My Guinea Pigs Age, Weight & Food

[Kayleighxo]

Hey everyone. So Sunday 24th September I finally got my babies. Teddy & Bear <3 They are both males. ( double & triple checked lol )

I got mine from pets at home. I asked how old they were but the lady wasn't really sure & guessed 8 weeks old. So they will be coming up to 10 weeks old but to me they look a little small....what do you guys think? They are healthy and seem really happy, running laps and popcorning in their cage, making noises too, its so cute. They seemed to have really settled in.

This is there weight as of Monday 2nd October.

Teddy's weight ( grey & white ) 325g
Bear's weight ( brown & white ) 350g

They get veggies morning and evening, unlimited alfafa based pellets because they're babies, hay and of course fresh water. Odd treats in between like few more veggies hand fed & fresh grass. Ive also attached a photo of their typical portion food....am i feeding them to much or not enough? Sorry for all the questions I'm just worried I'm doing something wrong.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! The weights are a bit on the lower side for 8-10 weeks, and they look younger.

Please do not be tempted to stuff them with food! Your babies won't reach adulthood for more than a year, so they have plenty of time to catch up and realise their individual optimum on a good healthy diet. Concentrate on the quality of the diet, not the quantity - especially in respect to overfeeding pellets and veg! This is what makes all the difference for general health and longevity in the long term. The more hay your babies eat, the better for their digestion and their teeth. As long as they do not lose any weight and grow steadily, there is no reason to worry. As long as your babies are healthy and active in themselves, they are fine!
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet
The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight

Please take the time to read our new owners' guide collection. You should find it very helpful as we cover all the areas we get the most questions about in depth, but we have also added some important information that can prevent or at least minimise major problems in the longer run, but that newbies are not necessarily aware of.
New Owners' Online Starter " Booklet" For Really Helpful Advice

Since we have members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your county to your details, so we can tailor any advice to what is available in your area, and local members may be able to help you with local recommendations. click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. This makes it appear with every post you make. Thank you!

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

They look like 6-7 weeks to me! Quite similar to my girls at about 6 weeks.



They were about 5 weeks in these pictures.

 

[rome_italy]

congratulations! they are so cute! but don't be too worried and concentrated in their weight; maybe they are younger that 10 weeks old, but if not, consider that my sows at 8 weeks (for sure) weighed 240 and 310g. The one weighing 240g was extremely slim (they were an unwanted gift, the first owner probably did not feed them in a proper way). They have never had illimited pellets, though! that would be a BIG mistake. Pellets must be limited, piggies need to grow, not to become fat.
Once at home I actually cut off all the pellets and they are now 900g (10 months old) and very healthy. They are still growing on and spend the day eating and pooing...
hay (and fresh grass) can be illimited (fresh grass can be illimited only when their gut is used to it), but vegs and pellets need to be dosed. When I adopted the piggies their exotic vet at the rescue put the limit of 80g of vegs and 10g of pellets a day, although Calipso was skin and bones.
From the first picture I see they are starting eating some fresh grass; that is very good because grass is their most natural and healthy food. That can be served illimited.
hay and grass are important for eroding their teeth and if they eat pellets and vegs only their teeth grow longer and longer...
Another advice: under the fleece put an absorbent layer (I use newspapers/leaflets from supermarkets; but you can use puppy pads or old towels), because the fleece should remain dry, with only the poo (dry) visible.
congratulations again
(a great luck to get two healthy piggies, considering their provenience... there are horrific stories here in this forum about piggies come from that shop... wrong sex, females pregnant, piggies with hidden disease and infections... you have had luck, I see)

 

[Louise's Zoo]

Your baby piggies are just gorgeous

 

[Kayleighxo]

Hi! The weights are a bit on the lower side for 8-10 weeks, and they look younger.

