A good diet to stick to

[CavyTimothy]

Ok I weighed my Guinea Pig and he is over weight. He is 3 pounds. I want a diet that I can stick to and will work. I haven't really seen any good dieting things. I'm planing on starting the diet as soon as I get a nice diet for Oliver. I want him to be healthy and happy, but in this I don't think he is.


P.S. Oliver's belly is huge

[lissie]

How much does he weigh? What brand of pellets are you feeding? The best ones are Kleenmama's and Oxbow. You should limit their pellets to 1/8 cups per pig per day.

[blackarrow]

It's very hard to use weight alone as an indicator that your pig is overweight. I mean, if you heard a person was 325 lbs., you'd probably think they were desperately in need of a diet - but when you found out the person was Shaquille O'Neal you'd realize it can be a very fit weight for someone 7'1"! My boars are 2 lb. 14 oz. and 2 lb. 11 oz. and most people who see them think they're the biggest fellas they've ever seen, but then again, we haven't yet found someone who was feeding their pigs an appropriate diet.

Is he active? If he's a solo pig, as it sounds, probably the very best fitness change you could make for him would be to get him a buddy to race around with.

[ferndalezoo]

I'm not aware of a "safe diet" for a pig. My 4 boars range from a pound and a half to over 4 lbs. The 4 lbser is pretty heavy, the two smaller ones are not at all underweight. They're just smaller pigs. Be sure you're feeding a high quality pellet, and limiting it to 1/8-1/4 cup per pig per day. Unlimited grass hay per day, and be sure that you're not feeding an excess of starchy veggies (like carrots) or too much fruit.

[CavyTimothy]

I have oxbow Oliver does have a buddy. He loves to chase him around. He popcorns and wheeks really loud for his veggies. I put 1/4 for both pigs and don't refill the pellets but refill the hay.

[Paula]

I agree with the suggestion of exercise. Does he get floor time regularly?

It doesn't sound like you're overfeeding him and I wonder if he's not overweight but just a larger pig. I have males that range from 2 to 3 1/2 lbs. And really, none of them is under/overweight, they just have different sized "frames."

Also, are you weighing regularly? I ask because it sounded like you hadn't been, and if you aren't, you should be weighing at least once a week to monitor for changes because sometimes the only indication of illness in pigs is weight loss.

[CavyTimothy]

Yes they do get exercise. I don't weigh regularly because we had to find our kithen scale. I will weigh him tomorrow and see how much now I'm thinking he may just be a large pig.