They don't like the pellets!

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Catt of the Garage

Post   » Sat Aug 20, 2005 5:53 am


I don't know what to do.

After many years of feeding my pigs rubbishy food in good faith - full of coloured bits, seeds, squashed peas and all the other piggy junk food they love - we found a source of Oxbow products and splashed out far more than we can really afford on a bag of Cavy Performance and a big bag of Cavy Cuisine (it's really expensive here, and the shipping is dear, which is why we ordered a big heap of the stuff at one time).

They don't like it. Won't touch it. To avoid changing their diet all at once, for maybe three days we mixed the Cavy Performance with their previous junk food (they are all under a year old). Well, they just picked out the junk and left the good pellets. So I gave up on that, reasoning that the junk food was junk anyway and they shouldn't be eating it.

So I threw away the bag of junky food and now I give them bowls of just Cavy Performance. They run to them squeaking, and ignoring the pellets just set to licking the sides of the bowls (the bowls are glass! They prefer glass to the top-notch piggy cuisine!?) Even if I hand them a pellet, they take it, crunch it and drop it, the way my dog used to do with pears (she hated pears). By the end of the day as far as I can see they have eaten none of the pellets , just pigged out on hay and veggies and kicked the bowls full of shavings and poop. So every day I have to throw out about 100g of Cavy Performance, untouched. I don't know what to do. Has anyone else had this problem? We just can't afford to be wasting this stuff! I thought they'd love it.

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jaydee6561
Not a Fighter

Post   » Sat Aug 20, 2005 6:05 am


How long have you been giving them the Oxbow? I'd say just continue with it, eventually they'll catch on that they're not getting anything else.

mammabear66
With a Touch of Insanity

Post   » Sat Aug 20, 2005 6:50 am


The good thing is - if they get a good diet of unlimitted hay and lots of fresh veggies the they really don't need the pellets. The main ingredient is hay anyways.

If you are using deep bowls then try switching to a shallow bowl so that you don't waste as much until they start to eat them. I found square heavy plastic dishes for cat food that have sides that slant out so they can't tip them. They are not very deep and you could put just a single layer of pellets in the bowl without impairing their ability to reach them.

I have never figured out how to keep poop from ending up in the pellets. I went out and bought the self-filling feeders that hang on the cage because one of my pigs had taken to peeing in the bowl daily. The side is up higher than their bum can reach and they can't pee in the food anymore but they still manage to get poop in the dishes in both cages! I think they must get them stuck on their feet and then knock them in when they put their feet on the sides. I have gotten to where I just pick out the poops and the pellets directly around the poops.

Radar was on junk food when I rescued him. I did the same thing - threw it out and gave him good pellets. He immediately went on pellet strike. I believe it lasted 2 or 3 weeks. He continued to eat enough hay and veggies that he gained wait consistently and he eventually gave in and started to eat them. Now he eats more of them than 3 of my other pigs. Mushy Momma is the only one who eats more of them.

Give it time. They will see the light! Eventually! You may even want to count how many pellets you put in the bowl and then count again at the end of the day to see if any are missing. If you put only a few in - say 30 or so - you might find they are actually trying them some! Putting the dish on a cardboard or coroplast tray can help keep bedding out.

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Catt of the Garage

Post   » Sat Aug 20, 2005 7:19 am


I measure them out with a little espresso cup, because the bag said they should have somewhere between 20 and 45 grams a day or something like that, and the little cup was just about the right amount. I suppose I could measure them back into the cup before throwing them out, see if they have eaten any.

I use glass ashtrays (New! Unused!) for pig bowls - the kind that are just round with straight sides, about 2-3cm high. They work very well, as they are low enough that the pigs can reach in them easily, and the glass is very thick and too heavy for them to tip up and throw around. Not that they couldn't do it if they were determined, but the ashtrays are heavy enough that they don't bother.

I suppose the licking might be just because the cool glass bowls feel nice and are still a novelty to them - they've only had them a week or so.

As for the poop, I think poop kicking ("poopla"?) is just a popular guinea-pig sport - with points for accuracy and range. It's amazing where the poop can get to!

