Put On A Lot Of Weight

[Perkypanda]

Have been weighing my girls weekly. This week Grace has put on 67g and Bella has put on 46g. In four weeks they have put on Bella 100g and Grace 150g. This seems a lot. Am a bit worried that Grace might be pregnant. Have booked vets for a health care check up, nail trim but it's not for a few weeks. I was feeding a bit too much veg before but I have cut back the last week.

 

[Swissgreys]

How old are they?
I found that some of my gained slowly and steadily (Eddi), and some seemed to have huge jumps (Oreo).
For example in the last month Oreo has gained almost 200 grams (just under 50g a week average), so 150 grams doesn't seem like an unreasonable amount for a young piggie.
Oreo looks healthy, is very active (often at 2am!), and has plenty of space to move about.
She is 4 months old now and seems to be growing rapidly, but based on the other three (who are 9 months old) this will slow down very soon.

I think I would be worried if this rate of growth continued for a longer period, or occurred in an older piggie, or if it was accompanied with a change in behaviour, but in a very young pig I think it seems ok.

I am sure others will more experience will be along to comment shorty too.

 

[Perkypanda]

Thanks, she is about 14-15 weeks I think. Thanks for the info about yours though. Hopefully both are fine. They certainly like to eat and don't fight over food so at least I don't have to worry about that

 

[Wiebke]

Have been weighing my girls weekly. This week Grace has put on 67g and Bella has put on 46g. In four weeks they have put on Bella 100g and Grace 150g. This seems a lot. Am a bit worried that Grace might be pregnant. Have booked vets for a health care check up, nail trim but it's not for a few weeks. I was feeding a bit too much veg before but I have cut back the last week.

The overall weight gain is not unreasonable in view of unlimited pellets and too much veg. Reduce the pellets to 40g per piggy per day and veg to ca. 50g per piggy per day. Both can be served in as many portions during the day as you like. I prefer to feed 2-3 times, just as much as they can eat in one go, so they are encouraged to eat up unlimited hay in the meantime, which should make up to 80% of the daily food intake. Incidentally, if your sows are really pregnant (which I do not think) this is the diet and the amounts they should be on, anyway. Sows gain weight exponentially during the last 2-3 weeks of the pregnancy, not steadily like yours. Young piggies grow sideways and can look really fat one day and the next week, they suddenly look a lot longer and slimmer!
Our diet guide is pretty detailed and you may find it helpful: Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet

You will find that the weight will gain will settle down somewhat with that. If not and you are worried, please read our guides at the top of the pregnancy section and see a vet. In a pregnancy, high weight gain is generally accompanied with fast growing, noticeable babies with clearly visible bones, which will show up on an x-ray or scan in the last 3-4 week sof a prengnancy.