Conditions Underweight pig?

Cashmerescavies · Jun 5, 2017

My guinea pig is around 4 months old and he is only 391 grams. I've seen most boarsa to be around 500-600 grams at this point. Any advice?

bpatters · Jun 5, 2017

Guinea pigs are no more the same size and weight than people are, so his small size is not necessarily anything to be worried about. If he's eating/pooping/drinking/peeing normally, he's probably ok.

What exactly is his diet like? What kind of hay do you feed him? Does he have it all the time?

What brand of pellets do you use, and how many does he get?

What vegetables does he get, and how many of each?

Cashmerescavies · Jun 5, 2017

bpatters said:
Guinea pigs are no more the same size and weight than people are, so his small size is not necessarily anything to be worried about. If he's eating/pooping/drinking/peeing normally, he's probably ok.

What exactly is his diet like? What kind of hay do you feed him? Does he have it all the time?

What brand of pellets do you use, and how many does he get?

What vegetables does he get, and how many of each?

I feed him oxbow Timothy hay and he has access to it at all times. I also feed him an 1/8 of a cup of oxbow pellets, a leaf of romaine lettuce in the morning, and one baby carrot at night.

bpatters · Jun 6, 2017

At his age, he needs unlimited pellets. That's probably a reason for his low weight, and if he has a small bone structure, it may contribute to that as well. Young pigs need the additional calcium from unlimited pellets for their bones. You cut back to 1/8 cup when pigs are six months old.

He also needs a vegetable source of vitamin C -- bell peppers are good.

Here's some recommended reading:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/107827-What-NOT-to-do-for-your-guinea-pigs!

Cashmerescavies · Jun 6, 2017

bpatters said:
At his age, he needs unlimited pellets. That's probably a reason for his low weight, and if he has a small bone structure, it may contribute to that as well. Young pigs need the additional calcium from unlimited pellets for their bones. You cut back to 1/8 cup when pigs are six months old.

He also needs a vegetable source of vitamin C -- bell peppers are good.

Here's some recommended reading:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/107827-What-NOT-to-do-for-your-guinea-pigs!

Okay. Thank you for your help!

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