Please do not be tempted to stuff them with food! Your babies won't reach adulthood for more than a year, so they have plenty of time to catch up and realise their individual optimum on a good healthy diet. Concentrate on the quality of the diet, not the quantity - especially in respect to overfeeding pellets and veg! This is what makes all the difference for general health and longevity in the long term. The more hay your babies eat, the better for their digestion and their teeth. As long as they do not lose any weight and grow steadily, there is no reason to worry. As long as your babies are healthy and active in themselves, they are fine!
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet
The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight

Please take the time to read our new owners' guide collection. You should find it very helpful as we cover all the areas we get the most questions about in depth, but we have also added some important information that can prevent or at least minimise major problems in the longer run, but that newbies are not necessarily aware of.
New Owners' Online Starter " Booklet" For Really Helpful Advice

Since we have members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your county to your details, so we can tailor any advice to what is available in your area, and local members may be able to help you with local recommendations. click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. This makes it appear with every post you make. Thank you!

Thank you so much for your reply & the added links you have gave me. It didnt even accour to me about them growing slowly into there weight. I was just thinking they need fattening up and fast of course thats not the right thing to do. Being so young they have all the time in the world at the moment to grow into there skin. I also just wanna add that as for unlimited pellets, i throw more than they eat, i have just read on other sites about giving them unlimited because they are under 6 months old.


As for portion size, should I give 1 cup of veggies per piggie or 1 cup for both morning & evening? Btw I'm from England, Northamptonshire. will add this on my profile. Thank you again ♡

 

[Kayleighxo]

Your baby piggies are just gorgeous

Aww thank you so much your piggie is beautiful xo

 

[Kayleighxo]

They look like 6-7 weeks to me! Quite similar to my girls at about 6 weeks.

View attachment 72333

They were about 5 weeks in these pictures.

View attachment 72334

Thank you very much for your reply, i think you are totally right. They do look very similar in age. Your piggies are beautiful btw, love there car racing matt lol xoxo

 

[Kayleighxo]

congratulations! they are so cute! but don't be too worried and concentrated in their weight; maybe they are younger that 10 weeks old, but if not, consider that my sows at 8 weeks (for sure) weighed 240 and 310g. The one weighing 240g was extremely slim (they were an unwanted gift, the first owner probably did not feed them in a proper way). They have never had illimited pellets, though! that would be a BIG mistake. Pellets must be limited, piggies need to grow, not to become fat.
Once at home I actually cut off all the pellets and they are now 900g (10 months old) and very healthy. They are still growing on and spend the day eating and pooing...
hay (and fresh grass) can be illimited (fresh grass can be illimited only when their gut is used to it), but vegs and pellets need to be dosed. When I adopted the piggies their exotic vet at the rescue put the limit of 80g of vegs and 10g of pellets a day, although Calipso was skin and bones.
From the first picture I see they are starting eating some fresh grass; that is very good because grass is their most natural and healthy food. That can be served illimited.
hay and grass are important for eroding their teeth and if they eat pellets and vegs only their teeth grow longer and longer...
Another advice: under the fleece put an absorbent layer (I use newspapers/leaflets from supermarkets; but you can use puppy pads or old towels), because the fleece should remain dry, with only the poo (dry) visible.
congratulations again
(a great luck to get two healthy piggies, considering their provenience... there are horrific stories here in this forum about piggies come from that shop... wrong sex, females pregnant, piggies with hidden disease and infections... you have had luck, I see)

Thank you so much for your reply. Aww, I'm glad your piggies are healthy and have you now xo

Dont worry about the pellets, i actually throw more than they eat, i just read on numerous guinea pigs sites that they should have umlimited pellets while under 6 months old.

Yep, I'm slowly introducing them to grass, feeding them by hand and they're absolutely loving it hehe.

Oh there is a large white towel under the fleece. I bought new ones from Wilkos, they had bath towels that actually fit the whole 2x4 cage! So I bought a couple & they was only £4.50 each. I'm always checking the fleece for wet patches, and theyre completely dry, the wicked fleece and towels are doing there job.

Thank you again. I am so very happy my 2 babies were healthy, happy and properly sexed when I got them. I absolutely adore them. xo

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much for your reply & the added links you have gave me. It didnt even accour to me about them growing slowly into there weight. I was just thinking they need fattening up and fast of course thats not the right thing to do. Being so young they have all the time in the world at the moment to grow into there skin. I also just wanna add that as for unlimited pellets, i throw more than they eat, i have just read on other sites about giving them unlimited because they are under 6 months old.


