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Is my guinea pig under weight

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Shannons1992

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hey everyone, i have what i believe is a 4 month old guinea pig that i got about a week ago. I weighted him last night cuz I'm concerned that he's to small. He weighted 326 grams. Can anyone tell me if this a good weight for his age or should i be concered? When I got him they did tell me he was the runt of the liter
 
That is definitely on the small side for a 4 month old. Are you sure he is 4 months old?
They gain their weight at different speeds and there is no set weight for each age, and certainly as the runt you would expect him to be smaller, Feed a good hay based diet going forward with a variety of veggies. This link will help you Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets. Do see a vet if you are concerned and continue to weigh your piggy regularly to ensure he is putting weight on.

Does he have a friend to live with? Guinea pigs should never be kept alone.
 
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If you feel like your guinea pig has lost weight drastically then I’d take him to a vet as it is a sign of something (infection or loss of appetite) it’s best to be safe and it’s always better to take him early to get checked, I could be wrong but as I said it’s best to be safe. Your vet will more than likely give him something such as medicine if they are concerned about his weight or they might give you a syringe to feed him with but you need to get him checked over if you think he has lost weight or if you feel like he is underweight or too small. Feeding him by hand could help maybe but taking him to the vet would be useful if you think he is under weight or if he has lost weight.

Question:
Has he been eating like normal or has he been eating less or not been eating at all?
 
Piggies&buns said:
That is definitely on the small side for a 4 month old. Are you sure he is 4 months old?
They gain their weight at different speeds and there is no set weight for each age, and certainly as the runt you would expect him to be smaller, Feed a good hay based diet going forward with a variety of veggies. This link will help you Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets. Do see a vet if you are concerned and continue to weigh your piggy regularly to ensure he is putting weight on.

Does he have a friend to live with? Guinea pigs should never be kept alone.
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I bought a scale for him so i can weight him weekly. He is alone but i was told hes ok by myself. His cage is right next to my other 2
 
Shannons1992 said:
I bought a scale for him so i can weight him weekly. He is alone but i was told hes ok by myself. His cage is right next to my other 2
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I’d weigh him more regularly than weekly for now given he does seem to be small for his age so you would want to keep a closer eye on his weight at this point. Weigh every few days as it will enable you to step in sooner if you notice any problems given him small size. I’m not saying there is anything wrong, it would just be prudent to monitor closely for now. As long as his weight is going up, then that is a good sign!

Ok - it’s always better for them to be bonded with another piggy to actually live with another but as long as he can interact and talk to other guinea pigs through the bars then that will be ok.
 
It’s recommended that you get two guinea pigs together but if not, the one that you get should get a lot of attention and should be held everyday and Piggies&Buns is right about what he/she has said but I hope he is okay!
 
Piggies&buns said:
That is definitely on the small side for a 4 month old. Are you sure he is 4 months old?
They gain their weight at different speeds and there is no set weight for each age, and certainly as the runt you would expect him to be smaller, Feed a good hay based diet going forward with a variety of veggies. This link will help you Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets. Do see a vet if you are concerned and continue to weigh your piggy regularly to ensure he is putting weight on.

Does he have a friend to live with? Guinea pigs should never be kept alone.
Click to expand...
I also can't says 100% he is inky 4 months. Thats what i was told
Piggies&buns said:
I’d weigh him more regularly than weekly for now given he does seem to be small for his age so you would want to keep a closer eye on his weight at this point. Weigh every few days as it will enable you to step in sooner if you notice any problems given him small size. I’m not saying there is anything wrong, it would just be prudent to monitor closely for now. As long as his weight is going up, then that is a good sign!

