Hello everyone I recently adopted a guinea pig from a shelter that was 1.4 kg or 3lb. He was given a bowl of pellets in the shelter and it was always full. I personally give my pigs unlimited hay, but they only get an 1/8 of a cup of pellets a day. Any suggestions on how to ween him down without making him sick.
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Over 3 lb (1.4kg)
- Thread starter Sammoo101
- Start date
Hi
Just give limited pellets (1 tablespoon = 1/8 cup), stay off any calorific veg like carrots etc. and stick to preferably green veg and fresh herbs and offer plenty of good quality hay.
Encourage enrichment that encourages physical activity. Guinea pigs have a fast metabolism so any overweight will come off on its own on a good normal hay based diet that is both long term health and longevity promoting.
Please take the time to read our weight management guide; it tells you how to check whether your boys is just large or overweight (Checking for the 'heft' or BMI) and has also plenty of information and advice on how to deal with overweight with practical tips to enable the transition to a healthy long term lifestyle, inluding a link to our enrichment guide, which has been designed to appeal to all senses.
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
Some boys are naturally chunky and large, so you have to check his BMI first. My big Pioden was verging on underweight at 1500g while my Hywel was definitely getting more than his fair share being the partriarch of a group of 13 sows at the height of his life bringing the same weight onto the scales.
Claire W
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Hello and welcome to the forum. You won’t make him sick by reducing his pellets 
Bill & Ted
Paw Holder
hello and welcome to the forum
Good on you for taking him in and giving him a super new healthy home x
Good on you for taking him in and giving him a super new healthy home x
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Free Ranger
Adult Guinea Pig
He sounds a lovely big boy! I'm currently reducing pellets gradually because 2 neighbouring pairs are getting on well at the minute and I don't want to trigger any cage invasions! If his shelter pellets were a different brand to yours I'd start by offering the two brands mixed in case he doesn't immediately recognise yours as food, although if he sees other pigs eating them it will help. Some are fussier, some will wolf down anything!
When my last piggy arrived in January she didn't know the feeding routine and she was nervous enough anyway in a new home with a new boar and some feisty neighbours so I made sure there were always pellets in the bowls. I give pellets in the evenings here. Now I'm putting just enough pellets in the bowl so that by the next evening the bowl is down to a few. This works out about 30g between 2 pigs - still an excess by forum standards but we are working our way down gently! I personally focus on making sure that there are multiple water bottles (low Ca water) dotted about - each pair has 3 in popular laying/hiding positions so they should always be able to take a chug of water without having to travel too far
When my last piggy arrived in January she didn't know the feeding routine and she was nervous enough anyway in a new home with a new boar and some feisty neighbours so I made sure there were always pellets in the bowls. I give pellets in the evenings here. Now I'm putting just enough pellets in the bowl so that by the next evening the bowl is down to a few. This works out about 30g between 2 pigs - still an excess by forum standards but we are working our way down gently! I personally focus on making sure that there are multiple water bottles (low Ca water) dotted about - each pair has 3 in popular laying/hiding positions so they should always be able to take a chug of water without having to travel too far
I agree, just cutting his pellets down won’t make him ill.
I have two boars one of whom is a chunky lad and weighed in at 1515g this morning (and the other weighs 1315g). They only get a few pellets a few times a week.
I have two boars one of whom is a chunky lad and weighed in at 1515g this morning (and the other weighs 1315g). They only get a few pellets a few times a week.