Nutrition what to try next

[Jaclyn]

So my piggy is finally eating some veggies. She LOVES leaf lettuce and endive and raddichio (sp?) and she will eat some of the green bell pepper, but only if chopped fine and put over pellets. Is it okay fo give her these items everyday?

What else should I buy this week? She doesn't seem to want to eat things that aren't leafy. Like tomato, for example.

Should their died be mostly leafy greens? She also doesn't eat the swiss chard I bought, but I still try to offer it daily.

As an aside, do piggies like their greens in large or small pieces? I do them up like I would for a salad but I was wondering if piggies have a preference? lol

 

[kirsty91]

Here is a menu https://www.guineapigcages.com/threads/22156/post-254730 to get some ideas. It tells you how often to feed certain veggie, like the swiss chard should only be given once or twice a week as it could cause stones.

I leave my veggies in large pieces but the ones she doesn't like as much I chop up in small pieces.

 

[bpatters]

Yes, do take a look at that chart to see how often things can be fed.

Once she's reliably eating the green pepper, you can feed it in larger pieces and put something new over the pellets.

One of the advantages of having a wide variety of things that they will eat is that if your grocery runs low or out of something, you've got a wider choice of what to feed them. Mine will reliably eat 12-14 things, so I've always got a choice.

As to what size they prefer, how would you know and why would it matter? Mine eat anything that's put in front of them no matter what size it is. I feed mostly in big hunks unless it's something they really love and one of them is apt to grab it all and the other gets left out. Then I chop in smaller pieces.

 

[Jaclyn]

I have looked at the charts and saw about the Swiss chard but she won't touch it so that's why I kept offering it in hopes that she might try it.

I was just sort of wondering what she might like if she likes the lettuce I've offered. Like should I try more kinda of lettuce or is there some other food that I should try to get her to eat now to go with the lettuce and peppers? I just want to get her diet as balanced as possible and to me an all lettuce (or mostly lettuce) diet isn't gonna cut it, you know.

 

[bpatters]

Mine get red or green leaf lettuce, bell peppers (usually green), and cilantro every day. Also corn husks and silks when I can find them. They usually each get a small slice of tomato, half of a baby carrot, and some kind of herb (dill is their favorite, then basil, and one of them likes thyme and oregano). Then, depending on what I can find at the grocery and what we're eating, they get summer squash, green beans, endive, celery, some other kind of greens (but only a small amount since all the others can't be fed in large quantities) and an occasional bit of fruit.

 

[Jaclyn]

Great. That's very helpful

 

[Kelly91513]

Mine eat similar to Bpatters pigs. They eat green leaf lettuce, green (sometimes red) bell peppers and cilantro everyday. I give then one small baby carrot every/every other day. They also get cucumbers and green squash and a half of a cherry tomatoe when I can get them
I'll have to try some herbs like basil, haven't tried that yet. Mine eat fruit as well once in a while, usually half a strawberry or a slice or two of orange (those are their favorites).

 

[nicholelynne]

And you know, piggies are like kids, sometimes you have to feed them something quite a few times before they will eat it. Each week, I let my kids pick out a new veggie to feed our pig, sometimes she'll gobble it right up, and sometimes she looks at it like, 'what the heck is that!' And after trying it a few times, she'll eat it up like all her other veggies. She particularly loves celery and raw green beans, so that might be worth a try for you. lol Good luck!