What is "overweight" for a guinea pig

[vics2004]

I looked on thecavyspirit site with weights for males and females. The upper average limit on a make says 1200g. My Arnie (who is almost 2 years old) is 1400g. Is that still in the healthy range, or should he weigh less?

They have the guideline amount for pellets once each morning (I have 2 guinea pigs) , which is Cavy Cuisine, some veg in the evening (example day would be a thin slice of carrot each, 2 slices of cucumber each, 1/4 small bell pepper each, and a romaine heart between them.

Of course they also have unlimtied hay all day. They don't eat "pet treats", they must be health concious, because even before I read on here they were bad, they would refuse them.

The other guinea pig (snap) is just under 1200g.

[soccergrl849]

One of my boys is right at the limit and the other is a little overweight. I weigh in lbs and ounces so my boys are 2.4oz and 2.6oz. I would say that for both our situations that "overweight" isn't an issue. I am going to try increasing their movement during floor time and carefully measure out pellets and veggies to make sure i don't over-feed. Hopefully you will get a better educated commenter than mine but, i would say don't worry about it unless your piggy starts acting overweight.

[longboardskier]

Henry is around 1.8-2 pounds, and he's been that weight pretty much since we got him. He's healthy and runs around a lot, so I'd say that's a good weight.

[cavyinhawaii]

My Flash is 3.2lbs. He is not fat just big, and long. Guinea pigs have a natural tear drop shape. I don't think I have ever seen an extremely overweight pig.

[Toadies]

My Charlie weighs 1500 grams and looks slender, while Slick weighs 1478 grams and is as wide as he is long and they're both close in age. It seems that they are like people, each one a little different in how they "carry" their weight.

[Jane_G]

Cookie is 2.4 pounds and is shaped like an eggplant. The vet said she was within the normal range.

[paula.m.moore]

My biggest pig is 1648 grams. And he runs piggy laps in the middle of his cage and at floor time, so I would have a hard time believing he's a tubby. He is also just a big (and long) pig. I think it really varies by the pig/body type/activity level, etc.

[Tamgirl1983]

Your piggies don't sound overweight. If I were you I wouldn't worry unless they started getting big really fast , or started getting really sluggish.

[aqh88]

There is no set weight you can say is overweight. Kind of like people come in far different weights. At minimum you have to measure someone's height along with their weight and even then it isn't entirely accurate. Muscle also weighs more than fat. I had a pig over 3lbs that was solid muscle. Far from overweight but above the average. I had a smaller female pig at 2lbs that was extremely overweight. Lots of fat and no muscle. You cannot measure by a number. You will have to look at your pig. On most animals they say you should be able to feel but not see the ribs. Unfortunately that does not work well on guinea pigs. Instead you will have to try to measure how much fat there is. How squishy does the pig feel? Are there fat rolls? A really wide belly that hangs out over the hips? A big chin roll? Can you feel muscle across the shoulders and hips, just squishy fat, or solid bone? A pig should feel fairly solid to slightly squishy with most of the bone covered but not like a little squishy pillow.

The larger your cage and more floor time the thinner and more solid the pigs feel but it's from muscle. You still can't feel their bones. The difference is just amazing when I let my pigs around in spaces like the 12x24' horse stalls. They look thinner and lighter after a month but when you pick them up they feel heavier and not at all squishy. I think that's part of the reason most of mine have lived to 8-9years old. They are in excellent shape physically.

[auburnmare5]

There is no set weight. Maybe if you look around the chart you found, it may say based on a "___" pig. It depends on size. Just like with humans, a taller person may weigh more than someone who is shorter.