Ok - it’s always better for them to be bonded with another piggy to actually live with another but as long as he can interact and talk to other guinea pigs through the bars then that will be ok.
Click to expand...
I also meant to say that I'm not sure if he's definitely 4 months. Thats what i was told. Ive kind of had a bad feeling since the beginning that maybe he has a health issue but I'm going to wait a few more days and see if his weight goes up. Do you know if there Is anything specific i can give him thats higher in fat
 
Shannons1992 said:
I also can't says 100% he is inky 4 months. Thats what i was told

I also meant to say that I'm not sure if he's definitely 4 months. Thats what i was told. Ive kind of had a bad feeling since the beginning that maybe he has a health issue but I'm going to wait a few more days and see if his weight goes up. Do you know if there Is anything specific i can give him thats higher in fat
Click to expand...

Just feed a good quality hay based diet and monitor him, I wouldn’t try to give him higher fat foods without veterinary advice. You will want him to put on healthy weight and without evidence of an illness, you don’t want to do anything to jeopardise his long term health.
It would be impossible for us to say whether he is small due to a health issue, or whether he is actually just much younger than you have been told. Do speak to a vet if you are concerned though.
 
Callum Reece (Cal) said:
If you feel like your guinea pig has lost weight drastically then I’d take him to a vet as it is a sign of something (infection or loss of appetite) it’s best to be safe and it’s always better to take him early to get checked, I could be wrong but as I said it’s best to be safe. Your vet will more than likely give him something such as medicine if they are concerned about his weight or they might give you a syringe to feed him with but you need to get him checked over if you think he has lost weight or if you feel like he is underweight or too small. Feeding him by hand could help maybe but taking him to the vet would be useful if you think he is under weight or if he has lost weight.

Question:
Has he been eating like normal or has he been eating less or not been eating at all?
Click to expand...
Ive only had him for a week so I'm not sure if he's lost any weight cuz i just got him. He seems to be eating I'm just not sure if its a normal amount or not cuz again ive only had him a week
Piggies&buns said:
Just feed a good quality hay based diet and monitor him, I wouldn’t try to give him higher fat foods without veterinary advice. You will want him to put on healthy weight and without evidence of an illness, you don’t want to do anything to jeopardise his long term health.
It would be impossible for us to say whether he is small due to a health issue, or whether he is actually just much younger than you have been told. Do speak to a vet if you are concerned though.
Click to expand...
I understand completely you can't say if theres anything wrong just from what I'm telling you. I appreciate the advice! Thank you
 
I’d advise you take him to the vet for a general health check. Where did you get him from?
 
I got him from a petco. I got my other 2 from there also and i had no issue with them
 
I would get him a general health check anyway. Then if anything comes of it you can claim the fees from petc. Will you be trying to get him a friend to share the cage with? Piggies that young do much better if they have an older one to learn from. But the important thing is character compatibility rather than age. What sex are your other piggies?

ps I’m not surprised they don’t know his true age.
 
I had already called Petco and the only way they Will pay for the vet bill is if I leave him there and they bring him to their that but I don't trust them to leave him. I was told not to put in older Guinea pig in with him because they may beat him up. My other 2 are also males. I don't trust them though to put him in with them because when we introduced them to each other outside of the cage they kind of go after him
 
Shannons1992 said:
I had already called Petco and the only way they Will pay for the vet bill is if I leave him there and they bring him to their that but I don't trust them to leave him. I was told not to put in older Guinea pig in with him because they may beat him up. My other 2 are also males. I don't trust them though to put him in with them because when we introduced them to each other outside of the cage they kind of go after him
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You cannot keep three males together as that has a high rate of failure and fights, so please don’t put him with your other pair. Boars need to be kept in pairs only.

You can however, should you decide, find him a male friend. He absolutely can live with an older male. In fact having an adult with a youngster can often help as it means that they won’t both be hormonal teens at the same time.

The key to a successful bond is mutual liking and character compatibility. Should you decide to find him a friend, the best way is to get help from a rescue centre as they can ensure a suitable match. If you just buy a new piggy, then you have no idea If they will like each other so the bond may fail, and you then end up with two single piggies.
 
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