Are they too fat?

[Idag]

Hi all,
I have had my 2 gorgeous boys for almost 2 weeks now, they are 3 year old boars from the RSPCA. Not sure what their diet was like but they are used to veg, nuggets and of course lots of hay here.
I was surprised how big they were when I first picked them up, they both weigh in around 1400 g and measure about 26 cm in length. So they are big fellas.
The vet said that they are perfectly healthy but I read on here that they are overweight if their tummies touch the ground and theirs certainly do! I feed them unlimited hay, plus a small cup of nuggets and fresh vegetables morning and evening. Do you wise people think they are a bit portly? Pics attached. Many thanks x

 

[Piggies&buns]

They come in all shapes and sizes. If your vet is cavy savvy then I would be inclined to go by what your vet said. We obviously don’t have hands on your pigs to be able to tell.

They should have just one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day. A small amount of veg. It should only make up about 10% of their diet, so if you are going to give veg morning and night, then make sure you make the daily portion and then split it in half. I used to give veg morning and night and I know how easy it can be to mis-portion and mis-remember the portion you gave in the morning if you are doing it twice separately rather than making one portion and then splitting it. i now give pellets in the morning and then their veg portion at night (hay unlimited obviously). I hope that makes sense.

 

[PigglePuggle]

The best way to check heft is feeling around the ribs, you should be able to feel the ribs but without them sticking out. If the vet is happy with the weights, and if they are going to get plenty of exercise and you are careful with the veg and pellets like @Piggies&buns suggests, they should be fine

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all,
I have had my 2 gorgeous boys for almost 2 weeks now, they are 3 year old boars from the RSPCA. Not sure what their diet was like but they are used to veg, nuggets and of course lots of hay here.
I was surprised how big they were when I first picked them up, they both weigh in around 1400 g and measure about 26 cm in length. So they are big fellas.
The vet said that they are perfectly healthy but I read on here that they are overweight if their tummies touch the ground and theirs certainly do! I feed them unlimited hay, plus a small cup of nuggets and fresh vegetables morning and evening. Do you wise people think they are a bit portly? Pics attached. Many thanks x

Hi and welcome!

Great that you have decided to adopt adult piggies, which get often overlooked. Larger boars can be that weight and not be overweight; my own Pioden weighs that and is certainly not overweight for his size!

Please check their heft around the ribs, following our advice in this guide here; the guide also includes tips on exercise for heavy piggies: Weight - Monitoring and Management

The body shape, especially the bum shape, is genetically determined, which is why you can never check a piggy just by looking at the bum. Their upper bodies don't look too chunky to me, to be honest, but you feeling for the heft there will give you your answer.

Also review your diet as to the amount and nature of the veg and fresh herbs you are feeding and make sure that you do not give more than 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy per day. Keep in mind that unlimited hay is crucial for long term health and that it should be the mainstay of their diet at 80% of the daily food intake.
Veg and pellets are more in the way of daily treats if that helps you; rather than feeding plenty, concentrate on making your boys work for it and turn mealtime into exercise time as the boys are now at the peak of their lives and at an age where they will be at their naturally heaviest while they are no longer as active as when they were younger.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

 

[Idag]

Thanks so much. How much floortime do they need a day? They have a permanent 5 foot by 2.5 foot C&C cage on the floor and I remove one grid to encourage them to run around the kitchen. I put blankets down, plenty of hidies and hay but they just shuffle over to the nearest pile of hay and sit there munching. I have never seen them get above a walk let alone any of this zooming or popcorning that I have read about!

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks so much. How much floortime do they need a day? They have a permanent 5 foot by 2.5 foot C&C cage on the floor and I remove one grid to encourage them to run around the kitchen. I put blankets down, plenty of hidies and hay but they just shuffle over to the nearest pile of hay and sit there munching. I have never seen them get above a walk let alone any of this zooming or popcorning that I have read about!

This behaviour is typical for their age and for piggies that have lived in rather confined spaces. Daily exercise time is good, but if you can give them time twice daily, that would be better. Use veg morsels and single pellets to get them moving from one end to the other to get them going and turn feeding time into an event where they have to work for their food instead of getting it in a bowl. Please also check our diet guide as to the amounts (it has got a sample diet picture).
More tips and ideas to get sedentary piggies moving are in the Weight management guide, which has got a whole chapter dedicated to this aspect.

Popcorning and running is what especially babies do. Adults are mostly a lot more laid back.

 

[PigglePuggle]

Thanks so much. How much floortime do they need a day? They have a permanent 5 foot by 2.5 foot C&C cage on the floor and I remove one grid to encourage them to run around the kitchen. I put blankets down, plenty of hidies and hay but they just shuffle over to the nearest pile of hay and sit there munching. I have never seen them get above a walk let alone any of this zooming or popcorning that I have read about!

If they are older gentlemen they may well not be inclined to zoom too much unless food is involved! You can hide their food in their hideys and in paper bags to encourage a bit of exercise, I sometimes drape coriander over my hidey house rooves to encourage a bit of hind leg standing and reaching. Or of course hand feeding a bit of veg from the opposite end of the cage from where they are sitting then moving to the other end and doing it again gets them moving.
Some folks advocate an hour of floortime per day, but if you pick an hour when they fancy a nap not much will happen! My piggies get about 3-4 hours of playpen floor time twice a week on cage clean days which I think works best for us as it means I always stick to it as it happens on days when I am at home and free all day and have time for them, and they are pretty active for at least a couple of hours between their all important piggy naps

 

[Idag]

Thanks again. They are in the kitchen so I pop in and out constantly during the day and I'd say about 80% of the time I watch them they are lying still (occasionally fully resting their heads on their fleece floor which is so adorable). I remove a grid to give them floortime whenever I poop scoop so 3-4 times a day but they seem more interested in supervising me and sniffing my plastic glove than going for a walk

 

[Piggies&buns]

my two are younger, at 18 and 19 months old. Their activity levels have decreased from a year ago. We have periods of activity, zoomies and popcorning but it’s not as constant as it was when they were little (they were 4 and 5 months old when I got them). My two live in my shed (they have a hutch in the shed as well) and have constant daylight hours access to play in the shed floor. I am constantly going out to check on them and 9 times out of 10, they will be chilling out in their hutch rather than being active on the shed floor. They are at their most active when I first let them out in the morning and then again late afternoon until bedtime.