As for portion size, should I give 1 cup of veggies per piggie or 1 cup for both morning & evening? Btw I'm from England, Northamptonshire. will add this on my profile. Thank you again ♡

40g of pellets is about what guinea pigs eat in a day - that is about two handfuls per piggy in a day. In all honesty, you babies will do perfectly well with half of this amount. None of my suprise or adopted babies has ever suffered from getting less pellets; in fact, I have got regular compliments from the vets for having perfect adults that are neither overweight or underweight! Later on you want to gradually go down to half a handful per piggy per day. By surprise baby Tegan is celebrating her 6th birthday this month and is still going strong with a clean bill of health from the vet.

The higher amount of pellets you feed only for the first 4-6 months until the end of the fast growing stretch. When you weigh weekly, you will know when this happens. Weekly weigh-ins are great way of health checking; the other part of the weekly health check is the body quirks guide that tells you exactly what is normal and what to look out for in a guinea pig body. Between them you can catch many health problems early on before they become a real problem.
Overfeeding doesn't get you anywhere. Your babies will simply grow more quickly, but they will also reach the end of their major growth phase much sooner. After that, they start building up fat reserves in their body; most of these as fat layers around their major organs, which can pose an operation risk, not to mention life shortening.

What we recommend is to feed veg and pellets in small portions that can be eaten in one go twice daily. Use one bowl each per piggy in order to minimise food bullying. Remove the two bowls in between meals in order to encourage your girls to eat as much hay as possible; it should make over 80% of the daily food intake. Veg should be about 10%-15% and pellets should go down from 10% for young piggies to 5% for adults, about 1-2 tablespoons (ca. 10g).

We have got a sample diet in our diet guide (link in your first post); take this as the basis of your diet - we have cut out all the potential problem groups of food, like root veg, fattening grains (including sweet corn) and fruit - all of these can be used as occasional treats, but they should not be part of a daily diet.
Our long term members have all daily diets that are similar to it with individual variations. But as our own guinea pigs live noticeably longer on this diet and generally do not suffer as much from many of the common ailments like bladder stones, it must obviously work! If you can, please filter any water; it makes a real difference when it comes to developing bladder stones, but it is an angle that is very often overlooked.
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading

Please be aware that the extra amounts in calcium, protein and vitamin C that young guinea pigs need are in fact very small and are already mostly covered by a good balanced diet. You do NOT need to add any extra pellets and alfalfa hay and lots of veg. If you feed alfalfa based pellets, they get the extra just from a normal amount and do not need more.

Take your time to read through our various guides. You are welcome to ask any questions at any in times in one of our Care sections. We have got lots more guides on a wide range of subjects at the top of our various Care section.

If you are in Northamptonshire, you want to register with the Cat&Rabbit Care Clinic in Northampton. They are the most piggy-savvy vets in our area, but see guinea pigs with dental problems from all over the country. I use them myself whenever I have got an issue that is too tricky for my local vets or potentially requires an operation.
The Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic

 

[rome_italy]

Thank you so much for your reply. Aww, I'm glad your piggies are healthy and have you now xo

Dont worry about the pellets, i actually throw more than they eat, i just read on numerous guinea pigs sites that they should have umlimited pellets while under 6 months old.

Yep, I'm slowly introducing them to grass, feeding them by hand and they're absolutely loving it hehe.

Oh there is a large white towel under the fleece. I bought new ones from Wilkos, they had bath towels that actually fit the whole 2x4 cage! So I bought a couple & they was only £4.50 each. I'm always checking the fleece for wet patches, and theyre completely dry, the wicked fleece and towels are doing there job.

