Diet One that needs to lose, one that needs to gain

[sweetrat]

Well, last time I posted, I think we were looking for Lucy a friend. She now has 3! We adopted a pair of sows that were bonded, then took in a stray sow that needed a home. Everyone seemed to be getting along just fine. Then about a month ago, my newest addition, who happens to be the smallest, came up with an abscess between her nose & eye. During her treatment, I had to keep a closer eye on her eating habits & weight. It was then that I noticed she put on weight when I separated her & lost again when reintroduced. Between that & the abscess, I'm pretty sure my bonded pair were being bullies.

I made the decision that she needed to be away from the bonded pair who were dominating the food. There were two of everything food wise & three water bottles. But she still wasn't taking in enough calories. Today, I split my one large C&C in two with a divider. They can still see each other but now I can seperate the bonded pair, Truffle & Scarlet on one side, with my two loners, Lizzie & Lucy on the other.

So here's my question: how do I get Lizzie to gain weight? And how do I get Scarlet to lose it! Here are their respective weights: Truffle 39.8oz, Scarlet 48.5oz (!) (Those 2 are together), Lucy 37.9oz, Lizzie 23.1oz (These 2 together). I would like to see Scarlet be down closer to Truffle's size, they have similar bone structure. And while Lizzie is a more petit girl, she needs to put on at least half a pound. She feels like skin & bones!

So what kind of dietary changes can I make for each to bring their weights back in check? And as far as exercise goes, when they have floor time, Scarlet just tends to freeze or stay in one of the hides. How can I encourage her to run around & burn off some calories?

Note- their cage is 24 sq ft, now divided into 11 sq ft for Lucy/Lizzie & 13 sq ft for Scarlet/Truffle.

 

[bpatters]

Are you sure your scales are accurate? Most guinea pigs don't weigh four pounds unless they're part cuy. Which Scarlet might be, come to think of it. See http//www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html for how to tell if your pig is overweight.

It's actually very difficult for a guinea pig to be overweight, given that they're herbivorous. Usually the only way they become overweight is if they're fed too many pellets or are immobile because of illness or injury. What exactly do you feed Scarlet and Truffle? What kind of hay? Which brand of pellets, and how many? Which veggies, and how many of each.

As far as Lizzie gaining weight, if you've just separated them into pairs, I'd give it a few weeks, weighing every couple of days (first thing in the morning, before breakfast) and see if her weight is inching upward. If so, just keep doing what you're doing. If not, you could take her out of the cage once a day and give her a few rolled oats sprinkled on some lettuce.

 

[sweetrat]

At 48oz, Scarlet is 3 lbs. She was about 40oz when we got her so she has put on around half a pound. Since she was adopted, I'm not 100% sure what her care was like before we took her in, but she was of healthy weight then. So I figure she whas been hogging the food bowl while her sister was pushing the other girls around as Truffle is my dominant piggie.

They get all the hay they wish, we use Small Pet Select 2nd Cutting Timothy Hay through Amazon.com's subscribe & save. They eat Oxbow Cavy Cuisine Adult pellets. I have 2 food bowls & they get 2 scoops (about 2 TBSP per scoop) per day. Rarely do both bowls empty completely each day. As far as fruits & veg, I feed mainly greens. I like to get the Kale Power mix from my local Sam's club. It has kale, spinach, chard & carrot shreds. I alternate that with Spring Mix of baby lettuces, greens & radicchio. Sometimes they'll share a bunch of cilantro, a crowd favorite. They gets greens daily, about a handful each spread around so everyone can grab some. I used to feed them other veg with less greens. I would choose 2-3 veg/fruits with an eye on how much sugar they had. I'd use bell peppers, cucumber, broccoli, carrots, squash, zucchini, pea pods, okra, corn with husks, tomatoes, strawberries, grapes, apples, pears, orange wedges, banana with skin, or watermelon rind. Basically whatever we were eating or I could get on sale at Aldi to keep my cost down. But if I was serving red bell pepper, I'd use squash & cucumber with it. Or if they got strawberries, they got green bell pepper & broccoli. (i.e. I always tried to balance a little sweet with more sold veg) They would get a couple of cups of fresh veg & a couple handfuls of greens for the whole herd. But after I noticed Scarlet was putting on weight, I cut back on their fresh food. I'd take Lizzie out for extra cuddle time with more carrots & red bell pepper treats to try to build her up some. But it was just after I started that when I noticed Lissie's abscess. After 5 weeks, we are on our second round of antibiotics & finally feel we have it licked. It appears to have gotten in to her lacrimal which made treatment a little more tricky. But that's another story. So as far as fresh food, they are back to getting mostly greens with a few fresh veg/fruit treats.

