• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Underweight guinea pig

Rachel Daniels

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
20
Reaction score
15
Points
125
Hey guys I just took in a guinea pig from my friend and she's 3-4 months old shes very skinny and seems to be hungry but I don't know what to feed her and how to take care of her. I have 2 other guineas but they're completely fine. But this new one weighs just 287 grams. Please help me. Thanks. 1539609004904-1402071147.webp
 
That does seem small for her age? Just try to tempt her to get as much food down as possible. Plenty of unlimited hay, veggies maybe cut up small, or strips using potato peeler? Porrage oats are good for fattening up piggies. Pellets, you can mush them up a bit if that’s more acceptable for her. Maybe a check up with a piggie savvy vet may shine a light on why she is so small, certainly do this if she is not eating properly, there may be a dental problem. Take time to watch her feed, is she struggling to eat? Do she seem healthy overall?

Hopefully she puts on weight soon, poor little mite x
 
She’s a beauty.
You might want to help with a bit of syringe feeding until she’s eating properly on her own.
Mushed up pellets will work.
Make sure she has access to unlimited hay and some vegetables plus fresh water.

As she’s so small and new to you a vet check could be a good idea
 
Be careful of feeding to many veggies if she is not used to them. It could cause diarrhea. I'm sure one of the forum experts will be along soon to offer some advice.
 
For the most part, if theres no health reason as to why shes underweight, your best bet is to just feed her normally. Unlimited hay in a nice pile on the floor for her so it's easy to reach, a good variety of nutritious veggies, id hold off on watery ones such as lettuce, cucumber etc until you're seeing she's eating lots of hay, root veg is good for weight gain, carrot and beetroot (raw) especially so giving those twice a week or so would be good.. And 1/8 of a cup of pellets. Remember you're wanting her to put on healthy weight, rather than fat so high calorie foods arent necessarily going to help, plus putting on too much weight too quickly can make her poorly, there is something called re feeding syndrome which has something to do with the glucose in blood, so nice gentle weight gain will help keep everything in sync. Alfalfa hay will help if you can get hold of it, it is higher in protein than grass hay so will help her build muscle mass back up, but contuinue offering grass hay alongside this. If you can't find the hay itself, alfalfa based pellets are ok to feed until they're about 6 months old.
Her rough coat could well be due to malnutrition so some feedings of critical care will also help, especially the fine grind as you can mix it thicker and get more nutrition into them in smaller amounts. You can mix in some raw rolled oats or wheat bran but not too much, just a little pinch will do.

With any luck, with proper care she should be healthy and happy in no time. Probiotics may also help, fibreplex, proC, biolapis are good ones if you're in the UK.
 
I love the feeling of imagining this lucky pig going from like malnourished to living like a king . I have done it before for a school pig i rescued. I could feel his fur getting smoother and smoother on the good diet and him becoming much more energetic
 
She’s a beauty.
You might want to help with a bit of syringe feeding until she’s eating properly on her own.
Mushed up pellets will work.
Make sure she has access to unlimited hay and some vegetables plus fresh water.

As she’s so small and new to you a vet check could be a good idea
Thank you! She's very hungry and is eating ev
For the most part, if theres no health reason as to why shes underweight, your best bet is to just feed her normally. Unlimited hay in a nice pile on the floor for her so it's easy to reach, a good variety of nutritious veggies, id hold off on watery ones such as lettuce, cucumber etc until you're seeing she's eating lots of hay, root veg is good for weight gain, carrot and beetroot (raw) especially so giving those twice a week or so would be good.. And 1/8 of a cup of pellets. Remember you're wanting her to put on healthy weight, rather than fat so high calorie foods arent necessarily going to help, plus putting on too much weight too quickly can make her poorly, there is something called re feeding syndrome which has something to do with the glucose in blood, so nice gentle weight gain will help keep everything in sync. Alfalfa hay will help if you can get hold of it, it is higher in protein than grass hay so will help her build muscle mass back up, but contuinue offering grass hay alongside this. If you can't find the hay itself, alfalfa based pellets are ok to feed until they're about 6 months old.
Her rough coat could well be due to malnutrition so some feedings of critical care will also help, especially the fine grind as you can mix it thicker and get more nutrition into them in smaller amounts. You can mix in some raw rolled oats or wheat bran but not too much, just a little pinch will do.

