Weight How big can they get?

[crazy4looney2n]

Hello, I've never seen an adult cavey in person and am a new cavey mommy so I'm curious to know how big caveys can get. I have two sows between 3 and 4 months old and was wondering how much bigger they will get and what the average weight in lbs. of an adult sow is. I've seen pictures of some caveys and in the pictures they look just a little smaller than my mom's little maltese dog. I know that the size and weight are probably different for caveys but I'm just looking for an average size and weight to get a better idea of what to expect. I'm not sure how much mine weight right now. I'm still looking for a scale to purchase.

 

[GotPigs?]

I think it really varies depending on the pig, but to give you an idea my sow weighs 800 grams and my neutered boar is 1,100 grams. They are both full grown.

I didn't buy a scale right away when I got them either but now I weigh them once a week. There are lots of nice, reasonably priced scales on Amazon.com. This is the one I have and I love it-

(broken link removed)

Good luck with your piggies!

 

[crazy4looney2n]

I'm thinking about purchasing a scale from my Weight Watchers meeting. I know I'll get some looks when I tell them I've been weighing my cavies with it. It's more expensive but it has added features that will help me on my weight loss journey that the other scales don't.

How many inches would you say that your boar is?

 

[pinky]

My neutered male is 3 lbs. 3 oz (1446 grams) and my females and unaltered male are all between 2 lbs and 2 lbs 4 oz. (907 to 1020 grams)

 

[crazy4looney2n]

Now I can't wait to get the scale and start weighing them and documenting their growth.

 

[Cogni]

My two boys are big: about 1410 grams for Badger and 1305 grams for Tufty. Badger is 10.5 to 12 inches long, nose to rump, depending on his position when I measure him. (Abyssinians have this 'crouch' position they go into, shortening their body cutely like a cat.) Tufty is about 8.5-10 inches long. They are now 25 months and 21 months old respectively, but they were not that much smaller when I got them at 9 months and 5 months. Tufty grew more; at 5 months old it turned out he had another 100 grams to go before reaching his full adult weight.

It is hard to find kitchen scales big enough for them. My last two scales were not really big enough. I'm still searching for a good digital one which they can walk on to, but does not have a display that their fat little bodies cover. (that's the problem with the last scale I got!lol)

I did not know they were particularly big for piggies until I kept hearing from people who saw them that they were "huge for guinea pigs". I wonder sometimes if many people are just more familiar with those large breeds of hamster that are so popular, and think that piggies should be about that size. To me, my boys are quite normal sized, in fact the optimal size (in my current biased view). They are like small fluffy bunnies. (but much sweeter and more caressable). Yes, I think Badger is not much smaller than some of those Maltese or other 'designer' dogs.

Weigh your mom's dog and see how close your piggies get to that weight! Yours are sows so they will probably not get as big as my boys.

 

[bpatters]

I have two sows that are about 17 months old, and they both weigh about 1325 grams. Neither is very cooperative about being weighed, so that's not an exact number. But close.

 

[crazy4looney2n]

Cogni - It sure does sound like they are size of small bunnies which I think is great! Good idea about weighing my mom's dog. I'll have to do that and see how close they come to being her size.

I just realized I said I have two sows, but what I meant to say is that I have two boars currently in a 2X4 C&C cage but if they get as big as yours I'm thinking that the cage will end up being too small. They are comfortable in it now but I have a feeling that I'll have to make it bigger as they grow. I imagined them to get a little bigger than they are now but not as big as the size of a small designer dog.

 

[Sirene]

They get big! Mine boys are/were about a "grid" tall - when they stand up, their noses reach the top of their cage! StandsForTreats weighs 2lbs 13oz and Squeaksalot was about 3.5 lbs.

I've learned the hard way that you need to get the biggest size when ordering anything for a male guinea pig - hideys, pigloos, fiddlesticks, etc - the "medium" size just isn't big enough!

 

[blackarrow]

Our boys are fully grown. One is 2lb. 11 and the other is 2lb. 14. I would have no idea how to measure one nose to rump, as it all depends on whether they're stretching out for a treat or trying to squish themselves into a cozy! They're not Maltese size but not far off a Chihuahua.

 

[crazy4looney2n]

Funny you say that Sirene because I just bought one of those weaved stick tunnels yesterday only to realize that they barely fit thru it. Good thing that they seemed more interested in chewing it up instead of trying to go under it. They can use it as a chew toy instead. I'm sure it's not going to last either the way they are already chewing it up. I guess it's a good thing that I haven't purchased a pigloo yet or any fiddlesticks. I was looking at the large pigloos just yesterday and thought that they looked too big and was about to purchase a medium one but now I see that they would outgrow the medium one in no time. I'm glad I decided to wait on purchasing a pigloo. At the moment they are using hidies that I made out of these plastic containers that you fold and snap into shape. I found them at the dollar section at Target and thought they looked fun and colorful at a good price. I just have to cut the holes a little larger now since the piggies now have to duck in order to get in.

I'm so glad I asked this question. It is going to save me lots of money in the long run. I now see that I better purchase the large size items if I don't want to have to replace them when the piggies are fully grown.

 

[crazy4looney2n]

Our boys are fully grown. One is 2lb. 11 and the other is 2lb. 14. I would have no idea how to measure one nose to rump, as it all depends on whether they're stretching out for a treat or trying to squish themselves into a cozy! They're not Maltese size but not far off a Chihuahua.

My mom's maltese IS the size of a chihuahua. It may have to do with the fact that she is a female. She's such a cutie. I already told her that I was going to dognap her when my daughters are a little older.:mischievo