What methods are there to introduce vegetables and fruit to a guinea pig's diet?

[Kokopelli]

As some of you may already know (I've been busy posting this evening -- ha ha!) I adopted a precious guinea pig today. And, while I'm not new to guinea pigs and have owned them in the past, I could use a little advice...

My little girl was dropped off to the shelter by a family who no longer wanted her (they upgraded to a bunny -- I guess the guinea pig got boring after all of, what was it, a month?! Grr!) and, based on her history and the fact that the animal shelter does not give fruits and veggies to their small animals due to financial constraints, I know that she has most likely never been given fresh foods. I know the types of fresh foods and quantities that are appropriate, but what I'd like help with is determining how best to go about introducing fruits and vegetables to her diet.

For the night, I set her up with pellets (Oxbow Cavy Cuisine), timothy hay (Oxbow), and fresh water. She is hiding and is obviously very frightened and so I'm trying to keep everything as simple and quiet as possible. However, I know that fresh foods are essential to a pig's diet. Therefore, I'm looking for information on how to introduce such foods, what the best "first responders" are, and at what quantity to begin. I want to ensure I don't rush things, but I also want to make sure that she is getting the best nutrition available.

I appreciate any suggestions or advice offered. And, I know my little pig will be grateful as well!

[hurleyslave]

Fruits should only be offered as a treat a couple times a week because of the sugar levels. Start off simply by introducing the piggie to lettuce (no iceburg; all other types of lettuce is fine: romaine, butterhead, red leaf, green leaf, endive, escarole, etc.), cilantro, and bell pepper. Bell peppers are the most important daily source of Vitamin C that a piggie can get in its diet. I usually leave it in their bowl for a day and then take it out the next morning if it hasn't been eaten. Then I cut up fresh pieces and put it in the bowl again. It might take days or even weeks for them to start eating veggies. You can give them some carrots to start off with (my piggie also doesn't eat veggies that much), but I would limit that too as it also has high levels of sugar.

It took me about 2-3 weeks after introducing lettuce to my Hurley and then cilantro before he would even touch the cilantro. Before, whenever I held up cilantro or parsley to his mouth, he would back away violently like I was the wicked stepmother and he was Snow White being offered poison, . But once he got the taste for it, he now loves cilantro. So it's really just all about patience and whatnot. Just put small amounts everyday into his bowl and sooner or later, it will work. But start off simply with the bell peppers, cilantro, and lettuce first. Those are the three things you can offer everyday. Zucchini too. Once they're eating all that, you can start introducing other veggies and possibly fruits by looking on the nutrition charts thread.

You can also do a search on the forum and look for different methods of introducing veggies. A lot of members have asked this question before (me included) and most of us got our answers from old posts.

[wigglesgiggles1]

I made the mistake of not introducing bell peppers first. Some pigs love thm and others don't like them. My two did not like them and I bet I could have fixed that by giving bell peppers first. Instead I first did was romaine, red leaf, carrots (eek), and parsley. That was befoore I found his site.



I would reccomend starting out with bell pepper and zucchinni. Then I would add in some romaione lettuce (usually a fav.) and add variety. As a daily staple, I use romaine lettuce with red leaf lettuce, 1/6of a green bell pepper per pig, and either cilantro or chicory greens. Then I add variety with veggies around the house.

If they give you trouble with pepper, try it in a 1/6 of a pepper chunk. If they don't go for it, try dicing it up. My guys started off eating it diced and now they eat it in a chunk.

[Ly&Pigs]

Lettuces as mentioned above, bell pepper and cilantro only until they eat those three things consistently which can take days to weeks sometimes months. Then start adding in other things on a rotating basis based on my charts. No carrots to start off with because they will end up eating those and not want the stuff they need.

I've given this same advice to probably hundreds of slaves and it works in almost every single case. I'm also the resident diet guru around here so if you have any specific questions, you can always post them and I will answer or send me a private message.

[Kokopelli]

It's been quite a while since I last posted as I have been dealing with my own personal health issues. But, I wanted to update this thread since so much has changed with my little girls (including the fact that I went from one guinea pig to two).

