18 Weeks old boars

[GEMINI101]

Hi All,

My two little boys are around 18weeks old now (14 weeks when we got them, or so we were told). They seem to be generally happy and healthy, eating plenty, drinking, popcorning and so on but they weigh 501g and 511g, and having had a look at a few sites think they may be underweight? Or do you think they may be younger than we thought?

They did seem quite thin (to me) when we got them but they have been putting on weight at about 50g per week and seem to quite happy, apart from a little bit of boisterous behaviour all seems harmonious. Do you think I have anything to worry about?

Any advice from you guys would be great!

Thank you in advance,
Kath

 

[lauraboara]

Hello!

There weights seem a bit low for 18wks so they may not be 18wks and/or they may have been underfed but the brilliant thing is that you are aware, observing them closely and weighing them. They seem to be putting on weight with you so that is a great sign. This is a time of rapid growth for them so keep giving them high quality food and weighing them and they should catch up. If you keep a note of the weights which you seem to be doing, you should be able to track them increasing as they grow and then growth slowing down after a few months until they stabilise at their adult weight. My 6 boys range from 950g to 1300g as adults even though they have the same diet. when to worry is when weight drops from their usual level.
There is more info in the Food section but you want to aim for offering a lot of hay a day, some fresh veggies and some pellet food. Hay should dominate.

But obviously if there are other signs of illness - pop to your vet - have you registered them yet?

Would love to see pic of your boys - there is a tutorial in the Techical bit of forum about posting photos.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! Personally, I wouldn't worry! Your boys could be younger or they could have simply had smaller birth weights and a mum on a not very good or generous diet.

The good news is that they will keep growing until they about 15 months old, with some extra leeway to make up any lost ground until they are two years old, so there is way to go. Adult guinea pig weights can vary from 800g-1800g, with 900g-1300g the average. The individual variance is so great that weight gain charts are pretty useless in my own opinion.

50g per week is a high weekly growth rate; 20-30g is more average in young guinea pigs, so there is nothing you have to worry about.

Please don't be tempted to overfeed; your boys will eventually realise their ideal body weight on a good, balanced diet, anyway! Make sure that they get plenty of hay (up to 80% of the daily food intake for healthy guts and well ground down back teeth), 50g/1 cupful of mixed veg, containing at least one high vitamin C veg or fresh herb per piggy per day and unlimited pellets (not muesli) until their weekly growth rate is slowing down then very gradually reduce to the half to handful that fully grown mature adults need. Weigh weekly throughout the whole life.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?42-Vegetables-Shopping-List

 

[GEMINI101]

Thank you both, that's great, I am less worried now.

They currently have plenty of fresh hay each day (I top it up/replace it around 3 times a day) and about 1 cup of fresh veggies each spread over a few feedings, they have guinea Pig pellets with vit C topped up daily though they don't eat too much of these. Thank you Wiebke, I was thinking I should up their food intake but I won't now, I don't want to over feed them and then end up with fat piggies :-)

Here's a picture of my boys just s few days after we got them..

I hope that worked!


Thanks again,
Kate x

 

[Jerrybelly]

Thank you both, that's great, I am less worried now.

They currently have plenty of fresh hay each day (I top it up/replace it around 3 times a day) and about 1 cup of fresh veggies each spread over a few feedings, they have guinea Pig pellets with vit C topped up daily though they don't eat too much of these. Thank you Wiebke, I was thinking I should up their food intake but I won't now, I don't want to over feed them and then end up with fat piggies :-)

Here's a picture of my boys just s few days after we got them..

I hope that worked!


Thanks again,
Kate x

Sorry, we can't see your pictures! Take a look at this link for some info:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...ial-Posting-Pictures-In-Threads-(Photobucket)