New owner and her Sheltie (with some questions)

[Neferyn]

Hello there!

I've been following this forum for some months now and decided to finally introduce my piggie. She's a 6 weeks old black sheltie named Miss Moneypenny and she currently weights 287 grams. She's currently in a commercial cage of 120x60 cm. I will upgrade this in a few months when i get her another female piggie companion.

First of all, i'd like to know if i am feeding her the right amount of veggies. I know i'm should giver her 1 cup per day, but in Europe we use metric so i really have no clue how much is that. I give her daily what you can see in the second picture plus a bit of parsley, coriander and a handful of a mixture of red lettuce, arugula and green lettuce. Is that an appropriate amount?

My second question is about their pee. I know it's normal to have a few white deposits on the fleece, but how do i know if it's a normal amount or too much?

Third, about the taming process. It's not been very easy, i have her on the same room where i spend all the time when i'm home and she's very scaredy. When i hear her moving in her cage, i try to go slowly towards her to watch her better but she runs and hides every time. During floor time she just hides as far away from me and doesn't move at all. I don't know how to handle it.

I would appreciate any advice with that.

And of course, the pigtures:

 

[bpatters]

Welcome to the forum. What a cute piggie!

A cup isn't a very exact measurement, and you can't go by weight, either. Carrots weigh a lot more than lettuce, for example. You could use a double handful as an approximation, but she doesn't need all that yet. That recommendation is for an adult pig.

She needs something with vitamin C in it -- pigs are like humans, they can't manufacture their own. Bell peppers (capsicum) are great for that, and she needs more leafy green things. The lettuces you're feeding are fine, but I'd decrease some of the dense foods you're giving her in favor of more lettuce.

We don't really worry about calcium spots with young pigs. They need the calcium for their skeleton growth, so until they're six months old, they're fed a fairly high calcium diet. You can worry about whether it's too much when she's a little older.

It takes time to tame them. But if you'll pick some of her favorite veggies out of the plate, sit down with her on your lap and hand feed, you'll go a long way toward winning her heart.

I'm glad you're getting her a buddy. Please do so as soon as possible -- you'll be amazed at the difference it makes in her. They're herd animals, and need a friend of their own kind.

 

[Neferyn]

I forgot to say whats on the plate that i also feed her, and yes, it includes red and green beel pepper. Tho she's not eating barely any of it. She also barely touches zuccini and cucumber. So far she only likes cherry tomato, carrot and the leafy greens. Im gonna try to get her some orange and kiwi to see if i can get her to eat the amount of vit C she needs

 

[bpatters]

See https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/105287-How-to-teach-a-guinea-pig-to-eat-vegetables. Orange and kiwi have way too much sugar to serve as sources of vitamin C.

 

[PeanutnCookie]

Welcome to the forum! You pig is really cute and I love her name! It's so creative
There is a lot of vitamin c in green peppers. Fruits are high in sugar so they shouldn't be fed as often, only a couple times a week. Spinach also is high in vitamin c, but shouldn't be fed in high amounts. To try to get her to eat other veggies, you need to introduce them slowly. Try cutting the pepper really small and mixing it in with the lettuce. Do you have a shallow bowl you could put it in? Lots of pet stores sell small ceramic bowls for piggies. If not, that's ok. Here is a link for all the veggies and fruits your pig can eat. https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...us-Plants-List?p=254730&viewfull=1#post254730

 

[Rywen]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Miss Moneypenny is adorable, are you going with a James Bond theme for names when you get her a friend?

 

[Neferyn]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Miss Moneypenny is adorable, are you going with a James Bond theme for names when you get her a friend?

Thank you! Most people in my country dont get the reference If she turned out to be male it would be Captain Piccard.
Not sure yet, we usually name our rodent groups by theme (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Big Bang Theory, World of Warcraft) but there's no more female names in James Bond that i like. I guess i'll have to ask the forum for suggestions later on.