Thank you again. I am so very happy my 2 babies were healthy, happy and properly sexed when I got them. I absolutely adore them. xo

yes, you are right! there is a towel on your cage... but I didn't see it! ahaha!
you will become fleece addicted in a short time! there are so many lovely patterns on sale, a good fleece is very practical and piggies feel comfortable walking on it.
A very good and updated website is Guinea Lynx, you will learn a lot also about the important fact of the ratio Calcium/Phosphorus for preventing stones and kidney troubles. But grass has a perfect balance between these two minerals and just like hay (which is dry grass) can be eaten without any limit. Pellets are another story, although the firms of course prefer selling their products...
Some websites report the old rules (if I am not wrong with the date, it was 2009 when guide lines changed the rules about the diet in guinea pigs). Here there are very good advices from the moderators.
And now I hope you will soon share other pictures and stories of your beauties!

 

[rome_italy]

just a note, I was reading the very interesting post from Wiebke (sometimes her words are absolutely the same ones written by email by my vet... she writes his thought in english, but it is just the same talk!): if you live in the county where that dr. Simon works, you are a lucky owner... unfortunately piggies are not allowed into the planes, otherwise I would take a flight for going to him in case of big troubles. Piggies are delicate and vets are always expensive even when they are not expert with the scalpel... the best option we have is spending this money with a vet who sees the greatest number of DIFFICULT and not ordinary diseases/patients.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

Thank you very much for your reply, i think you are totally right. They do look very similar in age. Your piggies are beautiful btw, love there car racing matt lol xoxo

Aw thanks They ruined that mat, I must get another one!

 

[Kayleighxo]

yes, you are right! there is a towel on your cage... but I didn't see it! ahaha!
you will become fleece addicted in a short time! there are so many lovely patterns on sale, a good fleece is very practical and piggies feel comfortable walking on it.
A very good and updated website is Guinea Lynx, you will learn a lot also about the important fact of the ratio Calcium/Phosphorus for preventing stones and kidney troubles. But grass has a perfect balance between these two minerals and just like hay (which is dry grass) can be eaten without any limit. Pellets are another story, although the firms of course prefer selling their products...
Some websites report the old rules (if I am not wrong with the date, it was 2009 when guide lines changed the rules about the diet in guinea pigs). Here there are very good advices from the moderators.
And now I hope you will soon share other pictures and stories of your beauties!

I kno what you mean about the fleece, me and my babies love them. Heard alot about guinea lynx, have saved there webpage (including this one) to my phone home screen. As of yesterday I have cut down on their pellets. Still getting their tummys use to grass day by day, cant wait until the warmer months to let them graze in the garden. Hahaa yes! Cant wait to share them with you all

Thank you loads for your tips and advice

 

[Kayleighxo]

Aw thanks They ruined that mat, I must get another one!

Awww bless & your welcome. such a good idea, thinking of getting one myself!

 

[Kayleighxo]

just a note, I was reading the very interesting post from Wiebke (sometimes her words are absolutely the same ones written by email by my vet... she writes his thought in english, but it is just the same talk!): if you live in the county where that dr. Simon works, you are a lucky owner... unfortunately piggies are not allowed into the planes, otherwise I would take a flight for going to him in case of big troubles. Piggies are delicate and vets are always expensive even when they are not expert with the scalpel... the best option we have is spending this money with a vet who sees the [you]greatest number[/you] of DIFFICULT and not ordinary diseases/patients.

Dr.Simon is he based in Northamptons Cat & Rabbit care clinic? If so i couldnt be happier. I wish everyone had somewhere close to go in case of urgent need.

 

[Kayleighxo]

40g of pellets is about what guinea pigs eat in a day - that is about two handfuls per piggy in a day. In all honesty, you babies will do perfectly well with half of this amount. None of my suprise or adopted babies has ever suffered from getting less pellets; in fact, I have got regular compliments from the vets for having perfect adults that are neither overweight or underweight! Later on you want to gradually go down to half a handful per piggy per day. By surprise baby Tegan is celebrating her 6th birthday this month and is still going strong with a clean bill of health from the vet.

