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Diet Need help with picky guinea pig diet

faculae.angel

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I have two guinea pigs, one eats everything I give him and the other is extremely picky. I noticed that there were white spots on Thor (my picky pig) fleece in his cage (before I put them together.)

i ran my fingers over it and it didn?t feel gritty and I read that as long as it?s not gritty it?s fine but I?m worried that Thor isn?t eating right because he?s so picky.

when I first got him he ate zucchini but after he tasted cucumber he refused zucchini.

they get romaine lettuce every day in the morning and night. I try to get red lettuce in as well but it?s hard because the closest store to me that has red lettuce or green lettuce is a Walmart in a different town so I don?t get to get out there often. Neither of my pigs are picky with their lettuces though.

they get about two 1/4 cups of pellets because they do eat quite a bit of pellets. I have another bowl at the other side of their cage with just 1/4 cup of pellets in case they fight over the food but they usually share the one bowl that has two 1/4 cups. I don?t know what type of pellets they are, im assuming they?re Timothy based but I buy them from a pet store that buys in bulk (after they finish the rest of the pellets I won?t be doing that anymore.) I didn?t really have any other choice because again, the closest store with pellets not bought in bulk is at the store out of town but I?m not going to buy them in bags that don?t have labels and stuff anymore.

they have unlimited and fresh hay every day and fresh water but they don?t have any problems drinking or eating hay.

the real issue is the vegetables with Thor. He refuses to eat bell peppers. I have tried every kind: green, red, yellow, orange multiple times and he won?t touch them at all while on the other hand, Loki loves all of them. I want to try to give them to him again because now that Thor and Loki are together, I?ve noticed that Thor is eating things he didn?t eat before when he sees Loki eating it but Thor seemed to really hate bell peppers.

they both love tomatoes though. I usually switch between cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes and they love both.

I usually switch between carrots, celery, and cucumbers with them.

they also get Timothy hay, alfalfa hay, and they have a bowl of this trail mix type of stuff called Sun Salad and the company is called Sunseed (I?m curious if this is actually good for them because they do like it and I don?t want to take it away unless necessary). I also give them a bunch of baby spinach leaves every other day.

for herbs i switch between parsley, basil, and cilantro and they both like all of it. They don?t get herbs often though, I usually do once a week maybe twice.

For fruit they get things like kiwi, I don?t think either of them liked it, apple, they both liked, orange, Loki loved it but Thor wouldn?t touch it, seedless grapes which they both love, pears which they both love, cantaloupe which is both their favorite, and they just tried mango today and liked it.

i don?t really like giving them gassy foods but they both have had kale, broccoli, and asparagus only once though but I didn?t really want to have them get bloated so I decided not to give them anymore because Loki was the only one who really liked it.

ive done loads of research on what they should eat and I think Loki is fine but I?m worried about Thor, especially because he won?t eat the bell peppers. I was also wondering if maybe the pellets might be causing the white spots where he peed. (I only seen it once a while ago.) because I don?t really know the brand and I do give them more than most but I noticed that they don?t usually eat the last bit because they have flat big bowls. I figured having a smaller bowl would help because then it looks like it?s more to them and when they get towards the end there?s still a layer of pellets at the bottom and they can?t see the dish (I?m not sure if that makes sense but in short they?re really stubborn) but they just kept spilling the smaller bowls so it was pretty much getting wasted so I just went back to the bigger bowls.

any tips on a change of diet or maybe tips on how to get Thor to eat bell peppers?
 

bpatters

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Cavy Slave
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faculae.angel

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Adult pigs should only have 1/4 cup of pellets per day, max.

You've got an awful lot of calcium in that diet. Adult pigs don't need alfalfa hay. Romaine lettuce can cause excess urinary calcium in some pigs. Herbs are high in calcium. Bulk pellets from pet stores are usually very high in calcium. You'd do far better by your pigs to order pellets online.

See https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/105287-How-to-teach-a-guinea-pig-to-eat-vegetables.

well both of my pigs aren?t adults. Loki is only about 4 months and Thor is only about 5 months more or less. I did read that romaine lettuce can cause excess calcium so I am trying to switch to red or green lettuce but as I said Its hard since the closest store that has it is far away but every time I go out I do pick some up. I put it in a cup of water in my fridge and I?ve noticed that makes it last longer. I?m going to the store most likely Monday so I?m going to try to get a few things of red lettuce and try to make it last.

They dont get very many herbs herbs so I don?t think that?s the issue.

And yeah, I figured that the pellets bought in bulk weren?t very good. I?m definitely going to not get those anymore.
 

bpatters

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Sorry, I thought your pigs were older.

That's why we ask you to keep all your questions about a pig on one thread. It keeps us from having to wade back through other posts to try to find needed information.
 

faculae.angel

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Cavy Slave
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Sorry, I thought your pigs were older.

That's why we ask you to keep all your questions about a pig on one thread. It keeps us from having to wade back through other posts to try to find needed information.

oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t know that
 
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