Vegetables Introducing New Veggies

[thistlewriter]

So I got my boys Ziggy and Mercury over the weekend. I got them from a rescue where they were being fed fresh vegetables and was given an incomplete list of what they're used to eating. The rescue was feeding them romaine lettuce, but I'd like to start adding red leaf lettuce as their second green and eventually switch over to red leaf lettuce at some point.

How would I gradually start adding in new veggies? They're used to eating them, so it's not like they dislike them (except for cherry tomatoes, apparently ). A lot of info I've found deals with introducing veggies to pigs who've never eaten them before, not pigs who eat veggies but not particular ones. Any suggestions?

 

[bpatters]

This should work for any new veggie: https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/105287-How-to-teach-a-guinea-pig-to-eat-vegetables

 

[thistlewriter]

This should work for any new veggie: https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/105287-How-to-teach-a-guinea-pig-to-eat-vegetables

Thanks, but I was more like "how much should I start off with and how often should I give it to them."

 

[spy9doc]

Just wanted to share a lesson I've learned over the past nine years. Previously I fed my cavies a generous salad twice a day. The result of that was I had cavies who consumed FAR too little hay and pellets and relied mainly on their veggie meals. We were virtual slaves to them because we were reluctant to go away and depend on a friend to stop by twice a day to take care of them. So, that amounted to our never being able to go away at the same time......one of us needed to be here to care for our cavies.

When we got our current boys, they were very young and knew nothing of veggies save an occasional carrot treat. So, we were determined to give them only one veggie meal per day and decided that it should be dinner to enable them to sleep without being starved. We feed the boys around 5:30 or 6pm.....a very generous salad so that they are full. They have access to both hay and pellets 24/7 and rarely beg for food.

That being said, they sometimes beg for a snack around 3pm and we usually oblige them. A snack to them is a treat that is not normally included in their salad such as radicchio, dandelion greens, corn husks, or the like. They really don't like fruit save the occasional apple of which they will only consume a few bites....which is fine with me. In the summer we sometimes offer other things that are in season that they like.

I've said all this in response to your question of "how much should I start off with and how often should I give it to them". And, just to add, my boys' regular dinner is the same day in and day out, and they are just as excited to see it every time. Don't drive yourself crazy with trying to create a veritable menu of different options. If you choose to do that, it's more to please you than your cavies. There really is no "one size fits all" answer. This is something you just have to experiment with to see what pleases you AND your cavies.

 

[AnnikasMommy]

We were virtual slaves to them because we were reluctant to go away and depend on a friend to stop by twice a day to take care of them. So, that amounted to our never being able to go away at the same time......one of us needed to be here to care for our cavies.

When I read this I totally seen myself! When we take a trip and someone else is in charge their salads are premade in baggies and marked lol

OK back on topic here, finding what your babies like can be tricky but then again not really. I would omit the Romaine lettuce and go with a another choice from the veggie list. I just bought different veggies and let them try different things during floor time. Watch to see what they gravitate toward and mix it up for them. It may take a bit of time because you don't know what their previous homelife was like. Just love and patience. Welcome to the cavy family!

 

[thistlewriter]

When I read this I totally seen myself! When we take a trip and someone else is in charge their salads are premade in baggies and marked lol

OK back on topic here, finding what your babies like can be tricky but then again not really. I would omit the Romaine lettuce and go with a another choice from the veggie list. I just bought different veggies and let them try different things during floor time. Watch to see what they gravitate toward and mix it up for them. It may take a bit of time because you don't know what their previous homelife was like. Just love and patience. Welcome to the cavy family!

I have plans to switch from romaine to red leaf or green leaf lettuce. I mentioned it at the beginning of the thread.

Also, they came from a guinea pig rescue, where the guy running it gave them romaine on a daily basis. I know most of the major veggies that he gave them (tomato, carrot, cucumber, green pepper, and romaine), but the minor ones he hasn't been very clear on.

 

[thistlewriter]

I give mine green leaf, green bell pepper, and yellow pepper daily. Anything on top of that is a treat whenever I have other veggies or fruit in the fridge. I wouldn’t worry about variety everyday, as they are just excited to be fed in the first place.

Oh, they're definitely excited just to get food

 

[LittleSqueakers]

I give mine green leaf, green bell pepper, and yellow pepper daily. Anything on top of that is a treat whenever I have other veggies or fruit in the fridge. I wouldn’t worry about variety everyday, as they are just excited to be fed in the first place.

It's better to have a moderate variety of 5-10 vegetables and a few fruits that you feed on a regular basis. Variety IS important to a healthy diet for a guinea pig. Vegetables aren't just treats or just for vitamin C. They get a lot of different vitamins and minerals from eating different veggies that help to balance out their overall nutrition. If you or I ate the same few foods all the time (even if they were healthy foods), our diet wouldn't be very balanced. It's the same for pigs.