The higher amount of pellets you feed only for the first 4-6 months until the end of the fast growing stretch. When you weigh weekly, you will know when this happens. Weekly weigh-ins are great way of health checking; the other part of the weekly health check is the body quirks guide that tells you exactly what is normal and what to look out for in a guinea pig body. Between them you can catch many health problems early on before they become a real problem.
Overfeeding doesn't get you anywhere. Your babies will simply grow more quickly, but they will also reach the end of their major growth phase much sooner. After that, they start building up fat reserves in their body; most of these as fat layers around their major organs, which can pose an operation risk, not to mention life shortening.

What we recommend is to feed veg and pellets in small portions that can be eaten in one go twice daily. Use one bowl each per piggy in order to minimise food bullying. Remove the two bowls in between meals in order to encourage your girls to eat as much hay as possible; it should make over 80% of the daily food intake. Veg should be about 10%-15% and pellets should go down from 10% for young piggies to 5% for adults, about 1-2 tablespoons (ca. 10g).

We have got a sample diet in our diet guide (link in your first post); take this as the basis of your diet - we have cut out all the potential problem groups of food, like root veg, fattening grains (including sweet corn) and fruit - all of these can be used as occasional treats, but they should not be part of a daily diet.
Our long term members have all daily diets that are similar to it with individual variations. But as our own guinea pigs live noticeably longer on this diet and generally do not suffer as much from many of the common ailments like bladder stones, it must obviously work! If you can, please filter any water; it makes a real difference when it comes to developing bladder stones, but it is an angle that is very often overlooked.
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading

Please be aware that the extra amounts in calcium, protein and vitamin C that young guinea pigs need are in fact very small and are already mostly covered by a good balanced diet. You do NOT need to add any extra pellets and alfalfa hay and lots of veg. If you feed alfalfa based pellets, they get the extra just from a normal amount and do not need more.

Take your time to read through our various guides. You are welcome to ask any questions at any in times in one of our Care sections. We have got lots more guides on a wide range of subjects at the top of our various Care section.

If you are in Northamptonshire, you want to register with the Cat&Rabbit Care Clinic in Northampton. They are the most piggy-savvy vets in our area, but see guinea pigs with dental problems from all over the country. I use them myself whenever I have got an issue that is too tricky for my local vets or potentially requires an operation.
The Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic

Again thank you for your advise, Wiebke. I hope to oneday kno as much as you! Thank you for the vets info, have saved their number to my phone incase my local vet cant help. Fingers crossed I wont be needing them though! I have took your advise and limited pellets & veggies. I remove the veggie bowls after an hour or 2 to encourage them to eat more hay. Thanks again for your help

 

[Wiebke]

Removing the pellet bowl also means that it won't be mistaken for a loo and soiled. you also have much better control as to which guinea pig eats how much when each piggy has their own food bowl with a partion of veg and pellets that it can clear in one go. You can spot problems faster when you do not let the extras hang around.

I go back a long way, so I have had to learn a lot of it the hard way by trial and error, and by learning from my mistakes...

 

[Kayleighxo]

Removing the pellet bowl also means that it won't be mistaken for a loo and soiled. you also have much better control as to which guinea pig eats how much when each piggy has their own food bowl with a partion of veg and pellets that it can clear in one go. You can spot problems faster when you do not let the extras hang around.

I go back a long way, so I have had to learn a lot of it the hard way by trial and error, and by learning from my mistakes...

Yes that makes sense. I'm gonna be getting seperate bowls. A few times ive noticed 1 little poop in their water, i obviously remove, clean and refresh. Bear likes to walk in the water to his pellets so i've had to rearrange and thankfully he hasn't done it since lol.

Its a shame we have to learn from mistakes and errors, but thats the only way. Your piggies are very lucky.

 

[Wiebke]

Yes that makes sense. I'm gonna be getting seperate bowls. A few times ive noticed 1 little poop in their water, i obviously remove, clean and refresh. Bear likes to walk in the water to his pellets so i've had to rearrange and thankfully he hasn't done it since lol.

Its a shame we have to learn from mistakes and errors, but thats the only way. Your piggies are very lucky.

We've come a VERY long way since the 1970ies... and yet our first family guinea pig lived to nearly 10 years of age and was hardly ever ill until old age caught up with him big time.