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Weights?

M

Mynsii

New Born Pup
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My two year old boar, Dale, is around 946g, while my 4 month old boar, Coop, is 729g

Before Coop, we had another boar, Chip, and he was around 1100g before he got sick and died. Dale has always been around the 940-950 mark, but with a very young boar quickly catching up to his adult weight, and him being so much lighter than his previous companion, and the sows I had previously owned all being around 1000g, I'm starting to worry that I'm doing something wrong with him. He gets regular vet checks, always with a clean bill of health, but he just seems so much lighter than the others, especially since he is the dominant pig.
 
If he has always been around that weight then don’t worry. Pigs like hoomans come in all shapes and sizes. If the vet sees nothing wrong also then that is pointing to him just being a smaller piggy
 
:agr:
As long as he is not losing weight and is healthy then his genetics are such that he is just smaller.
 
Mynsii said:
My two year old boar, Dale, is around 946g, while my 4 month old boar, Coop, is 729g

Before Coop, we had another boar, Chip, and he was around 1100g before he got sick and died. Dale has always been around the 940-950 mark, but with a very young boar quickly catching up to his adult weight, and him being so much lighter than his previous companion, and the sows I had previously owned all being around 1000g, I'm starting to worry that I'm doing something wrong with him. He gets regular vet checks, always with a clean bill of health, but he just seems so much lighter than the others, especially since he is the dominant pig.
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Hi!

Guinea pig weights and sizes can vary enormously. Your boy is still well within the range that encompasses about 80% of all adults - but that doesn't say anything about the actual health.
I have a large boar who would be very underweight/close to his dying weight at that weight (he is 1400g and lean for his size) and another small boy who would be overweight (being perfectly healthy and not underweight at just over 800g), just to give you an idea. Both these adult weights are still well within the range of 'normal'.
Getting too fixed on a very narrow concept of 'normal' or 'ideal' that only ever covers about half of all guinea pigs serves only to feed their owners' anxiety needlessly. 'Normal', like with humans, does not exist - we live in a wide spectrum rather than on a line called 'average'.

Please take the time to read our weight guide link below; you will find it very helpful and informative. It also discusses an easy way how you can evaluate at any age whether your boy is a good weight for his individual size (we call it the 'heft' but you could also call it checking for the 'cavy BMI').
Weight - Monitoring and Management

Weighing is only a useful tool for health montioring if you know whether you are in the right ball park for each of your piggies as they come with their own genetic disposition for size and weight.
Thankfully feeling for the heft is very easy and a quick job! Once you know what the best weight band is for your piggies you can then judge any changes in weight against their individual 'normal' without having to worry unnecessarily. ;)
 
Don’t panic about weight unless it’s a health issue.
Of my sows I have a chunky teddy whose weight hovers around 1300g and another who usually around 1150g.
These are normal for them
 
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