Conditions Sable getting pudgy.... - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**TallulahBear** · #1 10-19-09, 09:46 pm

My girl Sable is getting a bit buldge-ish on her sides. She is with a male who she is bonded to that has been neutered. I adopted them both from a rescue group for small animals in mid-august. At that time she was 2lb 4oz and my boy was 2lb 5oz. Ansel (boy) weighs about the same and Sable is now about 2lb 8oz. They have unlimited Oxbow pellets and timothy or orchid hay. They have about 1.5 cups of romaine or the kind of lettuce that is green and purple .... Plus either a few strips of green pepper or 1 baby carrot each, or a cherry tomato each. They also get a few pieces of cilantro daily. They get 15 minutes or so of floor time nightly as well as lap time once or twice a day.

What do you guys make of Sable's weight gain? Out of paranoia I sat and held Sables sides tonight and nothing was moving that I could tell. The bulgy areas seem to be even but she's so hairy that it's hard to tell.

Oh, and my husband just felt Ansel up and he is indeed without his family jewels.

**akstrohm** · #2 10-19-09, 10:04 pm

Assuming she is over 6 months, she should only have 1/8-1/4 cup pellets per day. She also needs at least 1 hour of floor time per day. You can cut back on the carrots as they're not that nutritious and are high in sugar which can lead to weight gain. Instead add in a greater variety of veggies (cucumber, zucchini, more peppers, green beans, corn silk/husks, more cilantro, etc).

**JD In Van** · #3 10-19-09, 10:12 pm

They need a lot more floor time then that. Up their floor time to about an hour and see if she slims down? Less lap time, more floor time. :)

Also they only need 1/8 of a cup of pellets a day. I'd cut back on them if they eat a lot of them. And they need pepper every day. Carrots are only a treat.

**TallulahBear** · #4 10-19-09, 10:18 pm

Okay, they are 'out' a lot but I guess it's hard to stop cuddling them and put them down. They actually do get pepper almost ever night, and cucumber a few times a week. I've also fed celery and Swiss chard on occasion.

So leas pellets and no daily baby carrot. More floor time. I'll work on those things. Thanks for the advice!

**distancel** · #5 10-19-09, 11:07 pm

Hehe the vet remarked that Buffy was a little chubby the other day =( She is a very fluffy girl so it's hard to tell with her. Her problem is that when she has floor time she will waddle around a bit then just go sit in her house. (While Avril races around exploring, but then she is a younger pigger so more prone to spazzing out I guess.) Maybe Buffy is just lazy? o_o The only time she runs is for her food XD

Good luck with Sable - I hope she slims down a bit =)

**akstrohm** · #6 10-20-09, 08:40 am

Try hiding veggies during floor time to encourage her to explore. Give her lots of places to hide. The more you do it, the more comfortable she will get.

And there is no reason to give less lap time--only more floor time.

**JD In Van** · #7 10-20-09, 08:59 am

I meant if time is limited it's better to give up lap time for floor time. As lap time is stationary.

What I do is put a baby gate in my kitchen door and put down some fleece then ALL the hidies. I put a couple of peices of veggie in every hidey so the guys will waddle around between them to get them and eventually start running cause... well they're competitive.

And I just leave them to have the run of the kitchen while I get ready for work.

It seems to do the trick.

**TallulahBear** · #8 10-20-09, 09:10 am

I need to work on better floor time. We let them run around my daughter's room and put veggies here and there. The problem I have is getting the kids to just leave them alone to explore....they always want to pick them up. I'm going to start doing floor time in the hallway upstairs. If I close all the doors the only thing to block is the steps. I'll put boxes around and veggies and make they're pudgy litle butts run the length of the hall for veggies.

Thanks for the ideas!

**Cornish Cavies** · #9 10-20-09, 10:01 am

Yes some are just lazy and need encouragement to move around lol. Was the boar a newly neutered boar? I assume the rescue kept him separate for a while after neutering?

**TallulahBear** · #10 10-20-09, 10:08 am

Ansel has been neutered for a quite some time as I understand. They were with the rescue as a pair for a while, then adopted out to a women that was looking for company for her young female pig. They didn't 'get along' so she gave them back to the rescue to rehome. The little nag in the back of my mind was what if that womens young female turned out to be a male...could she have been impregnanted then? I'm almost positive that isn't the case because it would have had to have been mid-late July and she would have had babies by now.

**Ly&Pigs** · #11 10-20-09, 01:11 pm

Floor time is for the pigs, lap time is for us humans. Out of the two, they need the floor time much more as it encourages exercise and exploration.

Giving unlimited pellets in older pigs will cause weight gain as they tend to munch on them more often. Limiting pellets helps prevent that extra weight gain and encourages them to munch on hay which they need more than pellets.

Giving a well rounded veggie diet with lots of different veggies ensures that they get all the vitamins and minerals they need and keeps them from getting bored of certain veggies. If you haven't looked at the sample menus sticky thread at the top of this forum section, I highly encourage you to do so. It has some great meal plans that contain a lot of variety.

"Thank you, akstrohm, for this useful post," says:
TallulahBear (10-19-09)

"Thank you, JD In Van, for this useful post," says:
TallulahBear (10-19-09)

"Thank you, Ly&Pigs, for this useful post," says:
TallulahBear (10-20-09)