Nutrition Are my pigs getting enough vitamin C without bell peppers?

Icarus_Hermes · Apr 9, 2016

I recently adopted a four-year-old boar that I named Anubis. His prior owners didn't provide the greatest care; he's somewhat skinny and veggie-wise was only fed carrots. So far, he won't eat bell peppers at all. Now my other pig Osiris, who was never big on bell peppers and mostly ate them as competitive eating with his prior buddy, has stopped eating bell peppers too. Sigh. I'm trying the tips in the teach-your-pig-to-eat-veggies sticky with no success so far.

Besides bell pepper, I feed green and red lettuce, carrot, tomato, and cucumber. I also recently added endive to their diet when Osiris gave up bell pepper to add variety. Everything else is getting eaten except Anubis is still a little fickle on tomatoes.

I've read the veggie chart, but it seems the other vitamin C rich veggies are too gassy or too high in calcium to feed regularly.

Are my pigs getting enough vitamin C from their current veggies and KMS pellets? Should I add a supplement to their diet?

bpatters · Apr 9, 2016

They're probably OK. But I'd keep an eye on them, especially on their coats. A couple of my senior pigs have had dry coats as they've aged, and supplementing vitamin C seemed to help.

Comely Guineas · Apr 10, 2016

My pigs vet has a vitamin c calculator on their website where you enter the veggies and shows how much c it gives a pig depending on their weight etc. Here is the link https://bbevs.com.au/guinea-pigs/ maybe that would be useful.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Icarus_Hermes · Apr 11, 2016

Ok, good, both of their coats are lovely right now. Would it be a bad idea to add other vitamin C veggies on a treat basis, like 1-2 a week? The SPCA I adopted Anubis from was feeding him dark green leafy veggies after his prior owners surrendered him and he loved them, but I didn't continue because of the calcium. Does the bad outweigh the good?

I'll weigh out their next few meals and see what the calculator says.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

PeanutnCookie · Apr 11, 2016

I know you can give them spinach, which had vitamin c, but not every day. If they are getting a good(ish) amount throughout the week and their coats aren't thinning or look like it's taking an negative effect on them I would say it's fine.

Icarus_Hermes · May 17, 2016

Resurrecting this thread because Osiris is starting to have white flakes in his coat. Is this because of lack of vitamin C? Something else like mites? He's not itching so he also doesn't endure petting too long; I always thought it was because of his weird abby hair pattern.

Rywen · May 18, 2016

I asked the vet about Penny's "dandruff" last week, he said that's a vitamin C thing and to give her liquid vit C since she won't eat any tablet or other form since Oxbow Daily C was discontinued. She does eat bell pepper every day but her skin has gotten flakier. She hates the taste of the liquid C, it's like wrestling a small gator to get it into her.

bpatters · May 18, 2016

She'll probably take the C if you sprinkle it on her veggies. Mine didn't like at first like that, but came around pretty soon. The only problem is, you're not sure exactly how much they're getting.

Rywen · May 18, 2016

@bpatters It's 1ml per pig per day so I'm not sure what veggie it would adhere well enough to without just running off into the cage bedding? I was wondering if theres any flavored liquid I could mix in with it? Maybe if I liquify cilantro, she will do anything for cilantro.

bpatters · May 18, 2016

What kind of vitamin C is it? Vita Drops makes good plain vitamin C, and it's only a few drops per pig. I always just sprinkle a few extra over the greens.

pigger123 · May 18, 2016

I've been struggling to find a vitamin C supplement ever since Daily C was discontinued. The Oxbow hay tabs have too much calcium for my pigs, and every human tablet I've found is too concentrated. I haven't tried the liquid though, I might do that. I've been giving them dried rosehips as treats which are supposed to have a lot of C.

Rywen · May 19, 2016

It's Child Life Vitamin C (50mg/ml). I bought it at the vet. I tasted it, it's orange flavor and sweet, bottle says 2g of sugars per 1/4 tsp.

bpatters · May 19, 2016

@Rywen, that's a lot of sugar for a pig.

Icarus_Hermes · May 19, 2016

I bought Vita Drops and sprinkled a bit over their evening salad. Anubis didn't mind it at all, but Osiris gave me a stink face. He ate it though. Fingers crossed it helps.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Icarus_Hermes · Jun 1, 2016

Providing an update-- Osiris is almost flake-free already! Thanks to everyone who posted, a few vita drops on their lettuce made a big difference.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

Nutrition Are my pigs getting enough vitamin C without bell peppers?

Icarus_Hermes

Well-known Member

bpatters

Moderator

Comely Guineas

Well-known Member

Icarus_Hermes

Well-known Member

PeanutnCookie

Well-known Member

Icarus_Hermes

Well-known Member

Rywen

Well-known Member

bpatters

Moderator

Rywen

Well-known Member

bpatters

Moderator

pigger123

Well-known Member

Rywen

Well-known Member

bpatters

Moderator

Icarus_Hermes

Well-known Member

Icarus_Hermes

Well-known Member

Similar threads

Share this Page

Newest members

Online statistics

Key Resources

Members online