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Weight Issues Advice Welcome

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flowerfairy

flowerfairy

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My lovely rescue guinea pigs Jingle and Mistletoe had their first ever weigh in on Saturday (Jan 28 2017).

Jingle; Two pounds and twelve ounces ie 1274.379g

Mistletoe; One pound and six ounces ie 623.689g

Jingle feels nicely covered but Mistletoe does feel a little boney. I see both of them eating and although they do sometimes squeak when in a space together and are usually apart when eating they appear to get on fine.

I have only had them a week. They have masses of nice fresh sweet smelling green hay in their 32l underbed storage box which I often see them munching.

A couple of handfuls of veg twice a day between them. Celery, carrot, cauliflower, pointed cabbage, kale. Also occasional fruit, apple and pear peelings and fresh corriander.

They have a water bottle and a water bowel.

Pellets are science selective (from the rescue) and some grainless (zooplus) and a scattering of dried rose petals.

Advice would be very welcome. Does it warrent a vet visit?
 
flowerfairy said:
My lovely rescue guinea pigs Jingle and Mistletoe had their first ever weigh in on Saturday (Jan 28 2017).

Jingle; Two pounds and twelve ounces ie 1274.379g

Mistletoe; One pound and six ounces ie 623.689g

Jingle feels nicely covered but Mistletoe does feel a little boney. I see both of them eating and although they do sometimes squeak when in a space together and are usually apart when eating they appear to get on fine.

I have only had them a week. They have masses of nice fresh sweet smelling green hay in their 32l underbed storage box which I often see them munching.

A couple of handfuls of veg twice a day between them. Celery, carrot, cauliflower, pointed cabbage, kale. Also occasional fruit, apple and pear peelings and fresh corriander.

They have a water bottle and a water bowel.

Pellets are science selective (from the rescue) and some grainless (zooplus) and a scattering of dried rose petals.

Advice would be very welcome. Does it warrent a vet visit?
Click to expand...

How old are your two boys?
 
Just came online to post their ages!

They are almost six months old. Born 12 August 2016. They are sows.
 
flowerfairy said:
Just came online to post their ages!

They are almost six months old. Born 12 August 2016. They are sows.
Click to expand...

One of them is very large for her age and one of them is on the smaller side.

I would recommend to feed small portions of pellets and veg that can be eaten in one go in a bowl each that is well apart to prevent food bullying and hogging; do it 2-3 times a day. Remove the bowls between meals to encourage the girls to eat plenty of hay. That should hopefully take care of things.

I would not be tempted to stuff the smaller with junk food or unlimited pellets. She is still young enough to comfortably reach her own ideal adult size and weight in another 6-9 months before she turns adult; I've had 6 months old that weighed just 450g and that still have reached a kilo in the prime of their lives at 2-3 years old.
Just keep her on a good general nutritionally balanced diet and give them daily exercise time, and she will get there being as fit and healthy as can be! ;)

PS: Unless you have adopted from a good rescue, you are always welcome to have a new piggy vet checked, just to make sure that they are OK. A number of vets charge less for a first consultation; you can always ask.
 
Thank you so much for your reply. I feed them a few times a day and always make sure that there are atbleast two piles of everything available. I also stand and watch them eating because they are new and because they are so wonderful.

They are from palace piggies rescue in crawley on the gpf rescue locator and have been there since mid december on pregnancy watch.

I have been giving a handful of pellets between them so will break this into smaller portions at opposite ends of the cage. They had bran mash at the rescue so i have been feeding some of this which they both enjoy.

Should i weigh them more than once a week?
 
flowerfairy said:
Thank you so much for your reply. I feed them a few times a day and always make sure that there are atbleast two piles of everything available. I also stand and watch them eating because they are new and because they are so wonderful.

They are from palace piggies rescue in crawley on the gpf rescue locator and have been there since mid december on pregnancy watch.

I have been giving a handful of pellets between them so will break this into smaller portions at opposite ends of the cage. They had bran mash at the rescue so i have been feeding some of this which they both enjoy.

Should i weigh them more than once a week?
Click to expand...

Palace Piggie Rescue is on our recommended rescues locator, so you can be sure that there is nothing wrong with your girls. Individual weights can vary massively, even with litter siblings. It is perfectly enough to weigh health guinea pigs once weekly. You only switch to weighing daily when you have health worries.
Are your girls outdoors or indoors? Indoor guinea pigs don't need bran mash; your larger girl definitely doesn't need it!

The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight
 
They are indoor guinea pigs and were indoors at the rescue too. Should i cut out the bran mash?

One thing ... they rarely finish their pellets. At the rescue they were with two other guinea pigs and there were pellets uneaten in their bowl both times that i visited them.

I am very impressed with the rescue. I liked the questions that they asked and the fact that they were clearly so interested in and fond of guinea pigs.

Thanks again for your advice.
 
flowerfairy said:
They are indoor guinea pigs and were indoors at the rescue too. Should i cut out the bran mash?

One thing ... they rarely finish their pellets. At the rescue they were with two other guinea pigs and there were pellets uneaten in their bowl both times that i visited them.

I am very impressed with the rescue. I liked the questions that they asked and the fact that they were clearly so interested in and fond of guinea pigs.

Thanks again for your advice.
Click to expand...

I would cut the mash. Don't worry about the pellets; they make the smallest part of the daily diet. You may find that they eat more pellets without the mash.
 
Ok will cut out the bran mash. Weighed them TWICE this morning. Jingle is in fact ONE pound ten ounces ie 793.786g. Mistletoe still one pound six ounces ie 623.389g.

Thanks for your swift and detailed replies and sorry for making such a basic mistake. Jingle was most unimpressed with being weighed again today!


 
flowerfairy said:
Ok will cut out the bran mash. Weighed them TWICE this morning. Jingle is in fact ONE pound ten ounces ie 793.786g. Mistletoe still one pound six ounces ie 623.389g.

Thanks for your swift and detailed replies and sorry for making such a basic mistake. Jingle was most unimpressed with being weighed again today!
Click to expand...

Those are more realistic weights, but not ones you need to be worried about. Just keep to a good diet, and they will reach their genetically determined ideal weight and size! ;)
 
Great. Thanks. They have been munching away on veg and hay. They also seem to do most of their wees in the litter tray! Brilliant guinea pigs that they are.
 
I wouldn't be worrying about those weights now Jingle is lower! I thought you'd have a capybara on your hands if they were 1274g at 6 months :))
 
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