Diet Obese guinea pig that is getting fatter by day!

[Black Rabbit]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to Guinea Pig Cages Forums, I actually created this account just to post this question! My guinea pig Gummy is huge. I am not too familiar with fat guinea pigs, so I can only say this based on my limiting experience, but Gummy is super chunky and will devour everything in front of him. His brother boo shadows him, a small little black furball in comparison. I have read plenty of times about people feeding their guinea pigs "1 leaf of hay" or "1 piece of bell pepper" and this is just seems so absurd to me. Gummy devours 1 piece of lettuce in seconds, so I feed him more since it seems like such little food to him. Am I doing something wrong?? I usually feed him and his brother 3 mini bell peppers every two days and lettuce in between. Gummy is about the size of a large brick. A large fat furry brick. I adopted him and his brother Boo (who is normal size) when they were small. They were the same size when they were babies but not Gummy is 2x Boo's size!! I let them run around outside their cage about once a week (mostly because their cage is so big so they don't need to go out that often) and I have tried putting Gummy on a diet but I kid you not, this pig has an ATTITUDE when he doesn't get fed the amount he wants. Please help me and my fat pig!!

 

[bpatters]

How do you know your pig is fat? How much does he weigh? I have bricks in my cage to hold the fleece down, and all three of my sows are much larger than the bricks.

You need a kitchen scale (weighing up to five pounds, marked in both ounces/pounds and grams/kilograms). They're widely available for less than $15. Weighing your pigs daily and recording their weights is the best thing you can do for their health. Loss of weight is often the very first sign of illness.

Also, guinea pigs are no more all the same size than people are. It's very possible that he's just a much bigger pig than his cage mate.

How old is he? And have you turned both pigs over and compared the pertinent parts to make sure he's not a pregnant female?

It's almost impossible for an herbivore to be overweight unless they're fed too many pellets or have a mobility problem that keeps them from moving normally.

Guinea pigs are wired to eat ALL the time. Unlike humans/dogs/cats/etc, they constantly manufacture stomach acid, and must have food moving through their guts to keep the acid from eating a hole in the stomach wall. They need a good quality hay 24x7, good quality pellets (unlimited if they're under six months old, 1/8 cup per day if older), and a cup or so of veggies, per pig, every day. You're not feeding enough veggies, and you don't say what else they're getting.

 

[Soecara]

How much does he weigh? You can weigh guinea pigs on a kitchen scale, but you may also need a bowl or container that fits on the scale to put them into if they don't like staying still, any kitchen scale that can weigh up to 10 pounds is good for all non-cuy guinea pigs.

Guinea pigs, being herbivorous, have an extremely hard time becoming overweight unless they are confined to a small space or can't move properly and are fed a poor diet, so chances are he may not be overweight. The diet that is best for them is 1 cup of vegetables per guinea pig per day, 1/8 of a cup of high quality pellets (Oxbow or KMS hayloft are the best brands), and unlimited grass hay (Timothy hay is the most common kind of grass hay in the US).

For vegetables I standardly feed each of my guinea pigs 2 leafs of lettuce (avoid iceberg and romaine varieties), 1/8 to 1/4 of a bell pepper depending on the size of the bell pepper (bell peppers are a great source of Vitamin C that is also low in calcium, guinea pigs need a source of vitamin C in their diet to prevent them developing scurvy), and two to four other vegetables that vary per day and per season. Other veg that can be fed daily include a small chunk of carrot/one baby carrot, zucchini, one to two cherry tomato/a small chunk of tomato. Here is a page that has information about what vegetables you can feed guinea pigs and how often you can feed them https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List

 

[lissie]

Can you post a pic of these two pigs from top view? Does the fat one look pear-shaped?

Ditto bpatters, compare their private parts to make sure he's not a pregnant female.

Also see these pages:
https://www.guinealynx.info/sexing.html
https://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy.html

 

[Black Rabbit]

Hello bpatters, thank you for responding!
I didn't mean to offend you, these are my first guinea pigs so I'm still quite ignorant to almost everything about them. Both of my guinea pigs are male and about 1 year old. When I first got them they were both roughly about the same size, but Gummy has now grown to be quite larger. I don't have a scale (I'll be buying one soon to officially keep track of his weight) so I can only tell by comparing them. I never really took into consideration that guinea pigs could have different body structures (dumb moment) so i need to stop comparing the two, but I still believe that Gummy is a little too big. I feed them 1/2 cup of pellets a day and hay 24/7. I used to pack a small dog bowl with all kinds of lettuce, spinach, a couple carrots, green peppers, some strawberries one in a while (the whole kitchen:silly but have since limited them to a small bowl of lettuce and bell peppers. I sometimes feed them more during play time and lap time, but that's about it. I usually know when Gummy's hungry because he'll jump on the sides of cage and coo at me. Whenever I feed them, Boo will eat only a little and then go play with a toy while Gummy devours the entire bowl (my family calls him chunky gummy). Again, these are my first guinea pigs so everything I do is still a hit or miss. Thank you!

 

[Black Rabbit]

Thanks so much for replying Soecara! I don't have a scale but I will be buying one soon just for him, in order to keep track of his weight. Their cage is a 2 x 4 with a 2 x 2 upstairs, and I usually let them run around in another big room once a week. I always have hay available 24/7 and about 1/2 a cup of pellets a day. For vegetables I usually give them a small bowl or about 2 leafs cut in pieces, and 3 mini bell peppers (gummy's favorite). He is incredibly spoiled when it comes to bell peppers, if I leave it out or replace them with another veggie he'll throw this huge tantrum (it's quite cute). I've always thought Gummy was a little too large because, one his body size and how much chunkier he has gotten since I first adopted him, and two, he eats way more than his brother Boo. When I put down their bowl of veggies, Boo will eat around 1 mini bell pepper and a couple leaves and will be satisfied, while Gummy demolishes the entire thing (and then begs for more). These are my first 2 pigs so I'm still pretty new to all of this, so Gummy might just be a larger pig. Thanks!

 

[bpatters]

You didn't offend me at all. I was just responding to your post.

Also, you don't have to repeat the same information in posts to two different people. Most of the people who read the forums read all the new posts.

You can also flag people by putting an @ in front of their username. Many people have their preferences set so they get notified when someone does that.

If you're fairly new to guinea pigs, 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!

 

[Black Rabbit]

The gray one is Gummy and the black one is Boo. They are both boys. For a while Gummy was a little bigger than this (before I cut back on the veggies) and it's funny you mention pear shaped, Gummy's butt used to be so big my family renamed him Big Butt . Both pigs are quite happy, they popcorn all day when I'm in the room, so I'm pretty sure I feed and play with them enough, but Gummy's weight has always worried me. They are both my babies, frankly I'm a little bit of a worrywart so Gummy may be the perfect size and I'm just blowing it out of proportion.

Edit: Don't think the picture is uploading, still new to this website so not sure how to do it. Email me if you still want to see him ~ [email protected]