wont eat vegetables

Question
QUESTION: Greetings from across the pond,
I'm an old guy of 64 and have had several Guinea Pigs in my lifetime.  I have an 8 week old White Crested that refuses to eat any kind of fresh vegetable or fruit.  She acts like she is afraid of them.  I always keep a generous supply of Oxbow Timothy hay and Kaytee Fiesta Guinea Pig food, and she loves both of them.  She seems to be very healthy and happy.
Have you encountered this before?  Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks for your time.

ANSWER: Greetings from the other side of the water, Marshall ...

What a strange piggy! I too have had several guinea pigs over the years; none of mine have refused veggies completely but some have been very fussy!

Have you tried fresh parsley? I've found this is eaten with great enthusiam even by very old/ill piggies, so it might work with a fussy eater too.

You could also try making meal time more stimulating and less veggie-orientated, by purchasing something along the lines of a Happy Pet Bite n Roll. You can stuff the holes in this toy with small pieces of vegetables that your piggy has to work to eat, and will also wear down his or her teeth at the same time by gnawing on the wood.

Presuming you've tried a variety of veggies cut up in a vaeriety of ways, I don't know what else to suggest! As long as Kaytee Fiesta has enough vitamin C in it to be an efficient substitute for fresh veg, I guess your girl can go on living a vegetable-free life! Perhaps try adding a vitamin supplement to her water? And keep trying fruit/veggies every once in a while ...

Good luck and let me know if you manage to coax her round to a healthy piggy lifestyle :o)

Jenny.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much for your prompt and comprehensive reply.
Kaytee Fiesta is a vitamin C fortified Guinea Pig food. It is rated very highly in the States.
I have added a water soluble vitamin C supplement to her water.  I did that when she started to show a sign of energy loss.  That seemed to perk her up by the next day.  At the time she was eating Oxbow rabbit food that I had left over when my Holland Lop died.  He was 8 and had a great life.
I realized that it was not the correct food, but had about $18 worth left.  I have passed it on to a friend with a bunny.
Thanks again for your time.  I hope that she will change with age.


Answer
I hope you're right. Eating dried food and hay all the time will surely get boring after a while! With any luck, she'll be more sensible as she gets older and realise she was being fussy and silly. She's missing out on so many yummy veggies, not to mention all the goodness in them. Kaytee Fiesta sounds the same as Gerty Guinea Pig (our top vitamin-c-containing dried mix in the UK).

Good luck, and you sound like a very competent and loving owner :o)