Won't Eat Veggies My new guinea pig loves all his veggies except peppers...

StarTaleMaddnes · Jul 19, 2014

So some of you know about Walters dental issues, and he is eating like a champ now that his teeth are taken care off except for the fact he can't stand his bell peppers. I have tried yellow and green, and I've tried dicing them up in his food, cutting them into itty bitty slivers, cutting them into chunks. And no- he hates them. I'm concerned because one they are supposed to be his main source of vitamin C and he's turning his nose up at the KMS pellets and the pellets he came with are just utter colorful crap that I've stopped feeding those to him because he just eats them and leaves the KMS. He eats green leaf lettuce, several sprigs of cilantro, and match stick sized carrots (at night). He didn't like the cherry tomatoes, or peppers, or cucumber. The peppers are all I care about though. I looked at the food chart and was thinking I could just replace his lettuce with swiss chard with his green leaf lettuce until I can get him to eat the peppers, but the other problem is once I move him in with my girls (he's neutered) in two weeks it'll be harder to keep an eye on who eats what. I could feed him separately at night no problem, but in the morning, on days I have work especially it would be difficult since he's such a slow methodical eater. Also I know that it says swiss chard can be fed daily on the chart, but it's pretty high in vitamin A and I know that any vitamin in excess can be deadly. Any ideas either for new tricks with peppers or another way to supplement vit.C?

Also here's a picture because he's so wonderful I can't not show him off!

ZipBonBoo · Jul 19, 2014

Have you tried feeding him a vitamin C tablet? There's some sold for pigs but I think I've read that you can use a human vitamin C supplement.
Also, once he joins the girls he may learn to eat pepper and/or KMS pellets.

bpatters · Jul 19, 2014

Mince the pepper finely and sprinkle it on his pellets. Give him that at a time when he's hungry, and don't give him any other food (other than hay) for a while. He'll eventually learn to like the taste.

Aertyn · Jul 19, 2014

Just keep trying, though I've found that with pigs that are unfamiliar with some veggies once you move them into a herd who are familiar with and eat a wide variety of veggies they will start trying things as well. In the meantime, if you're concerned about Vit C intake, you can always crush up a Vit C tablet and sprinkle it over his lettuce.

PiggieWigglies · Jul 19, 2014

bpatters said:
Mince the pepper finely and sprinkle it on his pellets. Give him that at a time when he's hungry, and don't give him any other food (other than hay) for a while. He'll eventually learn to like the taste.

Ive tried this and it works really well. Introducing bell peppers this way has made it my pigs favorite veggie.

StarTaleMaddnes · Jul 19, 2014

@bpatters: I've tried that- mincing them up finer than I would garlic to cook with- and fed him that with the 1/2 KMS/ 1/2 whatever brand he came with pellets before I fed him him morning veggies. He just ate a few of the crappy pellets and waited refused to touch his pellets for the rest of the day. And now that I've taken him off his crap brand he's hardly touching his pellets anyway, but I was noticing white patches all around his cage so I think it's best he stays off the old pellets. And if I can't get him to eat the peppers before I move him in with the girls I know they'll just eat them anyway. Should I just keep trying with the mincing anyway?
@ZipBonBoo 1.) love your name...
2.) no I haven't heard of the vit C tablets. Do you know if I could find any of the guinea pig specific ones at petsmart or petco?

Does anyone know for sure if I can give them human Vit.C tablets, and how much do I give?

labgirl5 · Jul 19, 2014

StarTaleMaddnes said:
@bpatters: I've tried that- mincing them up finer than I would garlic to cook with- and fed him that with the 1/2 KMS/ 1/2 whatever brand he came with pellets before I fed him him morning veggies. He just ate a few of the crappy pellets and waited refused to touch his pellets for the rest of the day. And now that I've taken him off his crap brand he's hardly touching his pellets anyway, but I was noticing white patches all around his cage so I think it's best he stays off the old pellets. And if I can't get him to eat the peppers before I move him in with the girls I know they'll just eat them anyway. Should I just keep trying with the mincing anyway?
@ZipBonBoo 1.) love your name...
2.) no I haven't heard of the vit C tablets. Do you know if I could find any of the guinea pig specific ones at petsmart or petco?

Does anyone know for sure if I can give them human Vit.C tablets, and how much do I give?

