Will a guinea pig eat too much?

[DarkStar]

I pretty much give my guinea pig as much food as she can eat and since I bought her 2 weeks ago she has pretty much doubled in size. She is looking kinda fat now too. I have no scale but I am wondering should I be concerned?

This is her the day I got her:

and now she is like this :

One thing I am happy about though is when I got her, her coat was really dry and now it feels and looks a lot more healthy. Even though the pictures are taken with different cameras you can definently see that her coat is very nice looking now and not as when I got her. Heres another from the day I got her

 

[Lisajazz]

She looks alright to me and she's still a baby by the look of her so I wouldn't worry just yet.

They go grow very quickly at first

 

[Laura-CCC4]

How old is she? Weighing weekly is a habit worth getting into. I have a scale here I could sell to you if you are not sure where else to buy from, it's a quality scale, I only switched as I was after a digital one!

All-you- can-eat servings are fine for pigs under 6 months, as long as they are still eating each component of their diet.
All pigs, no matter their age, need lots of hay on offer all day every day.
Dry food ideally should be rationed when the pigs reach 6 months or so; its the dry food that can lead to excessive weight gain in adult pigs.

Fresh veggies should be given in some moderation. Guinea pigs need a variety daily, ideally twice daily. The minimum per day is around a handful; there is no upper limit per se, but too much fresh fruit and veg can upset the digestive system and lead to diarrhea. Around 1-3 handfuls of veg per day per pig tends to work best, but be wary of giving too much of individual foods as well.

 

[Wiebke]

The best thing is unlimited hay, pellets in moderation and two servings of a mix of veg and fruit a day. If she is under six months, she'll put all the food into growing. Best way her once a week at the same time and write the weights down. It is good to have a control, especially, if she loses it through illness.

Her dry, waxy hair means that she was severly dehydrated. She is getting enough moisture now from her veg, but make sure if she can really use the bottle properly. Many young guinea pigs don't!

Are you thinking about getting your beautiful Mocha a little friend? She would be a lot happier with company of her own kind!

 

[DarkStar]

I was actually thinking of getting just 1 more guinea pig, especially since it is starting to get cold here. I might wait a bit more though because I would like her to bond to me a bit before I give her a friend to hog her. I'll look into buying a scale for her. I too would prefer a digitial one. Is it hard to introduce a new piggy?

 

[DarkStar]

How old is she? Weighing weekly is a habit worth getting into. I have a scale here I could sell to you if you are not sure where else to buy from, it's a quality scale, I only switched as I was after a digital one!

All-you- can-eat servings are fine for pigs under 6 months, as long as they are still eating each component of their diet.
All pigs, no matter their age, need lots of hay on offer all day every day.
Dry food ideally should be rationed when the pigs reach 6 months or so; its the dry food that can lead to excessive weight gain in adult pigs.

Fresh veggies should be given in some moderation. Guinea pigs need a variety daily, ideally twice daily. The minimum per day is around a handful; there is no upper limit per se, but too much fresh fruit and veg can upset the digestive system and lead to diarrhea. Around 1-3 handfuls of veg per day per pig tends to work best, but be wary of giving too much of individual foods as well.

I'm not quite sure how old she is, you know how pet stores are with everything but the dogs and cats, they don't really care. Is timothy hay ok for her always? I read that other people fed their gp's better hay and now they don't like it anymore haha. I've been feeding her Veggies just once a day, because usually I don't have enough time before work to feed her. Thats not a problem is it?

Also do guinea pigs like to play with objects of any sort? I have noticed she tends to drag her food dish and chewing block into her little dome house. So I was wondering if there is anything that is good for them to play with.

 

[Farquhar]

My piggie Montgomery drags his food dish about the cage. No matter where I position it he always drags it to the opposite end of the cage. Your piggie is lovely and looks very healthy now.

 

[Laura-CCC4]

Feeding once a day is not a problem at all. It's preferable to feed twice, but frankly as long as they get a nice variety daily then that is the important thing.

Guinea pigs do love to play, yes. Try toilet roll tubes, soft teddies and tunnels. www.pamperedpiggies.co.uk do a great selection of natural toys too. Vine balls go down really well with my lot!

 

[eschimpf]

I wouldn't worry to much about the weight, the only thing I would worry about if she was from a pet store is if she rounds out near her tummy area, that could mean shes pregnant. but only time will tell that.

as for toys, personally my piggies never touch them, but then again they have each other to play with

 

[stargrrlclaire]

I pretty much give my guinea pig as much food as she can eat and since I bought her 2 weeks ago she has pretty much doubled in size. She is looking kinda fat now too. I have no scale but I am wondering should I be concerned?

This is her the day I got her:

and now she is like this :

One thing I am happy about though is when I got her, her coat was really dry and now it feels and looks a lot more healthy. Even though the pictures are taken with different cameras you can definently see that her coat is very nice looking now and not as when I got her. Heres another from the day I got her

she is such a dear little piglet! have you got a name for her? She's beautiful!