Diet Questions Regarding Piggy Diet

[SkyKimimota]

Hey guys! So as you can tell by the title, I had a few questions to ask I wasn't quite sure about.


What are some good ways to help a Guinea pig gain weight?

Recently, I adopted a 6 month old Guinea pig named Nemo. Quickly after getting him both my mom and I noticed he was too skinny, his spine and hips protruded more than I believe was healthy and he had hardly any meat on him. Since then I give him 3/8 of a cup of pellet food instead of 1/8 daily, and keep everything else normal, but are there better tips?


Is it okay for a Guinea pig to not eat much hay?

For some reason, Nemo has little to no interest in hay. He knows where it is, I've seen him briefly nibble it before, and I always keep the rack full, but he still almost never eats it. He eats pretty much all his veggies, drinks water, and eats most of his pellet food, so I know it's not because he's refusing to eat anything... If it's not healthy, are there any tips to get him interested in it?

Thank you for any help!

 

[bpatters]

I'd try another kind of hay and see if that helps. As @spy9doc says, it's very important for the teeth. Acceptable hays are timothy, blue grass, orchard grass, meadow grass and brome. Another cut of hay might also help -- most pigs love third cut timothy, and it's available right now, but not again until next fall.

 

[SkyKimimota]

Thanks for the tips, guys! Today I started putting some oats in with his pellet food (which I reduced to about 1/8 and half of an eighth) so hopefully it helps him gain weight.

I only feed him about a cup of veggies a day too, usually a little while before bed. He's started getting more healthier greens like lettuce, spinach, and cilantro, so maybe less sweet veggies will help him gain interest in hay again. If not, I plan on getting some oxbow hay this weekend so maybe he'll like that better. My parents didn't want to stop by a pet supply place near us when they went shopping and instead bought it at the supermarket, maybe it's not as tasty and nutritious there xD This time I'll go with and inspect whatever we buy for him haha.

 

[SkyKimimota]

I could be wrong, but I think Nemo is starting to eat hay finally! I looked at this box I put underneath the rack and stuffed with hay, and it seems less full than it was earlier. Maybe it was because I lowered his pellet food to the normal amount, 1/8 of a cup instead of 3/8? With the oats added I didn't think increased amount was necessary haha. But oh well, I'm just hopeful that he's actually eating hay! ��