Won't Eat Veggies My piggies only like green leaf lettuce - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**fridzalone** · #1 10-18-09, 05:33 pm

It's been a month since i have my new piggies. And i've tried carrot, cherry tomato, cilantro, lettuce head (baby), parsley, zucchini, snap, and strawberry. Everyday I gave them green leaf lettuce because it looks like they only like green leaf lettuce, and for the other..well, they easily get bored of them.
I already tried to give them 2 kinds of veggies for first week, and add another kind of veggies on another next week, but it seems they won't touch them.

For their first day with me, i gave them green leaf lettuce, carrot, cherry tomato and parsley (i didn't know if i have to give only 2 kinds of veggies first). And they ate green leaf lettuce and the carrot like crazy, ate small pieces of parsley and didn't touch any of the tomatoes.

After I read the way to train them eat veggies, I only gave them green leaf lettuce (everyday) and cilantro or parsley. They ate them all. So the next day, I tried cilantro and carrot. They ate the carrot and eat some cilantro.

And several days later, I tried green leaf lettuce, carrot and zucchini. They ate green leaf lettuce and left the carrot. And for zucchini, it seems they didn't mind to eat it, but not really like them.

And yesterday I tried green leaf lettuce, baby lettuce head, collard greens and strawberry. And they left the collard greens and strawberry. So I left the strawberries in their cage (just in case they decided to eat the strawberries). And didn't give them any pellets that night (of course with hay inside their cage). And in the morning, they cried asking for food and the strawberries still there!

So I just don't know what should I do to make them eat another veggies except green leaf lettuce everyday. I'm really concern about their vit C supply, and I don't know if green leaf lettuce will give them enough vit C.

Btw, the only daily leafy veggies that I can find here are only green leaf lettuce and cilantro (not always available). Lettuce head is available but it's very pricey, so I decided not to buy that, while baby lettuce head is also available in small bag (which make it less expensive) so I'll buy it sometimes.

The other leafy veggies that I can find here are parsley, spinach, pak choi, collard greens, mustard greens, and chinese water spinach.

So I really need them to eat strawberry, cherry tomato, zucchini, and peppers (that's the only everyday foods that available in here).

Is there anything that I can do?

**Ly&Pigs** · #2 10-18-09, 09:46 pm

I think you may be trying too many things too fast.

Give bell pepper, lettuces and cilantro every day for several days. Make sure they eat it all everyday. When they are doing that sufficiently, add in only one new veggie along with the other stuff and wait until they are eating that before trying more stuff.

Leave the carrot out completely for now as it's not nutritious and contains very little C. They really aren't all that beneficial and are more of a treat veggie. It's more important to get them to eat other veggies first.

Strawberries, contrary to my charts, are not an every day food. They like all fruits should be fed no more than twice a week.

Don't take out the pellets. They need them to fall back on in case they won't the veggies.

Lettuce alone is not really sufficient to ensure C content. You could get them a C supplement (either tablets or liquid C you can dose by syringe).

**Dichotomy83** · #3 10-18-09, 10:34 pm

Im not trying to derail the thread...but if my two boars are eating greens twice daily (and are expanding their palates) is it still necessary to give them a vitamin c supplement?

**Ly&Pigs** · #4 10-18-09, 10:40 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dichotomy83

Im not trying to derail the thread...but if my two boars are eating greens twice daily (and are expanding their palates) is it still necessary to give them a vitamin c supplement?

Are they eating a variety of veggies to include bell peppers?

**Dichotomy83** · #5 10-18-09, 10:43 pm

They get some kind of leafy green veggie 2x a day and I usually combine it with whatever I find at the store. This week we are trying asparagus. They also like green pepper (sometimes, theyre warming up to it still), tomatoes, carrots, radish. They werent crazy about zucchini.

**Ly&Pigs** · #6 10-18-09, 10:44 pm

Until they are eating 1/8 of a bell pepper daily each, I'd keep them on a small dose of C. No more than about 25mg per pig.

**fridzalone** · #7 10-19-09, 06:35 pm

Is it fine to give green leaf lettuce or romaine lettuce on daily basis?
Of course I will add another green leaf to their menu everyday, but for the main veggies would be green leaf lettuce or romaine lettuce. Those are the easiest veggies that I can find here. While the other are pretty difficult and expensive.

**Ly&Pigs** · #8 10-19-09, 06:50 pm

You could have referred to the Nutrition charts for the answer.

Yes they can have both lettuces daily. But feeding just lettuce and another leafy green daily is not enough. They need a lot more. Variety is the key to a good diet. They need bell pepper to ensure C content. They need other veggies to get all the vitamins and minerals they need.

**fridzalone** · #9 10-19-09, 07:27 pm

Of course I'll provide another veggies too

Btw, can I give them brassica chinensis ( I don't know what you called it in english). And how frequent it can be fed to my piggies?

**Ly&Pigs** · #10 10-19-09, 09:10 pm

It's Pak choi and it's on the charts. Please look at the charts, it's a sticky thread at the top of this forum section.

**fridzalone** · #11 10-20-09, 03:49 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

It's Pak choi and it's on the charts. Please look at the charts, it's a sticky thread at the top of this forum section.

It's not pak choi. Pak choi is smaller and have green leaf, this one have white-yellowish leaf.

Maybe this links will help :
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2...wiputihjh8.jpg
http://www.juraganmedis.com/wp-conte...ge-150x150.jpg

**Ly&Pigs** · #12 10-20-09, 04:21 pm

The USDA site says it is pak choi but it could be bok choy too. They are both very similar.
PLANTS Profile for Brassica chinensis (pak choi) | USDA PLANTS

You can feed it, just follow the guidelines for pak choi on my charts.

**fridzalone** · #13 10-20-09, 04:33 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

The USDA site says it is pak choi but it could be bok choy too. They are both very similar.
PLANTS Profile for Brassica chinensis (pak choi) | USDA PLANTS

You can feed it, just follow the guidelines for pak choi on my charts.

Ok, thanks a lot^^