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Pellets Piggy Won't Eat Pellets- Tips?

mlgobel

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Hi there,

A little over a month ago I got a baby guinea pig from Petco, her name is Zola. I've been researching guinea pigs a lot now and am amazed at what pet stores tell you to do, versus what you should actually do. I've been giving her alfalfa hay instead of Timothy since she is just a baby, but didn't realize that there were so many kinds of pellets, most of the ones at pet stores being cheap and unhealthy. I had been giving her the Kaytee fiesta brand until I saw that those weren't good for her. So I just went and bought Oxbow Essentials Cavy Performance. She didn't really eat the pellets before, just the stuff that came with it (like the seed things, and the colored food chunks). I didn't think it was a big deal but after doing research I've realized that it's very unhealthy for her to eat those things! Hence me switching to the Oxbow pellets. But the problem is that she won't eat these pellets either :( I thought she wasn't eating them before because they weren't a good brand, but from what I can tell Oxbow is one of the best brands out there for pellets, so I don't know why she won't eat them. Is there anything I can do?? :(

*Aside from the alfalfa hay, I sometimes (typically every other day) give her a couple of spinach leaves and a carrot at night. Any other food recommendations? I've only had her for a month or so, so I'm still new to this and appreciate any advice!
 

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Hello and welcome to the forum! You should be feeding BOTH types of hay, not just one. Alfalfa is a supplement for calcium, it's grass hay like timothy, meadow, orchard, bluegrass etc that keep their teeth in check and provide essential nutrients. You could try KMS pellets, they contain a different source of calcium which helps eliminate the chance of calcium deposits and therefore stones. You can also persevere with the Oxbow and just keep putting it in there to see if she'll eat it.

It's good that you switched from the food with seeds and coloured bits, that foods very bad for pigs. You shouldn't feed spinach so regularly, as that's not healthy. Your pig needs 1 cup of veggies per day, typically most people do 1/2 cup morning and 1/2 cup evening. Staple veggies that they get daily should be lettuce, and bell pepper.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List this chart will tell you what's safe to feed, and how often :)
 

mlgobel

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Hello and welcome to the forum! You should be feeding BOTH types of hay, not just one. Alfalfa is a supplement for calcium, it's grass hay like timothy, meadow, orchard, bluegrass etc that keep their teeth in check and provide essential nutrients. You could try KMS pellets, they contain a different source of calcium which helps eliminate the chance of calcium deposits and therefore stones. You can also persevere with the Oxbow and just keep putting it in there to see if she'll eat it.

It's good that you switched from the food with seeds and coloured bits, that foods very bad for pigs. You shouldn't feed spinach so regularly, as that's not healthy. Your pig needs 1 cup of veggies per day, typically most people do 1/2 cup morning and 1/2 cup evening. Staple veggies that they get daily should be lettuce, and bell pepper.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List this chart will tell you what's safe to feed, and how often :)


Thank you SO much. I had also bought Timothy hay when I bought the alfalfa just in case, so I just put some in her bowl and she is eating it. I'll go to the store to get some lettuce and bell peppers and some of the other chart items. Thanks a bunch! :)
 

Princess_Piggie

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You're welcome! Timothy needs to be available unlimited 24/7, while Alfalfa is a supplement so you can just pop that in once a day. Make sure when your pig reaches 6 months, you cut out the alfalfa, as after 6 months it becomes more unhelpful than helpful.

Have you considered getting a friend for your pig? They're herd animals, so generally do better with a buddy of their own kind too :)
 

mlgobel

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You're welcome! Timothy needs to be available unlimited 24/7, while Alfalfa is a supplement so you can just pop that in once a day. Make sure when your pig reaches 6 months, you cut out the alfalfa, as after 6 months it becomes more unhelpful than helpful.

Have you considered getting a friend for your pig? They're herd animals, so generally do better with a buddy of their own kind too :)

Yes I plan to within the next month or so! Waiting until I get a bigger cage! I got one I thought was big from the pet store, but after doing more research turns out those are terribly small! so right now she has a large play pen I put her in, I also let her run around on my bed or in my closet when she's not in the cage, but I'm supposed to be getting a large C&C cage this week! once I have all that figured out I hope to get her a friend :) Thanks a bunch!!
 

Brandi0509

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I would just keep putting the pellets in there. She should eventually eat them.

Also just wanted to applaud you for making the changes that need to be made and doing what's best for your piggy! :)
 

melynda

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Not sure if someone else suggested this, but what worked for me was chopping up Elliott's veggies into very small pieces and mixing it in with the pellets.
I also switched from Oxbow to KMS and while my other pig ate the Oxbow just fine, they BOTH gobble up the KMS like their lives depend on it.

Also some forum users don't feed pellets at all, like [MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION].
 

mlgobel

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Not sure if someone else suggested this, but what worked for me was chopping up Elliott's veggies into very small pieces and mixing it in with the pellets.
I also switched from Oxbow to KMS and while my other pig ate the Oxbow just fine, they BOTH gobble up the KMS like their lives depend on it.

Also some forum users don't feed pellets at all, like @bpatters .