With any luck, with proper care she should be healthy and happy in no time. Probiotics may also help, fibreplex, proC, biolapis are good ones if you're in the UK.
Thank you so much. She's eating alright. I have no hay at the moment and can't get any right now but I have some veggies. I also need to know how often I need to feed her (time intervals) cuz I don't want her to eat so much and end with indigestion.
 
I love the feeling of imagining this lucky pig going from like malnourished to living like a king . I have done it before for a school pig i rescued. I could feel his fur getting smoother and smoother on the good diet and him becoming much more energetic
Haha thank you for the ray of hope. I really am praying that she'll be okay ❤
 
That does seem small for her age? Just try to tempt her to get as much food down as possible. Plenty of unlimited hay, veggies maybe cut up small, or strips using potato peeler? Porrage oats are good for fattening up piggies. Pellets, you can mush them up a bit if that’s more acceptable for her. Maybe a check up with a piggie savvy vet may shine a light on why she is so small, certainly do this if she is not eating properly, there may be a dental problem. Take time to watch her feed, is she struggling to eat? Do she seem healthy overall?

Hopefully she puts on weight soon, poor little mite x
Heya thank you so much! I also need some help in knowing how often I need to feed her you know time intervals so that she doesn't eat everything and end up with indigestion. Thank you again!
 
Whereabouts in the world are you? Maybe someone on the forum could help you find a local source.

Hay (or grass) really should make up the majority of a guinea pig's diet - 80% or so. But grass can also cause issues if they get too much too soon when they're not used to it, so hay is the go-to for hungry piggies and should really be freely available all the time.

Do you have any pellets? If so, what kind? What the best thing to do is re. spreading food out if you don't have hay or grass on tap I'm really not sure :(
 
Whereabouts in the world are you? Maybe someone on the forum could help you find a local source.

Hay (or grass) really should make up the majority of a guinea pig's diet - 80% or so. But grass can also cause issues if they get too much too soon when they're not used to it, so hay is the go-to for hungry piggies and should really be freely available all the time.

Do you have any pellets? If so, what kind? What the best thing to do is re. spreading food out if you don't have hay or grass on tap I'm really not sure :(
I live in India. I have 2 other guineas pigs and they healthy and happy. I'll get the hay as soon as possible because my guineas ate up everything hehe. Thank you for the advice!
 
Heya thank you so much! I also need some help in knowing how often I need to feed her you know time intervals so that she doesn't eat everything and end up with indigestion. Thank you again!
with hay i put fresh piles in in the morning and again in the evening, veg i do twice a day morning and night. Keep the water fresh too. I do once a day with water, but if its hot weather il do it twice
 
I live in India. I have 2 other guineas pigs and they healthy and happy. I'll get the hay as soon as possible because my guineas ate up everything hehe. Thank you for the advice!
Try to keep hay in stock at all times. Its easier for you and better for the guinea
 
I love the feeling of imagining this lucky pig going from like malnourished to living like a king . I have done it before for a school pig i rescued. I could feel his fur getting smoother and smoother on the good diet and him becoming much more energetic
Hiii its been very long and yes she's much better infact shes grown pretty fat she loves eating and it feel like food is a new thing for her whenever we feed her haha . She's beautiful and fat hehe. ❤
 
Aw, that’s lovely news, glad she’s flourishing under your dedicated care x Photos of your girl please 💕 she’s such a cutie
 
Hiii its been very long and yes she's much better infact shes grown pretty fat she loves eating and it feel like food is a new thing for her whenever we feed her haha . She's beautiful and fat hehe. ❤

That is great to hear! Thank you for the update. So often we never hear back.
 
Back
Top