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Are My Baby Boars Healthy Weights?

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Elgifu321

Elgifu321

Junior Guinea Pig
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some of you followed my Guinea pig Oswyns story, he passed away last week unfortunately so I was left with a lonely pig in need of a friend asap.

I reached out to rescues first for boar dating but none anywhere up to an hour or 2 drive away seemed to have any solo boars so I resorted to breeders... I posted about Rupert hitting it off with Caspar, a chunky 5 week old teddy piggie and I was so happy with them but I'd also messaged another breeder about a piggie that was 4 weeks old and wasn't yet ready- a texel.

The breeder showed them and didn't want Ronan (as I named him) as his ears were too high or something... and I couldn't stop thinking about the little piggie so I went to view him last night. (I'm prepared to separate with grid/ purchase a friend if the three don't get on)

He's tiny! He was being taken from mum last night as he's 4 weeks today and the breeder said he'd be on his own (only had sisters) so I might as well take him. I agreed as I thought I could probably give him more attention/care than he could anyway, especially as he was in the process of moving into a new house. I got Ronan home and he only weighs 125g! (DOB: 19/8/2016) Caspar weighs 405g (DOB: 9/8/2016)

I've purchased a pregnant piggie before (PAH- bought her when I realised as I could see she needed proper care) and had a couple unexpected litters years ago so I've cared for babies before but these two seem to be extremes on either side of the weight spectrum from my experience, what does everyone else think?

I'm taking them both to the vets later for a full check over anyway though I've checked them myself and they seem healthy other than being tiny/huge for their age haha. Both are always eating and popping and making noises to each other through the cages aswell as to Rupert. Caspar runs around more but Ronan likes exploring too he's just more cautious probably cause of his size/ age

Here's pics of them both..

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My sow was 325g & was 10 weeks old. Is he eating well, mine was up & down with her weight, now she's first in the bowl & scoofs everthing in sight Ask Wiebke, about maybe topping him up with syringe feeding for a while. I would have thought 4 weeks was very young to come away from mum.
 
I have critcal care in but he's been eating hay and pellets all night etc I haven't really seen him drink but he's now licking water off my hand. I offered him it in a feeding bottle but he just chewed it and ruined the teat within about 5 seconds haha
 
To feel him he has a chunky belly but I can feel his ribs/ spine slightly- not obviously so he feels healthy in terms of weight for his size. Caspars very chunky and I can't really feel his spine/ ribs through his chunk so he's probably a bit overweight to be fair
 
One of my girls was only 320 grams at 9 weeks old, and now she is the biggest of the bunch!

If he looks healthy and bright within himself, and is active, eating, weeing and pooping, then you are on the right track.
Maybe weighing him on a regular basis (twice a week) would be useful in the short term.

The thing is his weight right now is what he weighs.
Even if he is underweight all you can do is make sure he is getting plenty of good food, minimal stress and a comfortable living environment.
If he is clearly well and putting on weight then that is what you need to focus on.

He is a very beautiful boy, so I see why you couldn't resist him!
 
Hi! Caspar is a very good weight for his age, but Ronan is still the weight of about a 1 week old baby. As long as he is eating well and is putting on weight every day, then there is only so much you can you.

If your vet is OK with it, as it is cow dairy and he is now weaned (and therefore becoming lactose intolerant), you could try to give him an evaporated mild/water to help him put on weight. I know that it has worked in one or two cases where babies have struggled to put on weight. Some piggies are born very small and struggle to put on weight all their lives. They can still have a very happy life.

@pig in the city did have a problem baby and may be able to give you more tips. She fosters for BARC rescue in Barnsley.
 
Thank you. He seems happy enough and is eating hay and pellets and he even tried some green pepper earlier. I feel a bit more reassured now, I'll just have to see what the vet thinks later. Hopefully @pig in the city will be around to share her experiences with me

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The vet checked over both of them. He said he'd never seen a baby Guinea pig with so much fat under its skin and to watch how much Caspar eats. He has no concerns about Ronan, he's healthy and he said to give him alfalfa hay to pack the grams on haha, he said I could also offer some critical care in a dish but as he had a full tummy anyway it's not necessary. He should put on weight if he keeps doing what he's doing :D
 
Hi he is gorgeous but as you say small. My little scrapper was the runt of the litter and rejected by his mum and we had to hand feed him at first but by 4 weeks old , although small he ate everything for himself. I am away so cant consult my weight charts but l think he was similar in weight to your little lad. I didn't do anything special just made sure he had enough time to eat on his own(he still had piggy company) and l agree with giving alfafa hay and readigrass as quite calorific, plus alfafa has calcium in for his bones and teeth. You should see 30g a week weight gain approximately. Scrapper now weighs 1.4kg so don't worry too much!
 
My latest addition Rowan was around 10-12 weeks and only weighed around 250g.. Her companion poppet came to me a short while before that at 12 weeks old weighing 300g but she felt horrifically thin and u could see her boney frame from a distance- so i was worried for Rowan what with her being even lighter. She did feel skinny. She was an abandoned piggy. Shes now 750g at 18-20 weeks old (i've had her 8 weeks). She is by no means fat, i can still feel her ribs (an acceptable amount), can no longer feel her spine as much but she has gotten very long and is by no means chubby. I was worried about such quick weight gain incase she was pregnant (shes passed the safe mark now including the time she went into rescue).. I think her body was just catching up with getting a decent diet!

Her weight gain is slowing to a normal pace now but was very quick to begin with, hopefully your boy will grow nicely with a steady diet too :-) oxbox alfalfa hay and some alfalfa based pellets as a treat went down well x
 
Elgifu321 said:
Thank you. He seems happy enough and is eating hay and pellets and he even tried some green pepper earlier. I feel a bit more reassured now, I'll just have to see what the vet thinks later. Hopefully @pig in the city will be around to share her experiences with me

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Hes adorable. I rescued a 16 week boar just over a month ago now, he only weighed 350grams. Hes a good eater and put 100g on in the first week. Hes now a really good weight and his spine, hips and shoulder blades are no longer severely prominent.
 
I've been offering Ronan a little bit of brown bread dipped in warm milk like someone suggested; he loved it, eating it quite quickly too even though he'd been eating hay all day too as well as pellets.. Weighed him again and he's up to 136g! I'm so pleased! I think I'm gonna offer him some bread and goats milk every day until he reaches 200g. Ordered oxbow alfalfa from my local pet shop too as its not something they usually stock, so it will be here on Monday :)
 
I'm not sure about the milk & bread I would have bulked out to much. Mine was small, but once he got going he gained weight very quickly.
 
Tiamolly123 said:
I'm not sure about the milk & bread I would have bulked out to much. Mine was small, but once he got going he gained weight very quickly.
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It's goats milk and brown bread as he came straight from his mum to me and had still been feeding a bit but was going to be put by himself that night as he was turning 4 weeks x
 
Just an update for if anyone searches this out for reassurance in the future..

Caspar is 8 weeks and 5 days now and earlier weighed 595g! :eek:

Ronan is 7 weeks and a day and weighs 255g so he's more than doubled his arrival weight...

rather than his weight gain slowing down, it's actually got faster the bigger he's got..

they're both extremely greedy though haha :D
 
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