Won't Eat Veggies New Babies not eating Vegetables

[Michellekpf]

Hi everyone:

I have a question about my new babies. First I need to give you a little background. They are about 6-8 weeks old and I don't think they were around people a lot before coming home with me. I also don't think they were ever given any fresh veggies or fruit. In fact, I know they weren't given any because when I asked the individual who I got them from she indicated that she had only fed them pellets from Wal-Mart. :weepy:

I've been giving them salad twice a day. They have pellets in the cage all day and timothy hay available all day. They eat the hay and pellets, but they don't seem to know what to do with the vegetables.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how I can get them to try the veggies?

 

[AnimalHouse36]

Give them time. If you just got them it's going to take awhile for them to settle in.

 

[Lauren&Pigs]

I second what AnimalHouse said.
The piggies need time to adjust - but make sure you don't stop give the veggies in the time being.
The pigs will be uncertain about foods at first, and so the foods need to be introduced slowly.

 

[auburnmare5]

The same thing happend to me. It has taken me about two months to get Smudge to eat veggies without hand feeding. I am still working on it, but there is progress. On the other hand, Coco, my first pig, took to veggies in about a week. It depends on the pig I have figured out. If you leave the veggies in there long enough, they may figure it out and nibble at them. Start small, don't give too much, introduce gradually. start with lettuce, bell pepper, etc... then work your way up from there.

 

[Michellekpf]

It depends on the pig I have figured out.

Thank you to everyone who answered my question. I've made some progress already. One of my little girls is very outgoing. Even though she is still easily scared and skittish, she is much more outgoing than the other three. Anyway, I sat outside the cage and held a baby carrot in my hand through the door of the cage. I sat there for at least a half hour or more before her curiousity finally got the best of her and she ventured out to see what I had. She circled around my hand for awhile getting closer and closer. Finally she sniffed and took a little nip of the carrot. She must have figured out it was something good to eat because after that first tiny taste she dug right in and ate the entire thing out of my hand! She will still run if I move to fast or if something startles her, but I think we've made some progress.

After she (I haven't figured out her name yet) started eating another of the girls came out to see what was going on. It took a little longer, but eventually she took a taste of the carrot too! So I have two that wil eat out of my hand as long as they are in their cage and I just hold the carrot through the door and am very still. The other two are watching, but so far haven't gotten up the nerve to try it yet.