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Age/weight question

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Emzmum

Emzmum

Junior Guinea Pig
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Forgive my ignorance on this .....

Before I joined this forum and realised the need for adopting piggies from rescue, I bought my 2 baby piggies from a local lady. I forgot to ask how old they were, assumed they were the same age and from the same litter. Now it appears to me that Crackers is older than Misti. From her appearance i.e. Ears have now flopped over whereas Misti's still stand up, C has a more rounded backside than M and is more of a GP shape (although M is developing a nice bum too!).

I'm not at all worried about their health, both are eating well, no skin or fur problems, ears and eyes clear and bright, loads of energy and popcorning. I just wondered if someone could tell me what age baby Gp's are generally separated from Mum and roughly what age you think my girls might be. I have had them 16 days now, today Misti weighs 320g (she is the younger one) and Crackers weighs 397g. Both still fit in my hand. Looking at some pictures they are a lot younger than I had assumed!

I know I should have asked all these questions when I got them and feel silly now for not doing so. I know I've been lucky, in retrospect, that I seem to have got fairly healthy, although small, guinea pigs. In contrast, my 2 year old weighs 1,248g!

Thanks. X
 
Oh, forgot to say, although today is the first time I've weighed them, I know that they have gained weight from their appearance and how they feel when I pick them up. X
 
Hopefully helpful

Hey!
Now I'm not an expert on the subject, but i do believe how much they weigh is more dependant on their diet, and the conditions they have been kept in than it is about age. Obviously they do get bigger as they grow, however i have two boys from the same litter, and they have always had atleast a 50g weigh difference, some breeds seem to get bigger than others. My boys are now 1.55 kg and 0.93kg however the last guineapigs i had (that sadly passed away) were still only 800g at 4 years old! so... i would suggest that they are not every old, (less than 4 months) the main thing that will indicate any problems will be a change in weight.

I take it they are the same sex? Because if they are female and have been around a male (before they came to you) its possible one is pregnant and that would be evident in their weight.

As i say I'm no expert! Hopefully someone else might be able to come along and give you a better estimate but i would try not to worry about their age, not knowing it exactly shouldnt cause to many problems (a vet may be able to give you a better estimate) just so long as you record things like weight changes and when any vet treaments occur.
 
Thanks Connie, I'm just curious as to how old they could be really. The lady's advert just said 'reason for selling - ready to leave mum'. I don't think Crackers is pregnant as they were being kept separate from other piggies, I think she was savvy enough to avoid unwanted pregnancies, hope so anyway!
 
Hi :)

Generally, piggies are separated from their mum's (weened) at between 6 and 8 weeks. However, sometimes they are weened early at 4 weeks which is a bit quick but can happen.

Now weight is a very odd thing and there is no ideal piggy weight. Piggies will put on weight according to their size and shape etc. so I couldn't tell you in gramms what's going on and, of course, diet is big factor. As a general guide though, younger piggies up to the age of around five months or so, can put on around 5g/day. This is a good way of gauging how your piggies are developing. They could put on more and this will be down to you, them, their diet and their general shape and size.

I'm sorry I can;t be more helpful but it's really very irregular and there are no rules about piggy weight :)
 
Misti weighs 320g - 4 weeks.

Crackers weighs 397g - 5-6 weeks.

That's for average sized babies so if they were from a large litter they may be a touch older, as larger litters tend to make for smaller babies.

HTH

Suzy x
 
Why don't you phone her and ask her? I'm sure she won't mind as you're just interested in their actual ages. :)
 
Thanks, they are quite small then as I've had them over 2 weeks so they must be more than 4 -5 weeks.

I have just sent a text to the girl I got them from, so I'll let you know if she answers.
 
Had a reply to my text ....

They were born 9th July so they are almost 8 weeks! So small for their age! Not sure they are the same litter because there were 2 pregnant sows in together and both gave birth the same night! I'm guessing they're not because they look so different in the shape of their face etc. Wish I'd weighed them straight away but will now be doing so weekly!
 
Feeding

They are very small for their age. Just bumping up your thread so someone who can give advice on bulking them up might see it.

(I'm sure you know this, but...) piggies need:
unlimited hay 24/7, - (its suposed to be 80% of their diet but i swear mine dont eat that much even though its there!)
pellets or mueli.. (depends which you choose)
I cup of fresh veg each day per piggie (however this should be carefully introduced to young piggies, much less than a cup at first, intoducing each new veg one each day)
And ofcourse fresh accesable water. :D
 
Connie said:
They are very small for their age. Just bumping up your thread so someone who can give advice on bulking them up might see it.

(I'm sure you know this, but...) piggies need:
unlimited hay 24/7, - (its suposed to be 80% of their diet but i swear mine dont eat that much even though its there!)
pellets or mueli.. (depends which you choose)
I cup of fresh veg each day per piggie (however this should be carefully introduced to young piggies, much less than a cup at first, intoducing each new veg one each day)
And ofcourse fresh accesable water. :D
Click to expand...

This is the correct diet for adults. For babies, especially such small ones, they should be getting unlimited pellets. I'd recommend Burgess as it's higer in fats, oils and proteins for body building. To get them munching I often soften them with a little with warm water and after 10 mins they are easier for tinies to eat.

Don't give too much in the way of veg to start with as they really do need to eat the pellets to gain body weight. Plenty of hay available and fresh water daily, don't add anything to the water.

Most good rescues only rehome once a baby pig has reached 400g (6-8 weeks) to be sure they are thriving away from mum.

HTH

Suzy x
 
Find some pellets they really like, Rocket has been gobbling his up ( at the mo he's on Excel Blackcurrant and oregano - cheapest from Animed Direct btw ) and he's been piling on the weight! :)
 
Thanks. They are on a guinea pig mix at the moment but I will get some pellets. They have unlimited hay and water, have spent a lotmof time on grass and also get veggies once a day.
 
Oh gosh! I'm soo sorry, will be carefull to check my advice next time. (have never kept babies myself, only adopted)
 
Good news

I weighed the girls tonight while we were having sofa time:

Misti - 337g. +17g
Crackers - 412g. +15g
Princess - 1,265g. +17g

Good weight gain for 4 days? I think Princess could manage without putting the weight on but ....... :)
 
Bumble is a Boy

I agree - different piggies different weights - I have just weighed my Bumble and he is nearly 9 weeks old and weighs 880gms - I had him from 3 weeks old when he was 320 gms - he was the only piggy his mum had and she was a big piggy.
The girls are 18 months old and weigh just under 2 1b .
 
The fact they are gaining sounds good! There is a wide range of pig sizes, some are simply smallish. Our original pair of pigs always looked very mismatched because one was on the large side and one was on the very small side (almost a full pound smaller than the big one!) She was so much smaller that my kids' friends used to call her 'the baby pig' even when she was an adult!
 
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