Lizzie's cage mate now, Lucy, appears to be the oldest & hasn't been prone to overeating in the past. So I will probably begin a small ration of fruit/veg with that side of the cage again. I'm just hoping as long as I serve theirs at the same time as I give the other side their greens, there won't be WWIII through the bars! lol

 

[bpatters]

OK, my bad. I was calculating 48 ounces at four pounds in my head. Obviously not enough coffee this morning

Three pounds is not overweight. I've never had an adult sow weigh that little until she was over six and starting that slow weight loss that older pigs get. I wouldn't worry about a three pound pig in the least. I prefer mine chubby -- that way, if they get ill, they've got a little more "cushion" to keep them going.

The only thing I'd suggest is cutting way back on the high-calcium and high-sugar foods. The calcium can contribute to bladder stones, which are painful both for the pig and for your pocketbook. And guinea pigs are not wired to digest sugar, and it can cause a major digestive upset.

 

[sweetrat]

Alrighty then! She's just so much more plump than everyone else, it had me concerned. That girl has tush! lol I'll just keep after Lizzie & see if we can get some cushion on her too. As a petite guinea pig sow, what is a good weight range for her? Most of the ones I've looked up very greatly & are a wide range. As a new-er guinea pig mamma, I'm still unsure of myself. I worked at a vet for 10 years so I'm familiar with the affects of added weight on dogs & cats therefore I'm probably overly concerned about too much girth. Just don't have as much experience with pocket pets. Thanks so much!

 

[DroidGuineaPig]

Are you sure your scales are accurate? Most guinea pigs don't weigh four pounds unless they're part cuy. Which Scarlet might be, come to think of it. See http//www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html for how to tell if your pig is overweight.

It's actually very difficult for a guinea pig to be overweight, given that they're herbivorous. Usually the only way they become overweight is if they're fed too many pellets or are immobile because of illness or injury. What exactly do you feed Scarlet and Truffle? What kind of hay? Which brand of pellets, and how many? Which veggies, and how many of each.
As far as Lizzie gaining weight, if you've just separated them into pairs, I'd give it a few weeks, weighing every couple of days (first thing in the morning, before breakfast) and see if her weight is inching upward. If so, just keep doing what you're doing. If not, you could take her out of the cage once a day and give her a few rolled oats sprinkled on some lettuce.

My pig is 4.1

 

[lunarminx]

Three pounds is not big at all. Unless you think they are pregnant, never worry about weight unless they are losing weight.

 

[sweetrat]

Since we were discussing food, I took a picture of breakfast for the girls today. Each plate & cabbage feeds 2 sows. How's that look? When I give Lizzie her meds in the evening, she gets a sweet treat like strawberries with tops or grapes.

 

[bpatters]

Don't overdo the fruit. Guinea pigs don't process sugar well, and sugar can upset the balance of bacteria in the digestive tract and cause all sorts of digestive problems.

And just as an FYI, you don't have to chop peppers that small. There are a whole bunch of us that think that chopping food in small pieces makes it more likely for them to choke. I just cut peppers in enough pieces so that each pig has a chance of getting some, and call that done.

 

[sweetrat]

So a few oats with lettuce would be the better treat?

 

[scoottie]

I would say try forage

 

[bpatters]

It's very hard to make an adult guinea pig gain weight. Now that she's not in the cage with the guinea hog, I'd just feed her normally and see if she gains weight on her own. Weigh her regularly in the morning before breakfast (you get the most pig weight and least food weight at that time), and see how she's doing in a couple of weeks. If she isn't gaining, then you can try the oats and lettuce.