I have recently rescued 2 male guinea pigs, the person I got them from said they were about 1 year old but I think they are older. How do i tell, also they are rather on the podgy side, any ideas on slimming them down?
How can you tell how old a gp is?
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ILoveGilbertTheGuineaPig
Senior Guinea Pig
You can tell by their nails. Young pigs' nails are thinner and sharper. Pigs probably 3 years and up have thick, curly, yellow nails. I don't know any other ways...sorry.
As for the diet thing, some pigs are a little chunkier than others and it's normal. How much do they weigh? Some pigs on here are 1.6 kg. My boy is 1.1 kg.
But some ideas are:
1) You can put their food everywhere so they have to find their food and move to get it.
2) Don't give in to their begging (if they do).
3) Let them have more exercise time (Floor time). Maybe a bigger cage if your cage is small.
As for the diet thing, some pigs are a little chunkier than others and it's normal. How much do they weigh? Some pigs on here are 1.6 kg. My boy is 1.1 kg.
But some ideas are:
1) You can put their food everywhere so they have to find their food and move to get it.
2) Don't give in to their begging (if they do).
3) Let them have more exercise time (Floor time). Maybe a bigger cage if your cage is small.
Salt n Peppers mum
Adult Guinea Pig
Can you weigh them on kitchen scales and post pictures?
My boys are 18 months old and each weigh 1.5kg. One of my boars nails curl and I need to keep on top of regular clipping them. Other than that I am no expert on identifing age in pigs, but I am sure some one on here will come along and give you more advice. You could take them to good Guinea pig vet who will give them a health check too.
Guinea pigs do look 'fat' and podgy in the right piggie places xx>>> Dont put them on a diet, put them on a good piggie diet.
You can look on the FOOD sticky of this forum it has very useful information on what you can feed them. Piggie shopping list http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=42 They should have unlimited good quality hay, good portion of veggies (check out the veggie list in diet), and Guinea pig nuggets are the best rather than museli as they may selective feed.
Guinea Pigs need to graze on food when ever they like, they will eat sleep & poo continuously 24/7.
Lots of room to move about and explore, 'playtime' where they can have floor time is good exercise and mental stimulation too.
This site is very informative and hope you enjoy checking out all the details you need.
Enjoy your new pigs, photos would be great too
It is not easy to tell a piggy's age and is often a matter of experience. Guinea pig weights vary widely, so it is difficult to define what is overweight and what not.
Adult guinea pigs have their claws growing (they can start between 6-12 months old); they grow quickest between 1-2 years old and then the growth slows down and the nails tend thicken and twist. Some piggies have normally twistier nails than others.
Here is a thread that you might find interesting if you are dealing with chubby guinea pigs; it will hoepfully answer most of your questions about overweight:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38805
Adult guinea pigs have their claws growing (they can start between 6-12 months old); they grow quickest between 1-2 years old and then the growth slows down and the nails tend thicken and twist. Some piggies have normally twistier nails than others.
Here is a thread that you might find interesting if you are dealing with chubby guinea pigs; it will hoepfully answer most of your questions about overweight:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38805
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