Won't Eat Veggies Not wanting veggies

[ZiggyMama]

Hi all,
Although I am new here I know next to timothy hay they need veggies as a big part of their diet. Ziggy is a picky piggy. He was not fed properly before and was given a lot of fruits. I find he likes romaine lettuce the most and carrots. I tried grape tomatoes (he didn't really eat them), green bell pepper (he ate 1/4 of a slice). I gave him cucumber last night which he didn't touch at all. I am trying variety for him but he is not having it! What should I do??

 

[blubrd12]

Keep putting the veggies out for him. My first two pigs did not want to eat anything but carrots for a good two weeks. I kept on putting out a full dish of a variety of things and finally after two weeks they started to pick. In the beginning I threw away a ton of uneaten veggies but it was worth it because now they will eat ANYTHING I put in there. Keep on trying and good luck!

 

[ZiggyMama]

Great!! I am so thankful for that reassurance. I will keep on offering them to him.

 

[Fluffball]

Another tip for getting picky piglets to eat their veggies is:

Sprinking the veggies with fresh orange juice (simply squeeze the juice from a fresh slice of of orange) - do not use artificial juice etc.
This will make the veggies smell and have a slight taste of fruit making them seem more appetising.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Another tip for getting picky piglets to eat their veggies is:

Sprinking the veggies with fresh orange juice (simply squeeze the juice from a fresh slice of of orange) - do not use artificial juice etc.
This will make the veggies smell and have a slight taste of fruit making them seem more appetising.

Oranges are very acidic so please don't use much of the juice if you try this method. You don't want your pig to end up with mouth sores.

 

[exhalecalming]

Oranges are very acidic so please don't use much of the juice if you try this method. You don't want your pig to end up with mouth sores.

I give my guinea pigs one orange everyday. Are you sure that it's bad for them? I'm not saying you're wrong, but my guinea pigs haven't had any symptoms of mouth sores whatsoever.

By the way Ziggy, keep on trying like blubrd said. When I first got my guinea pig Peaches (picture above) she didn't eat anything but lettuce. Now she eats anything I offer her!

 

[guineapigluver1]

I give my guinea pigs one orange everyday. Are you sure that it's bad for them? I'm not saying you're wrong, but my guinea pigs haven't had any symptoms of mouth sores whatsoever.

By the way Ziggy, keep on trying like blubrd said. When I first got my guinea pig Peaches (picture above) she didn't eat anything but lettuce. Now she eats anything I offer her!

You shouldn't feed any citrusy fruits (i.e lemons, oranges etc.).

 

[plopper]

You shouldn't feed any citrusy fruits (i.e lemons, oranges etc.).

I have always thought that a small piece of orange or mandarin is perfectly fine as an occasional treat but not a staple part of the diet

 

[Haley0489]

You can feed oranges, not lemons [I mean you could, but what pig is going to eat a lemon?] It's just that they're way too high in sugar and have little nutritional value to feed on a daily basis.

I would add cilantro/corriander to your piggies diet. If he'll start eating that you'll have a pretty good "base" diet going for him. Lettuce, bell pepper, cilantro, those are the real must haves.

 

[exhalecalming]

You can feed oranges, not lemons [I mean you could, but what pig is going to eat a lemon?] It's just that they're way too high in sugar and have little nutritional value to feed on a daily basis.

I would add cilantro/corriander to your piggies diet. If he'll start eating that you'll have a pretty good "base" diet going for him. Lettuce, bell pepper, cilantro, those are the real must haves.

Yep, I have all of them. I actually feed them those three everyday, along with some carrots and cucumbers.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

See the title under my name? I am the diet guru on the forum for guinea pigs. I've studied guinea pig nutrition now for 3+ years so I am pretty sure I know what I'm talking about.

Oranges don't always cause mouth sores but it can. Fruits are too high in sugars and shouldn't be fed more than twice per week. Oranges also aren't really great for C intake as everyone thinks they are. Better choices for C are kale, broccoli and kiwi.

I have always thought that a small piece of orange or mandarin is perfectly fine as an occasional treat but not a staple part of the diet

You are absolutely correct. Fruits are for more of a once or twice a week treat because of the higher sugar contents.

 

[akstrohm]

Another thing you can change is how you present the veggies. For example, cut the grape tomatoes in half so they can tell what is on the inside and get their mouths around them more easily.

You can also try feeding the veggies they don't like as much at opposite times of the day from pellets and veggies they do like. For example, feed romaine and pellets in the morning and pepper and other veggies at night.

 

[Slave to the Wheek]

I have one pig who looovees tomatoes and two who don't even know what to do with them. All of my boys took some time to learn that the veggies are good to eat. The first things that they would eat were greens such as cilantro, dandelion greens, italian parsley etc.

I think in the wild they learn what is safe from their piggie herd members, so are naturally reluctant to eat veggies at first-- but who knows. Just kept offering them up as everyone here suggests and eventually they came up with a 'gallery' of veggies that they like.

Like Ly said, easy on any fruit at all for pigs. Diabetes is a real concern for them among other things. Of course there is a sticky link here in the forums that gives lot of ideas for safe cavy veggies.

My pigs won't touch anything with orange juice on them. They don't like orange at all. I've had 4 boars and none of them eat oranges. They don't like any fruit except one boy like strawberries and one likes blueberries. They will eat a tiny piece of apple but that's about it.

The piggy menu in our house includes a combination of some of these on any given day:

• Romaine
• Spring mix from Costco
• Baby Carrots (only 2 a day at most because of sugar)
• Red bell peppers, they hate the green ones.
• Tomato for Lancelot
• Parsely
• Cilantro
• Dandelion greens
• and the ALL important Cucumbers. Those are everyone's favorites right now.

You'll also find that they might like one veggie until they get sick of it, so you have to rotate what they get sometimes. We have that here with carrots and bell peppers, but those cucumbers always disappear no matter what.

 

[Wheek Weak]

It can be a little overwhelming and confusing, at first, when trying to feed a guinea pig the proper diet.

Print off this chart to use on daily basis: https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...cavys-diet-read-me-nutrition-charts-info.html

It's very easy to use because it's color-coded. I was so frustrated with trying to feed our pigs right until I found this chart (thanks Ly!).

Always, always, always keep offering veggies that they won't eat. It took our Ruby a year-and-a-half to start eating green pepper. Rufus and TeeJay...two years to start eating tomato, etc.

Our pigs will also have cycles where they will eat something all the time...not touch it for a while...then, start eating it again. You just have to be patient and go with your piggy's quirks, but at the same time gently coax them.

 

[ZiggyMama]

He has expanded his diet a little more now. He is eating the cucumbers and red and green peppers now. He took one bite of cilantro and spit it out! I can't stand it myself. After reading all of your posts though, I guess I should try more cilantro again.

Janna