piggy loves food

[golden sonata]

i'm totally scared that my guinea pig is overweight. he's fatter than many guinea pigs i've seen, and he's obsessed with eating. even when we let him out to play, he runs around looking for food. he weighs 3 and a half pounds and he's 4 years old....it says an average adult pig should weigh about 2.2 pounds..

is this normal for my piggy?

 

[mom to cujo]

Cujo is not quite 2 yrs. old and weighs almost 4 lbs.! He is a very long piggie, too.

The vet seems to think he's just fine.

 

[mncavylover]

Some pigs are just bigger than others. However, may I ask what type of pellet you are feeding? If it is alfalfa, please consider switching to Oxbow's Cavy Cuisine, a timothy-based pellet made for cavies older than one year. It has less fat and calcium, and is great for mature guinea pigs.

 

[Piglet]

Mine only get pellets 3 or 4 times a week, but Furlong is still over 3lb. Some pigs are just heavier than others

 

[golden sonata]

we give him ecotrition pellets with essential vitamins and stuff. before we gave him regular pellets that were probably alfalfa. we just keep pellets in a little dish and let him eat whenever he wants, and the pellets haven't caused much of a problem. i guess i'll stick with the ecotrition stuff for now because its pretty good stuff for piggies..

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Ecotrition guinea pig food is NOT good stuff. It's chocked full of nuts and seeds and things the pigs don't need. This is why your piggie is so fat because he is getting all this crap that he doesn't need. Your best bet is to get some Cavy Cuisine from oxbow and get rid of this ecotrition food.

This is the description of this food from the PetSmart website:
Essential blend for guinea pigs, with Ester-C® vitamin C, crucial to guinea pigs' health. Also contains a mix of fresh fruits, crunchy nuts, vegetables, and seeds.

Ecotrition Guinea Pig
Top Ten
Ingredients Guaranteed Analysis
Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal
Ground Corn
Heat Processed Soybeans
Oat Groats
Whole Corn
Wheat
Soybean Meal
Wheat Middlings
Hulled Sunflower Seeds
Green Split Peas

Protein 18.0%
Fat 6.0%
Fiber 14.0%
Moisture 12.0%

 

[golden sonata]

really? thanks...

is the cavy cuisine stuff expensive?
i haven't seen it in petsmart before..

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Here is the site so you can check it out. www.oxbowhay.com

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Petsmart sucks. Are you feeding hay and greens? Some people only feed those. They lose weight for a bit after without pellets, but they even out soon enough.

 

[critterlover]

Ecotrition guinea pig food is NOT good stuff. It's chocked full of nuts and seeds and things the pigs don't need. This is why your piggie is so fat

I agree. Not only will nuts and seeds make your pig fat, they can choke on them. Pigs should not be fed nuts and seeds.

What are you feeding your pig besides pellets? Hay? Veggies? Those are very important too. Pellets are very dense in nutrition and if all you feed your pig is pellets, that alone can make them fat.

 

[golden sonata]

plenty of hay and veggies. lettuce, carrots, apples make a nice treat.


so, any other brands of decent pellets you'd suggest?

 

[RubyPiggie2]

You can not feed guinea pigs just lettuce, carrots and apples. Do you need a veggie list? You can either ask ChattyCoco or me(Coco, I'm giving people the list you sent me, ok? heh...) for a very long, great veggie list.

 

[RubyPiggie2]

Proform is also a good pellet, but it's just Oxbow and Proform that are the good pellets.
Proform:
(broken link removed)
Oxbow:
www.oxbowhay.com
www.critterstore.com
www.theferretstore.com

 

[joab97]

I have a 7 week old male,Rusty. He goes CRAZY over food and he has filled out pretty well since I got him..almost 3 weeks ago. I give him oxbow pellets and hay and he loves them. I thought it was cheaper then petstore prices..but that doesnt include shipping though. My hubby said tonight my kids were sitting by his cage watching tv and eating apples, and he went nuts wheeking because he can smell the apples..he couldnt got over how loud he was. OH,,I also give them fresh veggies daily too.