Weight Don't Know Age of Guinea Boys

[guineapiggiepie]

I recently adopted two young boars from the Humane Society. When the adoption coordinator first contacted me about them, she told me they were 5-weeks old. Cool. Although, when I adopted them, she then told me they were 3/4 months old. I'm confused, and their weight reflects differently. Additionally, they aren't gaining weight equally.

2/10:
Alfonzo- 465g
Ziggy- 404g

2/20:
Alfonzo- 580g
Ziggy- 450g

2/26:
Alfonzo- 608g
Ziggy- 456g

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Your weights seem consistent with two of my boars at about the 5-6 week mark. Piggies are just as different as people, and both of my young boars gained weight at different rates. Punkin and Scooter, now 17 months old, are still roughly 100 grams apart. Punkin was consistently ahead of Scooter by about that much.

 

[guineapiggiepie]

Thanks for getting back to me. I apologize for the redundancy: Do you think they're around 6 weeks old? It kinda worried me that Alfie gained 28 grams in a week, while Zig only gained 6. It's good to know even brothers can grow at different rates.

 

[CavyMama]

Weight doesn't necessarily reflect age, only how much a pig eats. Two pigs at the same age can be very different weights if one has a larger appetite than the other. Unless the exact birth date is known, it's difficult to know how old a guinea pig is.

 

[FailedFoster]

When I've had either young or recovering piggies (and my vet backed this up after I called the office in a panic haha - they're so patient with this nervous mommy!), their weight gain can ebb and flow a little bit. For example, I had a young boar that would gain 20 grams in a week, then the next week he would gain like 5 grams, and then next week he'd jump up 20 grams again. Same with a piggy recovering from illness-related weight loss. I can't tell you how many years inconsistent weight gain in piggies has taken off my life, but I would say as long as they're not losing and as long as they're gaining ~some~ weight, I wouldn't be terribly concerned. Of course, I've also found instinct to be very helpful when it comes to piggy weight.

And welcome to the forum!

 

[guineapiggiepie]

Just an update: Alfonzo and Ziggy are both female and Alfonzo was pregnant!

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Yep, that would account for a little discrepancy!

Good luck to the little ones!

 

[bpatters]

I'm going to say this again for about the 400th time. A weight "loss" or "gain" of 5 or 10 or even 20 grams is NOT significant. One teaspoon of water weighs almost exactly five grams. That's less than most pigs pee at one time, so you have no idea whether a small difference, gain or loss, is because the pig has peed/not peed, eaten/not eaten.

The general rule for adult pigs is to be concerned if the pig has lost an ounce or more. An ounce is 28 grams.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I'm going to say this again for about the 400th time. A weight "loss" or "gain" of 5 or 10 or even 20 grams is NOT significant. One teaspoon of water weighs almost exactly five grams. That's less than most pigs pee at one time, so you have no idea whether a small difference, gain or loss, is because the pig has peed/not peed, eaten/not eaten.

The general rule for adult pigs is to be concerned if the pig has lost an ounce or more. An ounce is 28 grams.

Here's the answer: Just an update: Alfonzo and Ziggy are both female and Alfonzo was pregnant!

 

[guineapiggiepie]

More than a little! Alfonzo got up above 700g while Ziggy was still barely 500g lol I knew there wasn't something right, especially how Alfie's abdomen and sides were growing and not the rest of her.

 

[guineapiggiepie]

I'm going to say this again for about the 400th time. A weight "loss" or "gain" of 5 or 10 or even 20 grams is NOT significant. One teaspoon of water weighs almost exactly five grams. That's less than most pigs pee at one time, so you have no idea whether a small difference, gain or loss, is because the pig has peed/not peed, eaten/not eaten.

The general rule for adult pigs is to be concerned if the pig has lost an ounce or more. An ounce is 28 grams.

Hi. Yes. I've read what you said 400 times. My guinea pig was pregnant.