Libby and Rory have successfully started eating vegetables. And, I owe much of that to those here who offered advice and suggestions. I truly appreciate the information that was given -- and my girls are thankful as well!

For the first couple of days, I did not provide the girls with anything other than their pellets, hay, and fresh water. Libby was incredibly uncertain for the first night and only seemed to relax once Rory was brought home (though Rory was effectively in quarantine). And, so I decided to keep things incredibly simple so as not to add additional stress. But, after about 3 days, I started adding a very small portion of veggies to the girls' diets. I began with some cilantro and green bell pepper. And, finally, after another 3 days, Rory decided to test the water and try the cilantro. The next day, Libby did the same. But, they never took to the bell pepper. However, I wanted to open up their variety some and so I opted to add some romaine lettuce. Both girls immediately took to the lettuce and have now been eating romaine lettuce, red-leaf lettuce, and cilantro regularly for approximately 10 days.

The girls, however, still have not taken to the bell pepper. I provide a small portion of it each day, but they always push it aside in favor of the lettuce and cilantro. I have offered it to them in small julienne strips, in chunks, and diced. But, regardless of how it is cut, it is ignored. Those silly pigs! I figure I will continue to offer it as I feel it is an important component of their diet, but I have decided to begin adding some other veggies since the girls are doing so well with the romaine, red-leaf, and cilantro. I started adding some flat-leaf parsley and they seem to really enjoy it and I've even given them zucchini which they have been less than pleased with. I have chosen, at this point, to avoid giving them any carrots as I want to ensure they're going to continue eating their greens, but am considering trying some yellow bell pepper as well as some swiss chard. I am also going to steer away from red bell peppers for the moment due to the sugar content. But, despite that, I do want to increase the variety of vegetables they are eating as well as the quantity. However, for only being at this for less than 3 weeks, I am impressed by how well they are both acclimating.

Do you have any other suggestions on how to get the girls interested in bell peppers or zucchini? I will continue to work with them on a daily basis, but if there are tried and true methods out there, I would appreciate hearing about them. I know neither vegetable is a lost cause at this point, but if there is something else I could be doing that I'm not, it would be beneficial to know.

Otherwise, it has been a wonderful and amazing journey thus far. My girls are thriving and I am so grateful that they are a part of my life. I waited a long time for my girls, but, now that they are here, I am thankful that this forum exists so that I can continue to give them the best chance possible at living a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life. Thank you to everyone who has assisted me in the past and for those that continue to be of help as we move forward.

[Cogni]

Here's a tip that worked for me: First, I got the freshest, lightest green peppers I could. Then I gave them their allotment of green pepper strips first thing in the morning. They tried one or two from my hand but left the rest. But they did not get veggies again until evening when they got some lettuce. I left the peppers over night. They nibbled them but did not eat most of them. The next morning, they got some nice fresh green peppers, when they were nice and hungry for fresh veggies. This time they ate some. By the time I
came back with the lettuce in late afternoon, they had finished the green peppers.
The next morning they got fresh ones and they ate them. Now they eat them every morning. They know that is their breakfast. I either give them a half a green pepper between them (cut in strips), or I give them the minimum 1/8 pepper each plus some other veggie. The pepper always disappears by lunch time at the latest; most days they eat it all right away. If they finish it while I am still there they get some cucumber or other treat.

[MSRix]

I was probably luckier than average in this aspect. I got general guidance here as to which veggies to start with - and since then, the only challenge I had when introducing lettuce, cilantro and green bell pepper to my piggies is to get my fingers out of the way as they rush to the bowl. Training them to eat veggies was about as hard as training a fish to swim.

[Cogni]

Every now and then I try zucchini, but it just never 'takes'. They take a piece from my hand and then drop it and back away. It may as well be lumps of stone, as they just leave it and eat around it. I think they'd have to be pretty darn hungry to eat any, and I am not going to let them get that hungry, so zooks are just vegetable non grata.