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Normal Weight Gain?

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QueenCupcake

QueenCupcake

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hey! I rescued my piggie Sheldon about a month ago and have been learning about pigs fast. We did our first weight check one week ago and he was 20.90 oz and today he is 23.20 oz. Is 2.3 oz an okay weight gain? He is about 5 moths old we think and seems healthy. He is active and has 2 hours floor time a day in a large kiddie pool I set up for him inside. He has a large enough cage he runs laps sometimes. I feed hay which is always available. A 1/4 cup of pellets a day which he never finishes and I dump the excess every day when I clean his cage. He also gets a salad everyday in the morning and I hand feed him a snack at night. His salad is diverse every day as I keep spinach, baby kale, romaine, bell pepper, cherry tomato, carrot, celery, apple, cucumber, clementine on hand and make a mix everyday. The sweeter stuff like apple or clementine he only gets every few days and sometimes he gets a small piece of watermelon rind for a night snack that I save for him. I just want to make sure he is doing well
 
First I must say that Sheldon is a lovely boy. At his age he is still growing into adulthood so the weight gain is normal. Some weeks it may be less. Best to weigh at same time everyday either just before a meal or just after but don't weight before a meal one week & after a meal the next.. Regarding him not eating all his pellets, maybe cut amount down slightly then he'll maybe eat them all. Pellets should only make up about 5% of his daily intake so a little less would hardly make a difference.
 
Aw thank you! We learned tonight he likes me to sing to him. I started with the Sheldon song (something I made up) and then hush little baby then sang along with music and he wheeked and licked my face and then curled up and stared at me and yawned and laid his head down and closed his eyes. It was great! Right now I am okay with going through extra because we are switching him to Timothy hay based pellets from what he was being feed in his old home and so we need to cut them down so we can start integrating the good stuff! :-) I will try to keep to the same time from now on. Last time was before his salad and this time was at night after a snack.
 
It sounds like he has a great and varied diet. And what a gorgeous boy! Is he on his own? If so, have you thought about getting him a friend? Piggies are very sociable and tend to be happier in pairs or groups. Rescues are usually good at helping to pair up personalities. It sounds like you two are bonding really well, though. Enjoy you beautiful piggie. x
 
I do want to get him a friend but right now we don't have space for a larger cage and I won't put 2 in this cage because I don't want them squished. I do everything I can to make sure he is happy, I have 2 hours of floor time, 2 hours of cuddles, he has a blanket, pillow, and small stuffed animal to cuddle with.
 
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