Won't Eat Veggies My 2 piggies don't eat veggies

[Molly75]

I have 2 piggies, both girls. One is about 8 months old and she only eats carrots. In the beginning we let her eat a lot of them every day, but then our exotic vet said she should only have a piece the size of her foot per day because of their high sugar content...they can make piggies too fat. So now she just has a little bit every day (I think she gave the vet a dirty look when she said that). Our other little one is about 4 months old and wont eat veggies as well, not even carrots. She'll actually have a tiny piece, but then she's done. I peel the carrots w/ a veggie peeler and feed those and the pigs LOVE them this way. Anyway, neither one will eat veggies. I've tried spinach and kale, apple and orange. Maybe I should just keep trying, sort of like with kids They eat tons of Timothy hay, they have it 24/7, and they eat their pellets. We give them vitamin c via syringe straight into their mouths daily, given to us by our exotic vet, which they consider a HUGE treat. They drink plenty of water and seem healthy. Is it bad that they don't like veggies? Our last piggie (many years ago) LOVED veggies. It was a nightly ritual to sit him on our laps and feed him a plate of fresh fruits and veggies. My in-laws have had 4 pigs in the past and ALL of them liked their veggies. So I'm surprised that I now have 2 piggies who wont eat them. They do taste it, then turn up their nose at it and run away from it. Thanks for any insight!

 

[Silverbeat]

Two kinds of greens and two kinds of fruits is a very limited sampling.. Try giving them Endive lettuce, red leaf lettuce, silverbeet [aka swiss chard], arugula, dandelion greens, wheat grass... Check out Ly's nutrition charts here to see how often to feed what veggies:
Keep trying until you have exhausted all of your options! Try chopping up your veggies, the smells released may entice your pigs to sample them.

here is a link to Ly's charts-- a must-read.
https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...g-nutrition-charts-poisonous-plants-list.html

 

[Ly&Pigs]

I'd not go with chard. It's like spinach and is very high in oxalic acid. There is even a warning about chard on my charts thread now.

Spinach is better left out of the diet and is definitely not a daily staple. Kale is ok a couple times a week but not more than that. Fruits need to be fed sparingly.

Daily staples need to be 2-3 kinds of lettuces (no iceburg), bell pepper (except red but it can be substituted for other colors a couple times a week), cilantro and zucchini.

 

[Molly75]

Thanks guys! I think the girls knew I posted this because yesterday I gave them some green leaf lettuce and they ate it! Yippee! They wouldn't eat it at first, they just nibbled and snubbed their noses at it. So I just put it in their food dish and had to leave. When I came home it was gone! Maybe they just needed more time, and to not be watched I gave it to them twice today and they gobbled it right up immediately. Such a breakthrough. Now I just hope they have the same success with other veggies. I printed the chart and will hang in on my fridge door.

 

[ppqppq]

Great. Now that they will eat lettuces, they should also have 1/8 of a green, orange or yellow bell pepper everyday. Cilantro is another good daily veggie as is zucchini. Once they will eat those four things daily, you can use the charts to add in other vegetables.
Good luck.

 

[Molly75]

Now we're up to Green Leaf Lettuce and Belgian Endive, they love both. Honey LOVES carrots, but Zoey will only eat one strip of carrot that I make by using a vegetable peeler. So far neither one will eat green pepper. I've tried twice. They taste it but wont eat it. Same with grape tomatoes and apple and oranges. Anyway, they're definitely eating better and I'll keep trying new things.

 

[akstrohm]

You're overwhelming them with too much variety. Feed ONLY lettuce and bell pepper until they eat them consistently. You should feed them several times a day in small amounts. This can take weeks or months. Then add in other veggies like cucumber, tomato, green beans, peas, broccoli, celery, corn husks etc. Once they eat a good variety of those, then you can feed carrots and fruit in small amounts. These are treats and they should not get them until they eat a good variety of what they need. Hope this helps!

 

[Molly75]

The apples and oranges were a while ago. I'm not quitting the carrots because those have been a staple from day one. Only a small piece a day, but it's still Honey's favorite and she makes such a racket when we open the fridge door or she hears a plastic bag in the kitchen, lol. And especially when we're getting carrots for ourselves, which is daily. She can smell them from across the room! So basically Honey loves carrots, green leaf lettuce and Belgain endive (Zoey loves the 2 lettuces). I will stick with just those, and keep trying the green bell pepper. But nothing else. Thanks for the advise.

 

[Cogni]

Tip on trying the green pepper: Cut it into thin strips and try hand-feeding it wood-chipper style at first. Mine turned up their noses at cubes and chunks of pepper, but then suddenly liked the strips.

Also, the youngest freshest lightest green peppers have a better chance of being eaten. No wrinkled parts on the skin. And, REMOVE THE SEEDS. Choking hazard, apparently.

Mine wouldn't eat the interior white stuff for a long time --the 'ribs' and seed pod under the seeds ( I scrape or pull off the seeds with my fingers, into my little countertop compost bin) but now if I leave the white interior attached to the exterior green strips, they do.

 

[Molly75]

Thanks Cogni. I was doing that but today I cut them even thinner and just sat with them on my lap and a green pepper in my hand and just pet them and waited. Both of them ate it! Honey ate about 3 strips and Zoey about 1 1/2. A great beginning

 

[Jazlyn]

I recently got a new piggy... she didn't eat veggies at all. But now (about 5 days later) she can't get enough!
Just keep offering them and they will eat sooner or later, I bet.

Start with lettuce, bell pepper and cilantro.

 

[Molly75]

Once they are both eating the bell pepper regularly, I'll try out cilantro.