Weight! I have a chubby boy!

[Slingy68]

This is lovely Howard! But I am worried there is too much Howard! He weighs around 1600 grams (when I get him on the scales). He and his brother Vince have some pellets each day, hay and fresh items (mainly celery and tomatoes, their favourites). Any advice?

 

[Hank288]

Is he actually fat or is he just a big pig?
I have a boy the hovers around the 1.6kg mark and he is not fat at all. Mine is just a really fit pig but you can still feel all his ribs and bits that you wouldn't feel if it was fat.

I would feel him to see if it is actually just him rather than being fat.

 

[Bill & Ted]

My son has a really big pig too, he’s 5 years old and is 1580 gms and is not fat, he is just really big compared to my too which are 1350 and 1280 at the moment x Maybe tried cutting the tomatoes down a bit as they have a lot of sugars in them? Find a substitute that they like which has less calories if he is a bit of a porker x

 

[Slingy68]

That's really helpful - thanks. I think he may be a little chubby!

 

[Dill&Pepper]

What a sweetie! How much room does he have, can you give him more exercise by giving him more time in a run or floortime?

Otherwise I’d agree to cut out tomatoes. The guidelines on the packaging of pellets always over-estimates the amount they need, so you might be over-feeding? Adding herbs like coriander is great for vitamins, and green veg like little gem lettuce and pointed cabbage is tasty without the sugars.

 

[Wiebke]

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This is lovely Howard! But I am worried there is too much Howard! He weighs around 1600 grams (when I get him on the scales). He and his brother Vince have some pellets each day, hay and fresh items (mainly celery and tomatoes, their favourites). Any advice?

Hi and welcome

Your gorgeous boy is looking rather on the chubby side!

Please take the time to read these guides here:

This guide link here tells you exactly how you can judge whether a guinea pig is overweight for their size and what you can do about it (diet, exercise, treats).
Weight - Monitoring and Management

The second guide looks at a sustainable long term healthy diet in detail, including pellet amount (which should be much lower than you'd expect) and a balanced sample diet for veg - again probably a lot less and not what you may think as we have cut out pretty much all high sugary fattening veg and fruit and recommend to feed a much lower amount.
Unlimited hay should make over 85% of the daily food intake. The more other food you feed, the less hay your piggies will eat. Important is not the quantity, but the quality of the veg and the pellets you supplement the hay diet with. Please think of veg and pellets rather as additional daily treats to the hay you are feeding than as the mainstay of your piggies' diet!
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Here are some enrichment ideas which you may want to consider adapting for your own situation: Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

Many loving owners make the mistake to spoil their piggies with overfeeding fattening veg and pellets; unfortunately the result can impact on long term health and life expectancy, which is exactly the opposite of what you want to achieve.

All the best!

 

[Slingy68]

Really fab advice - thanks all. I'm going to start with cutting down on pellets and see how that goes.

 

[Wiebke]

Really fab advice - thanks all. I'm going to start with cutting down on pellets and see how that goes.

Please read the guide links in my post; they are full of tips and information that has stood the test of time.
You need to
a) check first whether your boy is really overweight for his size (see chapter 'heft' in the weight guide)
b) look at diet as a whole and make sure that it is as healthy as possible (see diet guide with sample diet. Pellets are the smallest and expendable part of a piggy diet - important it that the diet is balanced as a whole!)
c) exercise is the other cornerstone of weight loss and long term health. Please be aware that guinea pigs have ages when weight loss is more difficult than others (explained in detail in the weight guide)
d) Don't underestimate any treats!