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Weight Loss

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Alicia

Alicia

Adult Guinea Pig
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Hi, me fussing again sorry :)) I have a boar, I don't know his age, I got him off someone who told me he was about 1 year old but she didn't tell me he had mites, dandruff and overgrown nails who knows if she was telling the truth about his age! My guess is under 3, though I don't have a clue, it really is just a guess. When I got him in May 2009, apart from the dandruff, mites and overgrown nails he seemed OK and he looked a good weight (I didn't weigh him at the time - wish I had now) I've lost my little book that I've written all my guinea-pigs weighs in (I weigh them weekly) but I have an old book that had weights of them from August and on the 31st August Barry's weight was 1080g. He used to be a good size and now he seems to have shrunk. I can't actually feel any bones or anything like that but he's gone all long (the only way I can describe it is like a sausage) I can weigh him tommorow, I know I should have posted this after I weigh him but I'd just like to know what I can do to get his weight up a bit. He gets hay daily, vegetables daily and a cup of Johnsons food. I've been giving all my guinea-pigs a little extra food so they keep a good weight during the winter and Barry is eating almost all of his food (just leaving a few little bits at the bottom of the bowl I assume because he's full) and he eats all his other food. He lives alone, his cagemate died earlier this month. He doesn't go out in his run as much as I'd like him to because of all the bad weather we've been having and also because the grass isn't growing as much we don't have much grass for him to run on now, it's more mud and patchy grass. He still has little runs round the shed and goes in the run with hay and cucumber for him to eat whilst he's in there. I can't really get many other varities of food for him, I can have a look at the pet shop for other food for him if his food needs changing to a more high calorie one, so if there is anything else that is maybe a bit higher in calories then I could try and get that. Sorry for a long and rambling post, any help is appreciated, thank you :)
 
Weight loss in a pig at any age can be a cause for concern. However, until you can find out his current weight don't get too worried.
Some pigs do become long and thin, appropriately like a sausage, I think they can look like a rat with no tail, apologies to rats and their owners.
 
I weighed Barry this evening and he is 889g, I know that's not a bad weight but he was over 1000g and stayed at about that for most of his life so this is quite a dip in weight, and especially in the winter it's not good. I've been giving all of my guinea-pigs a little extra food to keep the weight on throughout the winter and Barry's been eating almost all of it. I'm considering changing his food, because he looks thin and although it's not a very low weight he has lost about 200g in about 6 weeks (found my weight book earlier today) I know I might just be fussing but I worry about him a lot because he's been passed from pillar to post by breeders his entire life and I should have asked more questions about him, I know that but I just wanted to get him out of there (I know it's not an exscuse) so whenever there are any changes like this in any of my guinea-pigs, especially Barry, I worry a lot. Sorry if I'm overreacting. If I do change his food what food would you suggest?
 
My sow Sway use to be just over 1000g last Summer, now she's in the 900g area (forget exactly). I'm hoping she'll put that weight back on when the weather starts to warm up.
 
could it be because his mate has died and he is stressing a bit over losing him?try getting a baby boy for him i found when my guinea age 3 lost 500g in 4 wks due to stress through the chop he started to shut down his tummy and stopped eatting in the end so i got a female as he was 5wks post op and he was 1300g before the chop then 4 wks later was 863g and is now 1103g and very happy with his new friendsxx
 
I do hope Barry is OK. Apart from the weight loss, have you noticed any difference in his behaviour?
When my Eliza lost weight (this was due to illness) I mixed porridge oats in with the dry food. It was a long process but she has now regained her weight apart from still being a bit skinny around her neck.
I would may be suggest a visit to the vet just to be on the safe side xx
 
His behaviour doesn't seem to have changed, he's always been quite quiet. I thought it could be that his friend has died. I wish I could get him another friend but my mum doesn't want me to, especially not boars in case they don't get along, I am still trying to ask her though, I don't want him being alone. I have another lone boar, Billy, but they lived together in the past and Billy bullied Barry a bit and because Barry's so quiet already I don't want him to be bullied again. For the time being I have pushed his hutch against Billy's cage, they seem to enjoy talking to each other but don't want to live together. I could try and re-introduce them because they used to live near females so maybe that's why Billy was fighting with Barry then, but now they both live in hutches in a shed and the females are in the other shed. I might try and re-introduce them this weekend.
 
Often, as boars become older, they become less aggressive. It is worth putting them back together again, under supervision. You will be able to tell very quickly if the pairing is going to be successful.
 
could you not put a mesh divider in the hutches so they can live next to each other with out hurting each other?if you have a big enough cage?

introductions can take weeks with older boys if at all from what ive seen if you do have 2 same size hutches wood ones see if you can get them fixed together end to end and get the ends that you have fixed together and get someone to take out the wood then fix mesh to it so its a bigger hutch and they can see smell and talk to each other,,
basically your just taking the ends off each hutch and fixing them together and adding mesh so they both have there same hutch each and can still talk to each other
hope you know what i meanmallethead:))
 
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