Nutrition Feeding too much?

[KD006]

Have had my female one year old for about 3 weeks, last week I got a scale and she weiged 2 pounds, this morning I re-weighed her and was 2# + 2 or 3 oz. Have to weigh again later and make sure the scale is @ zero. Just seems like a lot of weight gain for one week.

Daily she gets about 1/4 cup of pellets, maybe 4 leaves of romaine, red or green letuce, some cilantro (4-5 stalks when I have it) and a 1/8" thick slice of apple about twice a week. She has also had grean bean, bell pepper subisituted for some lettuce a few times. All the hay she can eat too.

Not getting much exersize I put her down for floor time and she is content to just stay almost in one place, has no mobility problems can run in reverse at 100 MPH and popcorns every so often.

Have to admit she does trick us into a small bit of lettuce or celontro at times if the fridge is opened and or she hears a bag rattle and starts whelking.

 

[kittymalone]

What you're feeding her sounds about right. I have heard to keep fruits down to a minimum, but I don't think the amount of apple your giving her would cause that much weight gain. Could she be pregnant? I'm not sure what the recommended weight gain should be. Maybe others can be more helpful...

 

[bpatters]

Too many pellets -- 1/8 cup is the normal for adult pigs. And pellets will definitely pack the weight on.

Too many leaves of lettuce -- one large or two small is fine. Watch her urine output if you're feeding her romaine, and if you see white spots in the cage, take her off of it and only give red or green leaf lettuce.

She needs bell pepper every day to get enough vitamin C -- about 1/4 of a medium sized pepper is good.

Cilantro is a good treat -- so are dill, thyme, basil, and the occasional blueberry.

Too many veggies can cause soft poops, and can also cause them not to eat enough hay to keep their molars ground down. Overgrown molars is a problem you definitely don't want to have, so keep the veggie input to about a cup per day.

That's a good question about her possibly being pregnant. Has she been with a male? If her recent weight gain wasn't just because you weighed her at a different time of day (after breakfast on the second weighing, before breakfast on the first), then that may well signify pregnancy.

 

[KD006]

from what I was told this was a solo female in a clasroom, I could have been lied to to get me to take the GP, I can check the phone # for a name and ask around this is a small community of 1200 so I doubt I was lied to.

She devoures hay, so I may just be providing way to much vegies over the day have to get a silent refrig door LOL so we don't herar whelking every other time it is opened


I will re-weigh again later today possibly just did not have the scale zeroed

 

[bpatters]

Uh, good luck on the "no wheeking when the refrigerator door is opened thing." Ours wheek every time you walk toward the kitchen. Short of starving to death ourselves, I don't see any way to fix that! Oh. Maybe eat out all the time -- sounds like a plan to me!

 

[Senamian]

lol!! I was going to say... Mine wheek everytime the fridge opens, the sound of the fridge opening, opening a container and moving a grocery bag x.x

Well, how much veggies are you feeding?

 

[KD006]

Yes seems I have been giving mayby 3-4 large leaves of lettuce a day the past week, but I have also been groggy and sleeping a lot so I never know if the BF has fed here also, so we have probably been giving double feedings

Hope that is it and she is not preg, at a year old that could become expensive

 

[Senamian]

Okay, well, I think it is a cup per serving... I think you and your bf need to get a feeding schedule lol that way you don't end up over feeding her. If you over feed her veggies, her poo may become soft. if so, you need to cut back.

If you take her to a vet for a check up, he might be able to tell you if she is pregnant or not. I personally do not know they signs.

 

[bpatters]

KD006, maybe you can prepare the meals ahead of time and just put them in the fridge -- that way you and your boy friend can just check to see if they've been fed the proper number of meals for the time of day. Much better than over-feeding the veggies. I prepare meals ahead of time when we're leaving ours with a pet sitter.

If she's been a classroom pig, she's not likely pregnant, but you'll be able to tell for sure about 2-3 weeks before delivery. You can begin to feel the pups by then, and see them moving, and just before delivery, hear them chattering their teeth.

 

[Cavalicious]

Just a general question. If it's one cup per serving is that a *packed* cup? I give my pigs three servings of veggies. In the morning it's cilantro; for lunch, it's herb/spring mix; for dinner, parsley. Every night, the big one wheeks for a slice of orange when I have one myself. Since my home office (their residence) is far away from the kitchen, they wheek practically like an alarm clock for their veggie times, whether or not they hear my voice. If I'm in the office with them (which is often), they'll only wheek at the hour they know they're due. I would say I feed them a bunch of cilantro or parsley each time (the amount you see at the grocery store). Is that too much for two pigs? I only give them the diet that the rescue person told me they were used to.

They have timothy hay and orchard hay all the time. And I only fill the pellet bowls (1/2 cup total) once a week.

 

[bpatters]

I don't pack things into a cup, and I don't generally measure the leafy things -- just sort of guesstimate. I measure the things I cut in chunks -- tomatoes, carrots, squash, bell pepper, etc., up to about 3/4 cupful. Then I throw on some cilantro and corn husks and silks. In the morning they get lettuce leaves.

 

[KD006]

Looking at the cup I measure pellets in I just checked and it is a 4 oz measure so even when I was only filling half way morning and night she was getting half a cup of pellets a day! I was thinking it was less but it is a recycled apple sauce container, have to get a smaller 1 oz condiment cup to use from the resturant down the road.

Time of day when I weighed her first is unknown so I will take that into account for future weigh in's. As far as her possably being pregnant, who knows lots of classroom pigs go home with a student on weekends and lord knows what goes on then, play date with a friends GP could happen.

Any chance I could gain a clue listinging with a stethoscope to her belly? I have a good 3M/Littmann dual bell stethoscope I use for monotoring BF's blood pressure. Not sure I could hear much that way as 280 BPM pulse rate is going to be a buzz.

 

[bpatters]

Half a cup of pellets is 3/8 of a cup too much.

And no, you can't tell anything by listening to the belly with a stethoscope. If you're curious enough to spend the money for an ultrasound, you can tell that way. Or just wait.

 

[Petlovr]

Here's an idea-Hang a calendar, and make a mark every time you feed the piggie, that way you can check to see if she's being over-fed. Hope that helps

 

[Crystalkate]

I just had a bad thought. The people I got Carliee from breed rabbits. I know she had a cage mate that they were not giving away. They said she was a girl as well. I bonded with Carliee anyway. I had to wash her belly last night because she dragged herself through pee at my neighbors house during a play date while I was cleaning their cage. She felt much larger than when I got her. I was laughing to my husband telling him how much she has truly become a "pig" in the past two months. I am hoping it's because she is taken care of so much better than before. Now it's going to be stuck in my mind. I will be praying for the both of our pigs. NO babies hopefully!

 

[Piglicious]

half a cup is 4/8ths(2/8ths in a 1/4 cup) but yes too many pellets. i have 5 girls ranging from 1 month to 2.5 years in age and they eat a little over 5/8ths of a cup between all of them.

 

[CruisersMommy]

am i feeding mine to much?? I give my a super small handful of lettuce 2 and 1/2 small slices of bell pepper. parsley, 2-3 spinach leafs, and sometimes orange only a slice. And pellets and hay? this is for the whole day.