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Weight

Ellie-May

Ellie-May

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone,

I finally managed to weigh my piggies, woo! The scales broke last week so I had to re-order some new ones. Bert weighed 409 and Ernie weighed 397. They are around four months next month and I just want to know what people think of the weight? They eat, drink etc and are full of life so I know there are no issues. My pea flakes came (which they love) and I am giving them one a day. I give them two tablespoons of pellets per day
 
Ellie-May said:
Hi everyone,

I finally managed to weigh my piggies, woo! The scales broke last week so I had to re-order some new ones. Bert weighed 409 and Ernie weighed 397. They are around four months next month and I just want to know what people think of the weight? They eat, drink etc and are full of life so I know there are no issues. My pea flakes came (which they love) and I am giving them one a day. I give them two tablespoons of pellets per day
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They were measured in Grams and I think converted would be 0.409kg and 0.397kg
 
You don’t need to do anything. They don’t need help gaining weight.
Feed them in the recommended portion sizes (definitely do not increase pellets, they are not a main part of their diet, they should be regarded as supplementary only and kept limited) and ensure they have enough hay at all times.
 
Piggies&buns said:
You don’t need to do anything. They don’t need help gaining weight.
Feed them in the recommended portion sizes (definitely do not increase pellets, they are not a main part of their diet, they should be regarded as supplementary only and kept limited) and ensure they have enough hay at all times.
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Thank you!
 
:agr: With the above. Only thing I wanted to stress is that they only need a tablespoon of pellets each. And the pea flakes should only be an occasional treat, not every day.
 
Ellie-May said:
I understand. To help them gain some weight is there anything I could do? (increase pelletts) or not bother for now
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Quality of diet always comes before quantity. As long as your boys have a good hay based diet with a small but careful mix of veg and a few pellets, then they will be as healthy as can be and have a much higher chance if reaching the upper end of a normal life span.
They are also going to realise their own genetically determined optimal weight/size in their own time. Keep in mind that adulthood is still over a year away and that it is not the absolute weight that counts, but whether their weight is appropriate to the size their genes have been programmed for.

Please don't stuff them with empty calories! Give them a HEALTHY life instead and follow our advice in our diet thread.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
 
A healthy balanced hay based diet is always key to both weight gain in underweight piggies, and weight loss in overweight piggies- feeding exactly the same diet we have managed to grow an underweight piggy who previously couldnt eat because of dental issues from 700 to 1100g- and also to slim down 2 monster fatties whose feet barely touched the floor from 1300 to around 1150 and 1050g! Unless they are underweight from illness or dental problems, or overweight from being given too many pellets and carrots and not enough exercise, piggies regulate their own weight very well :)
 
Ellie-May said:
And they always get a teacup full (each pig) of veggies high in vitamin c and calcium veggies one a week
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You want high vit c veg more than once a week, or do you mean they get veg that is high in vit c and calcium once a week? Its ok, I get you now, I think you meant everyday after the vit c part and then calcium veggies once a week
 
PigglePuggle said:
A healthy balanced hay based diet is always key to both weight gain in underweight piggies, and weight loss in overweight piggies- feeding exactly the same diet we have managed to grow an underweight piggy who previously couldnt eat because of dental issues from 700 to 1100g- and also to slim down 2 monster fatties whose feet barely touched the floor from 1300 to around 1150 and 1050g! Unless they are underweight from illness or dental problems, or overweight from being given too many pellets and carrots and not enough exercise, piggies regulate their own weight very well :)
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Do you mean different types of hay?
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
You want high vit c veg more than once a week, or do you mean they get veg that is high in vit c and calcium once a week? Its ok, I get you now, I think you meant everyday after the vit c part and then calcium veggies once a week
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Yeah I mean they are eat high vitamin c veg everyday (teacup size each) and calcium veg once or maybe max twice a week
 
Ellie-May said:
Do you mean different types of hay?
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No, all my piggies get a mixture of meadow hay and timothy hay every day- meadow hay everywhere all the time, to eat, sleep in, play in, and pee on- and a handful of timothy each with every meal more for eating as it is more expensive and also not too comfortable for bedding or safe for playing in as the strands are coarser textured- great for teeth, not good to sit on!
 
