Diet Chubby Piggy

Flower was overweight. I gave her floor time in a different room each day for one hour. Now she has lost 2 ounces!

My guinea pig was really chubby when I first got her. I realized it is the fact that her previous owner didn't exercise her well and was feeding her a food brand that contained seeds and fruits (which can cause a guinea pig to gain fat as well.).
I suggest maybe changing your food brand if it contains seeds and fruits or whole corn. Also if you two are well bonded, try taking Scooter out of the cage and spending floor time. Try to get him to run around a little bit. The best way for a guinea pig to get exercise is to put him/her outside. Just make sure you watch him because of predators. Make sure the area he is in isn't sprayed with pesticides either.
Putting him in the grass will make him want to explore the area. He'll be getting good exercise by doing this.
I did this with Willow and changed her food and she is almost at a normal weight. Hope this helps!

How much does your piggy weigh? All piggies are chubby, it's their body type.

Each pig should get a cup of veggies a day, 1/8-1/6 of a cup of pellets and an unlimited supply of long strand grass hay.
Start feeding the correct amount of food, it isn't necessary for a guinea pig to lose weight and they definitely shouldn't be going on "diets", and you definitely shouldn't be cutting out things (Like pellets) or modifying the above diet. Guinea pigs, like humans, have different body types and shapes, he could just be chunky.

What kind of pellets are you feeding, and how large is the cage?

It's in a pig's nature to be a little chubby. Take her to the vet for a check up and the vet will tell you if he thinks its a concern. Remember just because you think he's a bit chubby doesn't mean you should take away his food. Always offer unlimited hay, 1/8 cup of pellets that do not contain nuts or seeds, and 1 cup of different veggies. Do not give fruit to an overweight pig. It is too sugary. Give bell pepper if you are concerned about his vitamin C.

Alexis Marie said:

It appears I have over fed my Scooter and he has put on some unnecessary weight. I'm guessing the easiest way to take care of that is to cut down on the pellets which I have started to do a little while ago.
​I feel like such a crappy pig parent right now l o l.. :/
Anyone have any experience with chubby piggies and your success with weight loss? I wonder how long it will take for him to slim down a bit.

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I want to be truthful, this post made me think of an old patient that never thought you could be too thin and the same went for her pets, even her goats she claimed had too big of a belly, we know goats do anyways. She had a few starve to death/died of malnutrition. Yes she was not all there but I see boney animals all the time, not just see the ribs but boney. You do realize Guinea Pigs are mostly chubby, lean is the rare one. My heaviest pig is not the fattest looking pig.

My two 6-7 month old weigh
Huggle - 1037
Muggle - 1072
The 3 1/2 year old weigh
Knock Knock( who looks the fattest) - 1217
Who's There- 1365( he's the only one I think may need to lose weight but he was losing because of bullying so once he started to gain, I let it go a bit.


Please don't starve your piggies. The skinny pigs you see at petshops are very young piggies.

lunarminx said:

I want to be truthful, this post made me think of an old patient that never thought you could be too thin and the same went for her pets, even her goats she claimed had too big of a belly, we know goats do anyways. She had a few starve to death/died of malnutrition. Yes she was not all there but I see boney animals all the time, not just see the ribs but boney. You do realize Guinea Pigs are mostly chubby, lean is the rare one. My heaviest pig is not the fattest looking pig.

My two 6-7 month old weigh
Huggle - 1037
Muggle - 1072
The 3 1/2 year old weigh
Knock Knock( who looks the fattest) - 1217
Who's There- 1365( he's the only one I think may need to lose weight but he was losing because of bullying so once he started to gain, I let it go a bit.


Please don't starve your piggies. The skinny pigs you see at petshops are very young piggies.

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Thank you so much for your input. What made me think he was over weight was the fact that I was looking at pictures of him from when he was younger, and he was slimmer (though not bony). I weighed Scootie the other day and he was 1.09 kg, so compared to your pigs he should be absolutely fine..
I am having the opposite problem with my other pig, Chichii.. He is horribly under weight due to his battle with bladder stones, and force feeding him is so difficult. I continue to try though.

Thanks everyone for the input. I have always worried about over weight pets since my childhood cat had diabetes and not a very happy life due to her weight. It's always bothered me.
I feed cavy cuisine pellets, but its almost always been more free choice than a measured amount. I measure now. They always get unlimited Timothy hay and currently I am trying to feed veggies low in calcium due to my stone prone pig.
Someone asked about my cage set-up, this is what I currently have and all the animals love it.

There is also a couple chairs in the middle now with a blanket over it that they all like to sleep and eat under. Also, that is Scooter in the rabbit cage hanging out with Artimis.

Its good to know that Scooter is fine, but now more disheartening to know that Chichii is more underweight than I thought I am going to try to find some pedialyte to mix with his critical care and see if that helps..

1.09kg?! That's only 1090 grams! My pig Goliath is 1440 grams (that's 1.44 kg!)
He's not chubby either according to the vet. Just a big pig!

Oh his weight sounds just fine as long as he's active, alert & otherwise healthy. I have a stocky 1230g sow, and she's short! Any chance you could post a larger pigture of the little guy?

I would avoid letting him interact with the rabbit however, a tiny kick can kill a pig & rabbits carry bacteria which can cause URIs in pigs.

agirlwithink said:

1.09kg?! That's only 1090 grams! My pig Goliath is 1440 grams (that's 1.44 kg!)
He's not chubby either according to the vet. Just a big pig!

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Yeah, I think he is the right weight given everyones input.. Both my pigs never grew to be any great size, they're pretty small in length, so he is definitely not underweight, but definitely not overweight either it seems.. He just kind of rounds out a lot when he lays down

My vet had mentioned that overweight pigs end up looking like sausages. If they still have a little shape then they are okay.

HannibalLecter said:

Oh his weight sounds just fine as long as he's active, alert & otherwise healthy. I have a stocky 1230g sow, and she's short! Any chance you could post a larger pigture of the little guy?

I would avoid letting him interact with the rabbit however, a tiny kick can kill a pig & rabbits carry bacteria which can cause URIs in pigs.

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I am at work in my lunch right now, but when I get home this evening I will take a pic of him.
I don't let them spend too much time with the rabbit since the whole kicking thing is bothersome, I didn't know about the passing of URIs though.. That's good to know!

They're called Guinea pigs for a reason.

I agree, piggies tend to be chubby. I have one boar that is 1440 grams!

Please do not put your pig with a rabbit- ever. Even if it's one minute you are still risking SO much.

Just give them an hour or 2 of floor time every day. If you have a big room, put your pig in there after piggy proofing the place. Let them run around. If they won't, bribe them with a carrot or something. Lol. You should do this every day for the rest of your pig's life if you don't already.

@Alexis Marie , sorry to bother but is that a Guinea pig in a cage with a rabbit? I have heard that's not a good idea...

edit: sorry! I didn't realize that other people had already mentioned it

I keep hearing this and I know there's a danger but my sister had two rabbits and two pigs live together for over 5 years. Never a problem.