Healthy weight for guinea pigs

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Hi all can anyone tell my what a healthy weight is for them as i think one of mine are over weight. She has a cup of fresh veg everyday, unlimited hay and a bowl of guinea pig mix with extra vitamin c. She has exercise outside in a run which is on slabs and a little area with grass. if its raining i close off the dinning room so she can run round but she will only sit in a corner or follow her mate round for about 5 minutes then she wants to go back in the cage i know this as she will try to escape from the closed of area and she will not stop squeaking until i pick her up and she is back in her cage. I weighed her tonight an she weighed 3lb 4oz is this to heavy i keep wanting to put a wide load sigh on her back side as it is huge. she has started to get to big for my kids to cuddle as she sits on two of my daughters laps at the same time.
am i over feeding her . her mate is a little big to so she is not eating the others food as well. Please help i don't want her to become ill by it.?/

 

[Laura-CCC4]

I understand your concern, but rest assured a guinea pig is rarely truly overweight. A better guide to what is healthy for a particular pig is body condition, as opposed to the actual weight. If the belly is touching the floor as she stands, that is a strong indicator that she needs to lose some weight. "Flab" (or excess fat) will go with gravity and droop down to the ground, while an abdominal problem (such as bloat or pregnancy) is within the body so rarely drops down to the floor.

If the guinea pig does need to lose a little weight, you would need to do two things:

1) Reduce the dry food. Dry food is the culprit of most weight gain issues;
2) Increase exercise. Set up a maze of tunnels, hideys, blankets - things to get them exploring. Spread their veggies all over the place so they have to move about to find them.

A normal weight range is 800 - 1800g, though a few pigs will naturally be a little either side without a problem. The large majority of piggies will sit somewhere between 2lb and 3lb. Some go up to 4lb and are still very healthy and proportionate. Myself, I have a 3lb 8oz neutered boy, he is a handful and rather like a brick to pick up!

Out of interest, how long have you had the girls? Have you been weighing weekly - is there a marked weight gain each week?

 

[alcesterpigs]

I recommend reducing the dried food content of the daily food ration.
To a large extent I regard dried food as being a treat. It gives the pigs something to graze on when they have finished eating their natural food. If pigs are given a variety of fruit, vegetables, grass and dandelions and so on, there should not really be any need for dried food. Product advertising would like owners to believe otherwise!
Pigs that have the opportunity to be outside on the grass have the chance to "work off" any excess weight, as well as gaining the fitness that only exercise can bring.

 

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Hi thanks for the info we have had pepper and her mate smarty for 3 to 4 months pepper did have a bit of a round belly when we got her they are rescued and we had them both checked for pregnancy as the both did have round belly's smarty has got bigger but not to big pepper's belly does seem to be very round and she does not want to move should i keep her off grass for a while as well i have not weighed them before i was just curious about how heavy she was as i struggle to pick her up with 1 hand now. we brought those cardboard tubes for them and she fills that when she comes out backwards her hair gets pushed forward she looks like a bog brush ha ha

 

[Wiebke]

Do you know how old they are? Guinea pigs reach their adult weight and size between 12-15 months.

I have one guinea pig who is stuffing herself, doesn't like to move to much (have yet to see her more than amble round my living room)! I have stopped giving pellets, but she's still putting on weight (at 13 months old) and looking decidedly fat at over 1200g.

 

[alcesterpigs]

Many years ago I used to think that pigs reached adult weight at about 12-15 months, if I am asked nowadays I say 9-12 months. Maybe, like people, this is as a result of better nutrition.