Okay I'll definitely try the veggie thing and will also try getting some KMS pellets this week! Thank you so much! :)
 

melynda

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KMS Hayloft is, I believe, online only. They're on the west coast though so shipping shouldn't be too bad for you as I see you're in CA. They also sell really quality hay.
 

MrWhistles

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Many pigs simply won't eat Oxbow. My girls won't touch Oxbow at all. IDK why, there's something about their pellets that many pigs don't like. I feed only Sweet Meadows or KMS. Though, I recently found out Sweet Meadows is nearly identical to Oxbow, so I'll only be ordering KMS.

Just keep offering the pellets. It's not too bad if she doesn't eat the pellets so long that she eats veggies.
 

melynda

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Really? I was thinking about trying Sweet Meadows next time because I'm in Maryland and shipping would be cheaper than KMS. But if they're just like Oxbow then maybe I won't bother.
 

Princess_Piggie

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@melynda bpatters pellet-free pigs are pellet free due to medical reasons. It's not recommended to go pellet free unless it's required for the pigs health, as there are lots of vitamins, minerals, nutrients and the like that are hard to get in to a pigs diet without pellets.

It's really great that you want to do right by your piggies and get the a buddy, as well as a bigger cage! I look forward to pictures :)
 

MrWhistles

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@melynda bpatters pellet-free pigs are pellet free due to medical reasons. It's not recommended to go pellet free unless it's required for the pigs health, as there are lots of vitamins, minerals, nutrients and the like that are hard to get in to a pigs diet without pellets.

It's really great that you want to do right by your piggies and get the a buddy, as well as a bigger cage! I look forward to pictures :)

Not necessarily. I've gone pellet free with my girls and fed them 3 servings of veggies everyday. Veggies can provide everything pigs need from pellets. I have only recently gone back to pellets because I've gotten slightly more busy.
 

Princess_Piggie

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Not necessarily. I've gone pellet free with my girls and fed them 3 servings of veggies everyday. Veggies can provide everything pigs need from pellets. I have only recently gone back to pellets because I've gotten slightly more busy.

Really? I contemplated a pellet-free diet when I couldn't get hold of any good quality ones (the downside of being a UK pig owner...no KMS!) and I think it was bpatters who told me that. I've managed to find good quality ones now anyway though lol
 

melynda

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[MENTION=30516]melynda[/MENTION] bpatters pellet-free pigs are pellet free due to medical reasons. It's not recommended to go pellet free unless it's required for the pigs health, as there are lots of vitamins, minerals, nutrients and the like that are hard to get in to a pigs diet without pellets.

It's really great that you want to do right by your piggies and get the a buddy, as well as a bigger cage! I look forward to pictures :)

Oh, I did not realize that was the reason.
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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Welcome! :)

KMS is located in Washington State and yes, they are online only, unfortunately.

I say unfortunately because even though I live in the same state the shipping was way more than I thought it was going to be. However they are the cheapest option online, and the best quality, so it's still absolutely worth it. Only if you buy large quantities. You may just want to buy a sample of it to see if your piggies like it but after that get the largest amount of hay they offer because you save a lot of money in the long run that way. For pellets as well, but I don't think you need to get the largest amount they offer, I would recommend the 25 lb bag. That'll last you a long while.

About getting her to eat her pellets. Try mixing some of the old stuff with the new stuff. Not too much of the old, and only use the pellet part of it, not the colored bits or seeds. This way she'll try and eat and get used to how the other stuff tastes. After a couple days of putting less and less of the old stuff you can just give her the new pellets.

This worked for me trying to get my pigs to eat their KMS when I first got it and after the second day I noticed they left behind some pellets and it was their old pellets haha they can't get enough of the KMS. They're like children, they need to be tricked into eating new things just to they realize it is in fact good and maybe even their new favorite food. Haha silly things.
 
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MrWhistles

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Really? I contemplated a pellet-free diet when I couldn't get hold of any good quality ones (the downside of being a UK pig owner...no KMS!) and I think it was bpatters who told me that. I've managed to find good quality ones now anyway though lol

It was a much more costly diet. At the time, we had 2 pigs. So we were going through 3-4 times more veggies O.O
Thankfully I have a Save a Lot by my apartment so I can walk over and get new/fresh veggies a coupla times a week.
In my opinion, if I didn't have access to excellent quality pellets and I could afford it, I definitely would prefer to go pellet-free.
 

mlgobel

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@melynda bpatters pellet-free pigs are pellet free due to medical reasons. It's not recommended to go pellet free unless it's required for the pigs health, as there are lots of vitamins, minerals, nutrients and the like that are hard to get in to a pigs diet without pellets.

It's really great that you want to do right by your piggies and get the a buddy, as well as a bigger cage! I look forward to pictures :)

Thank you very much! I will definitely post some! :)
 

mlgobel

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I would just keep putting the pellets in there. She should eventually eat them.

Also just wanted to applaud you for making the changes that need to be made and doing what's best for your piggy! :)

Thank you very much! All these comments are much appreciated :)
 

mlgobel

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Thanks a bunch!
 
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