They sell them at PetSmart: (broken link removed) . Don't get the liquid drops to put in the water (it distills the taste), and I believe it's recommended that you should split the tablet in half so your guinea pig doesn't choke. According to Oxbow, you should feed one tablet per day.

StarTaleMaddnes · Jul 19, 2014

Kelsie said:
I use the Oxbow Daily C vitamin tablets. I found them a few times at my local Petsmart but then unfortunately they stopped carrying them. I order mine from Amazon.com. Sadly, Oxbow is going to be discontinuing them in September. They have a different Vitamin C tablet but my pigs don't like them at all. I've brought some extra Daily C so at least I have enough for a little while.

I know some members do use human Vitamin C but since I don't I couldn't advise how much to give.

Thank you so much, I'll order some from amazon now since I have no idea if my petsmart will carry them, hopefully once he's in with the girls he'll learn how to eat peppers like a big boy, but for now I'll dice them up itty bitty on his food as well as the tablets. Do you just sprinkle it on his lettuce or feed them the tablet. Should I break it up into a morning and evening dose?

bpatters · Jul 19, 2014

I use the Oxbow Daily C, but they're getting hard to find because Oxbow is discontinuing them. Most places are just selling out of whatever stock they have and not even trying to reorder. My pigs come running to the side of the cage when they hear me shaking the bottle, and I just hand them each a tablet.

You can use a human plain vitamin C tablet -- children's tablets generally have a little flavoring in them, and the pigs seem to like them better than the unflavored ones.

Regarding the peppers, I'd continue to put them on the pellets. It may take a week or so for him to get used to them. And I'd throw the pellets with the colored bits away -- they're not very good anyway.

ZipBonBoo · Jul 19, 2014

StarTaleMaddnes said:
@bpatters: I've tried that- mincing them up finer than I would garlic to cook with- and fed him that with the 1/2 KMS/ 1/2 whatever brand he came with pellets before I fed him him morning veggies. He just ate a few of the crappy pellets and waited refused to touch his pellets for the rest of the day. And now that I've taken him off his crap brand he's hardly touching his pellets anyway, but I was noticing white patches all around his cage so I think it's best he stays off the old pellets. And if I can't get him to eat the peppers before I move him in with the girls I know they'll just eat them anyway. Should I just keep trying with the mincing anyway?
@ZipBonBoo 1.) love your name...
2.) no I haven't heard of the vit C tablets. Do you know if I could find any of the guinea pig specific ones at petsmart or petco?

Does anyone know for sure if I can give them human Vit.C tablets, and how much do I give?

Thanks! It's the name of my first three pigs: Zipper, Bonsai, and Bamboo.

I feed my pigs 1 whole Oxbow Daily C tablet at a time. They love them.

pigger123 · Jul 19, 2014

My piggies love Oxbow Daily C. I call them their "candy," and Pumpkin always comes running for hers. I never had a problem with giving her the full tablet.

daisy1cow · Jul 19, 2014

Good luck. We use the liquid Vit C for guinea pigs. We do not put in water bottle but at evening cuddle time, we give a bit via syringe and a dash of water, they love it and jerk on the syringe wanting more!!
ALso LOVE LOVE LOVE the fleece! I have it too

StarTaleMaddnes · Jul 20, 2014

bpatters said:
I use the Oxbow Daily C, but they're getting hard to find because Oxbow is discontinuing them. Most places are just selling out of whatever stock they have and not even trying to reorder. My pigs come running to the side of the cage when they hear me shaking the bottle, and I just hand them each a tablet.

You can use a human plain vitamin C tablet -- children's tablets generally have a little flavoring in them, and the pigs seem to like them better than the unflavored ones.

Regarding the peppers, I'd continue to put them on the pellets. It may take a week or so for him to get used to them. And I'd throw the pellets with the colored bits away -- they're not very good anyway.

Oh they are so awful... I stopped feeding them on Monday I think. I'll start back up on the peppers tomorrow, and I've ordered some of the tablets for him

StarTaleMaddnes · Jul 20, 2014

ZipBonBoo said:
Thanks! It's the name of my first three pigs: Zipper, Bonsai, and Bamboo.

I feed my pigs 1 whole Oxbow Daily C tablet at a time. They love them.

So cute! two of the three cats I had growing up were named Zipper and Bonsai... so now I love your name even more.

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