Hay Why are my piggies not eating their hay??

geo13 · Mar 23, 2012

i have two adult boars(male guinea pigs) and i noticed they are not taking to their hay anymore? they eat oxbow essentials for adults and have a mixture of fruits and veggies once a day. they also get 1 tablet of vitamin c a day. i have switched back and forth from timothy to orchard grass from kaytee and oxbow and they wouldnt eat as muc h then i tried sundried sweet hay and they took to that. but i just bought a new food dispenser (the fillup kind) and i dont know they have 2 hayracks and usually they would be done with it by 2 days? now it just sits there and takes forever to finish? they eat fine are healthy popcorning responsive they squeek and play in there cage(57inch by 27inch +a second level whichi is28by 28) any suggestions?

i dont get it?

ThisLittlePig · Mar 23, 2012

Are they getting too much veggies or pellets? The recommended amount is 1 cup of veggies per piggy per day and 1/8 cup pellets per piggy. If they are not eating too much veggies or pellets, and seem otherwise healthy, I wouldn't worry. The important thing is to provide unlimited hay and let them decide how much they want.

MissJean · Mar 23, 2012

A few questions:

-Why are you feeding them a vitamin C tablet if they're eating veggies alright? An entire tablet also sounds a bit extreme, unless it's a small animal specific supplement.
- What kind of fruit are you feedings them? Fruits are a once a week treat usually.
- Are you weighing them at least once a week? Weight is a good indicator of health problems.

Also second what @ThisLittlePig said.

Paula · Mar 23, 2012

They might not like it as much. My pigs like some types/bales more than others. if their weights are steady I wouldn't fret.

geo13 · Mar 23, 2012

MissJean said:
A few questions:

-Why are you feeding them a vitamin C tablet if they're eating veggies alright? An entire tablet also sounds a bit extreme, unless it's a small animal specific supplement.
- What kind of fruit are you feedings them? Fruits are a once a week treat usually.
- Are you weighing them at least once a week? Weight is a good indicator of health problems.

Also second what @ThisLittlePig said.

they take vtiamin c tablets made for guinea pigs i believe by oxbow. they only have fruit 2 times a week . i usually give them a mixture of bell peppers herbd (cilantro parsley) cucumber(seldomly) baby carrots (seldomly) celery thinly sliced tomatoes (1 time a week)collards, romaine lettuce,fruits they get oranges grapes strawberry blueberries as a treat (once in a while) raisins. they get clean freash filtered water. i dont give them any storebought treats or anything. and i dont know how much pellet they eat the have the food dispenser i mean i have to shake it a bit to release the other food but yea. no i dont wiegh them where can i get a wieght specifically for them and what kind it is?

ThisLittlePig · Mar 23, 2012

You mention your pellet dispenser is new? Did you also recently switch hay? If they now have access to unlimited pellets they might be eating too much pellets. Your veggies sound good (maybe not raisins, but you're feeding those pretty rarely?). I would try put 1 cup of pellets in the pellet feeder and seeing how quickly they eat them. If it's all gone in a day or tweo then you'll know they're eating too much and you'll need to change something.
If you just changed your hay brand they may just not like it as much. I'd wouldn't worry then.

MissJean · Mar 23, 2012

@geo13 You can use a good kitchen scale. I use this one

broken link removed)

Petlovr · Mar 23, 2012

You can use a good kitchen scale. I use this one broken link removed)

Hey! That's my scale, too! No worries someone is going to take off running when they are in the bowl, LOL. First piece of Cuisinart I buy, and it's for the pigs....(shakes head)

It is a lovely scale, and I really like it. You can, however, find a cheaper one at WalMart or Kmart that does the same thing.

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Hay Why are my piggies not eating their hay??

geo13

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MissJean

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Paula

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geo13

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Petlovr

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