Won't Eat Fresh Food

[GuineaPiggles]

I got two guinea pigs about two weeks ago. I was told they were about 8 weeks old from the pet store. I have been giving them fresh fruit and vegetables everyday and have tried a variety of things. One of the guinea pigs will nibble at a few things, but has yet to eat anything completely. The other one could care less about anything I have put in the cage. I keep reading about how everybody's piggies love fresh food and I was wondering if anybody has any suggestions for getting mine to be the same way. I have tried cucumbers, peppers, carrots, a variety of berries, and a few other things. They do eat their hay and pellets.

[SydsMom]

I was coming to post something similar, our Emily will eat pellets, hay and apples... she will nibble on an orange, leafy lettuce and green pepper but wont eat much of them. But she LOVES her apples!

[.Meep.]

You should stick with the staple foods that you want to feed every day. Lettuce (romaine, red or green leaf, etc.), cilantro, and green or yellow peppers. Give them that every day and their pellets I believe should be available to them all day at that age. Don't give them anything else until they are eating those three things. Once they are eating that then you can try other veggies and fruits. But remember fruits (and carrots) are a treat and shouldn't be given every day.

Hope that helps. That is how I got Reese to eat his peppers and now he heads for those first. I was pretty lucky though it only took a week for Reese to give in and start eating both green and yellow peppers.

[Onetwo]

Apples can easily give mouth sores. Oranges can hurt them too. All fruit should be given less 1-2 times a week and about a piny sized amount. You need to give them lettuce (not iceberg) and green peppers until they eat those good and consistantly. Then you can slowly give them other veggies in ADDITION to those. Think of it this way: would you continue giving a child candy if thats all they would eat? No you would try to get them to eat the healthy stuff by eliminating all junk food and only allowing healthy foods. Yes they may "starve" for a day or two or longer depending on how stubborn they are. But as long as they are drinking, eating a good healthy pellet and appropriate hay they will be fine.