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Vegetables What kind and how much?

snowball002

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Hi! I have two guinea pigs and they absolutely LOVE veggies! I give them kale, cucumber, carrots, califlower stems, broccoli stems, and parsley. And no, I do not feed that to them EVERYDAY! I try to give them a variety. They don't seem to like green peppers. But, what are some veggies that could be fed to them often? My mom doesnt like buying expensive veggies for them. She only buys the veggies that are like, 99¢ a lb or a bunch. For example, parsley and kale. Also about fruits, they don't like grapes, strawberry, banana, blueberries, or oranges. I've tried and they didn't even touch some of them! I don't know what fruits to feed! HELP! Your input is greatly appreciated! :) THANKS!! I LOVE YOU FORUM! GO GUINEA PIGS!
 

MissJean

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Cilantro is a daily veggie that is quite cheap.About the same price as parsley here. Have you looked at the cavy nutrition/veggie chart in the nutrition section? It's color coded for convenience. If I recall, cauliflower and broccoli are gassy veggies- while kale is a once a week veggie if your pigs can handle even that much.

Lettuce is also cheap where I'm at. Two dollars for a head of organic, so I'm assuming the non-organic is even cheaper. If they sell it by head, picking the largest head is the biggest bang for your buck.

If you figure out how long a head of lettuce or something will last you, that could be used as persuasive information for your mother.

Were you persistant with the bell pepper? Sometimes pigs are awfully stubborn and you have to keep trying with them.
 

cavy_jdas

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https://www.guinealynx.info/chart_print.html

FOOD COLOR CODES:
What kind and how much?
Vegetables - light green
What kind and how much?
Crucifers (brassicas) - paler green (can cause gas)
What kind and how much?
Fruits - light orange
What kind and how much?
Dry seeds & grains - white
 

Eimear

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its really easy to grow your own herbs, like parsley and coriander (or "cilantro" as you guys call it :p) and its obviously much cheaper too.

My guinea pigs don't really like most fruits either, but they absolutely love blue berries as a treat :)
 

KD006

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yup I am planting my own Cilantro, Parsley and Basil today. Going to grow in containers as the deer would probably eat it the yard so it has to be on the deck. Free potting soil (don't ask it came with the house on living room floor, if you need to know look up 'grow house') about 33 cents a pack for seeds and the 1/2 gallon (2l) pots were 29 cents each. So 45 days from now I should have cilantro, about 70 days for the others!
 

snowball002

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Yeah, i was thinking about starting a garden in my backyard to grow some fresh vegetables. We grow tomatoes and sometimes green beans come up!
 

snowball002

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Were you persistant with the bell pepper? Sometimes pigs are awfully stubborn and you have to keep trying with them.

I gave them little bits and they didn't even touch it. I held them in my arms and tried feeding them, but all they did was turn away or put their paw up on the veggie. I left some in their bowl for about 2 hours, and I came back and the pepper just had little teeth marks in it. Nothing was eaten though.
 

snowball002

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Awesome! Sounds like you got a good deal on everything!
 

silkysnickers

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Hi! I've had one of my guinea pigs for 9 weeks and the other for 6 weeks. Green pepper, leaf lettuce, parsley, and cilantro were the only veggies my first one would touch for the first few weeks. I would just continue to put other veggies in along side and now they eat celery, carrots, and cucumber. They are not interested in fruit so much yet, but I only put a few pieces in once a week. Another thing I did was experiment in cutting the veggies. I tried chopping into small bite size pieces, putting big chunks in, etc. So far what they have liked the most is veggies that are cut into long strips (like a match-stick). It is time consuming, though--but I'm not sure how to "graduate" them to something bigger. Between cleaning the cage and preparing veggies my husband feels neglected.
 

snowball002

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What are some good fast growing veggies to plant?

Also, a question that doesnt relate to veggies, but everytime I hold my male guinea pig in my arms, i usually roll my sleeves up and he always bites my shirt or sweatshirt!! And I even triedTaking my sweatshirt off, and he would just bite my skin! Any ideas on why he does this?
 

snowball002

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Also, my guinea pigs are doing something with their teeth. Sounds like chattering or grinding or something like that, i don't know... Ideas?

What are some things to do to keep your cage smelling good?
 

MissJean

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Sometimes my boys will teeth chatter if the other is occupying a desirable spot, or if they think I'm trying to pick them up. It's something they do to warn something else to back off.

I use fleece with layers of towels underneath, and I haven't had an issue with odor. I also use tidy mats for the areas they use more heavily as a bathroom. Basically, two pieces of fleece with absorbent material in-between. You can get these online. I have some from Cobb Cabin on Etsy. Alternatively, you could make them yourself.
 

snowball002

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Thanks! i also have towels and cloths but they use the Bathroom ALOT!
I will start a garden ASAP i have a lot of room in my backyard that is junked up with weeds and dead plants. My dad said if I could clean that up, I could use all of that space for my pigs and a garden. I'm SOOOOO excited! What kind of things do you plant, or what are things I should plant?
 
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