PigglePuggle said:
No, all my piggies get a mixture of meadow hay and timothy hay every day- meadow hay everywhere all the time, to eat, sleep in, play in, and pee on- and a handful of timothy each with every meal more for eating as it is more expensive and also not too comfortable for bedding or safe for playing in as the strands are coarser textured- great for teeth, not good to sit on!
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Yeah I find the timothy hay I got to be quite sharp and I think that is what Ernie poked his eye on as even picking it up is sharp. Majority of the hay they eat is meadow, but I will place a handful in each day so they can eat some of that
 
Ellie-May said:
Yeah I find the timothy hay I got to be quite sharp and I think that is what Ernie poked his eye on as even picking it up is sharp. Majority of the hay they eat is meadow, but I will place a handful in each day so they can eat some of that
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Hay is always a matter of preference for the hoomans as much as the piggies- but having adopted a piggy with bad dental issues last year I personally am more likely to risk a haypoke (which none have had yet) to prevent overgrown molars (which we adopted with Blodwen) and give a fair bit of timothy for the tooth wear! Many piggies do fine with just meadow hay though, some people are allergic to timothy in fact and their piggies have been fine for years just with meadow hay :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
A healthy balanced hay based diet is always key to both weight gain in underweight piggies, and weight loss in overweight piggies- feeding exactly the same diet we have managed to grow an underweight piggy who previously couldnt eat because of dental issues from 700 to 1100g- and also to slim down 2 monster fatties whose feet barely touched the floor from 1300 to around 1150 and 1050g! Unless they are underweight from illness or dental problems, or overweight from being given too many pellets and carrots and not enough exercise, piggies regulate their own weight very well :)
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That is really good! I just want them to be a healthy weight and live long
 
PigglePuggle said:
Hay is always a matter of preference for the hoomans as much as the piggies- but having adopted a piggy with bad dental issues last year I personally am more likely to risk a haypoke (which none have had yet) to prevent overgrown molars (which we adopted with Blodwen) and give a fair bit of timothy for the tooth wear! Many piggies do fine with just meadow hay though, some people are allergic to timothy in fact and their piggies have been fine for years just with meadow hay :)
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They eat timothy but they eat more of meadow as I think they do prefer it
 
I mix it up for the girls so they don't get bored, they have plain meadow hay everyday which is in a litter tray and I add some forage to it then I have different hay racks, one has Timothy hay , another has mountain hay then I have a herby or oaty hay. I give them orchard hay and once a week they get a big handful of readigrass which they love. I probably overdo it with all the different hays but that's just my choice I like to spoil them and I love watching them eat their hay it's so cute as they look like they are choosing the perfect strand to eat.
 
Alisa3114 said:
I mix it up for the girls so they don't get bored, they have plain meadow hay everyday which is in a litter tray and I add some forage to it then I have different hay racks, one has Timothy hay , another has mountain hay then I have a herby or oaty hay. I give them orchard hay and once a week they get a big handful of readigrass which they love. I probably overdo it with all the different hays but that's just my choice I like to spoil them and I love watching them eat their hay it's so cute as they look like they are choosing the perfect strand to eat.
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They love their forage! Shoutout to piggie parcels lol
 
Ellie-May said:
Helloo! I am very well, thank you. How is your evening going?
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Good 👍. Just cleaned all animals out, took 2 hours plus cleaning up. Now going out for a drive to spot Halloween people in town lol.... Not on my own just to clear that up
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Good 👍. Just cleaned all animals out, took 2 hours plus cleaning up. Now going out for a drive to spot Halloween people in town lol.... Not on my own just to clear that up
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I normally clean the birds on a Monday and piggies on a Wednesday but spot cleaning everyday lol. I’m a slave to these animals:P but I don’t mind
 
Ellie-May said:
I normally clean the birds on a Monday and piggies on a Wednesday but spot cleaning everyday lol. I’m a slave to these animals:P but I don’t mind
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I like to keep them as clean as possible everyday, I only don't do it when I'm ill. Which is hardly ever. 🙂

What birds you got?
 
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