I tried switching my AJ from Kaytee to Oxbow, and he stopped eating all together once the Kaytee was gone.

[TX_2_Pigs]

Originally Posted by Guinea_Piggin

he stopped eating all together once the Kaytee was gone.

So did you go back to the Kaytee? I hope not. If not, he went back to eating pretty quickly I am sure. I have never seen an animal (other than human) refuse food that was in front of them for too long. An animal's survival instinct is too strong to refuse any food unless they are ill. Human beings are the only ones I have seen that will starve themselves to death even when an abundance of food is available.

In my house, you eat what is available or you go hungry. Of course I try not to make things I know are not liked. Lately my kids have gotten in the habit of eating just what they can get away with and 15 minutes later asking for desert. One of them even asks, "How much do I have to eat?" ummmm, all of it! LOL.

Anyway, I threw the bag of Kaytee out so if they didn't eat the Oxbow, they wouldn't get pellets. That didn't turn into an issue though.

[Guinea_Piggin]

Originally Posted by TX_2_Pigs

So did you go back to the Kaytee? I hope not.

Nope, didn't go back to the Kaytee. In fact, even if I wanted to I couldn't, that was when they were redoing all the bag designs, so I couldn't find it anywhere.

Originally Posted by TX_2_Pigs

An animal's survival instinct is too strong to refuse any food unless they are ill.

Everything else was normal while he refused to eat his pellets: he ate his hay and his veg and was drinking, pooping and peeing normally. Then 2 days later, he started wheeking when he peed...so I brought him to the vet and found he had a UTI, poor guy. I talked to the vet about him refusing to eat, she said it was most likely a combination of him not feeling well and his old age (he was a week away from turning 5), but mostly it was because he wasn't feeling well. The day after we got him medicated, he started eating his pellets and peeing w/o wheeking. Unfortunately we lost him 3 weeks later, he was 5 years and 11 days old.