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whittibo

Post   » Sat Aug 20, 2005 10:31 am


Could you try their old bowls with the new food? Maybe they don't like the new bowls?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Aug 20, 2005 10:43 am


Don't be so quick to toss out the old food (I can understand how this could hurt). I'm sorry they have not yet seen the light -- if you persist, maybe they will? Hey, how about getting some pumpkin and softening the pellets with something you know they like (or another thing) and seeing if they will eat the pellet mash? My Snowflake is still happily eating her old (frozen for a long time) Oxbow Cavy Cuisine. I wish shipping wasn't so expensive for you. It would be cool to try Kleenmama's fresh pellets (maybe that would help?).

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supertramp
Hopelessly Addicted

Post   » Sat Aug 20, 2005 11:09 am


My pig was similar when I first changed her food but once she realised that was all she was getting, she quickly got over herself.

This idea mightn't go down very well but you could try rationing their hay just for a couple of days so that there isn't constantly hay in the cage. Say give them a pile in the morning and a pile in the evening but in-between times just give them the Oxbow? If they only have pellets to eat (just for a very short time) they might decide they aren't so bad after all.

As for bowls - I have a neat one. My pigs like to pull their bowls over so the pellets scatter everywhere and get soiled but I found this one and it stops them tipping it over and also getting crap in it. It attaches to the side of the cage:

Image

It's pretty small but the pigs don't get that many pellets anyway. Gets (almost) filled up twice a day.

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Catt of the Garage

Post   » Mon Aug 22, 2005 5:52 am


Lynx - KM don't ship outside the US. It's really difficult to get hold of good plain pellets in the UK. It's Oxbow or nothing - and it's looking increasingly as though it might be nothing! I just wish I was sure enough of the quality of our hay, then I might put them on a pellet-free diet. But I have half a 900g bag of Cavy Performance and a 4kg bag of Cavy Cuisine for them to eat through or ignore/poop in before we get to that stage!

As for the old food, it was nearly finished anyway, and I'm almost nearly sure I saw a bug in it, so it was definitely going out. That's what I get for keeping pig food in paper bags.

Their previous bowls were a motley assortment of containers (saucers, presentation tins from fancy watches, half a gerbil house etc.) which were variously too light, too flat, too tall and completely unsuitable. They were constantly getting tipped over and kicked around, so as far as I'm concerned they can use their nice new blue ashtrays or kick the pellets out and eat them off the floor, I don't care - they're not getting their bowls changed again!

I suppose I'll just have to stick it out.

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Webs
Cavies 'n Cobwebs

Post   » Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:01 am


I takes time. Mine changed over to Supa Guinea Excel then Oxbow. You'd think I was trying to poison them! It took months to get them to tuck into either of them, though I did mix little bits and pieces in. I now still use both as one pig has a preference for Excel and the other prefers Oxbow.

I use both pellets for when the Oxbow is hard to come by, at least the Excel will not be a 'new' experience! Neither of mine really eat the full portions but they get plenty veggies and hay. Since getting the Oxbow timmy hay, the fussy sods won't eat the local meadow hay any longer.

The bonus is once they get used to the pellets (mine at any rate) won't touch the old stuff again!

Evangeline

Post   » Mon Aug 22, 2005 5:05 pm


Your pigs likes the junk food for the same reason kids love McDonalds. You just took out their McNuggets and replaced them with fresh brocoli. They're going to sulk for a bit and they'll eventually get over it. They can do fine without pellets at all, so it's not like they're going to lack something if they have nice hay and enough veggies. Eventually, they'll get over it and eat the Oxbow pellets, but now, they're pushing their luck and testing yuo to see if you'll give in.

guinea_newbie

Post   » Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:51 am


I currently have the same problem. I just got my piggie (Dorian) a couple of weeks ago. He's one month old and when I first got him I fed him these mixed pellets also with colored bits and seeds. He eats them just fine except for the pellets mixed into them so I decided to change it. I bought the Versele-Laga Complete Cavia because it's much healthier but HE WILL NOT EVEN TOUCH THEM. And now he keeps squeaking looking for the old ones. 😭

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Kimera

Post   » Wed Mar 07, 2018 1:05 pm


Try giving him Versele Laga Cavia Nature. It is a mix of pellets and herbs and dried vegetables. Guinea pigs can select what they like which gives them the feeling of foraging. This food is usually liked by piggies in the intermediate period and later. It is often preferred to Cavia Complete which includes pellets only.

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