1 1/2 year old male guinea pig underweight?

[Sullivancourt]

I rescued my boy Hades last July from the LA guinea pig rescue, he came from a bad home, his poor ears are all chewed up. He’s all around pretty standoffish, he will sit with you, but you can tell he prefers to just be left alone. His weight has always gone up since I’ve had him. Hes never lost more than 20 grams in a week. But he’s only 863 grams, hes a short haired. Compared to my Abyssinian, Apollo, who’s 1163 g. Hades is very active, he eats just as much as his cage mate. I give him probiotics every other week. His poops sometimes are a little off, like misshaped, not a lot, but just enough that I notice it. Sometimes he gets crusties in his eyes, but it goes away within a day or two. I did take him to the vet for the crusty eyes last year, they just gave me eye drops for it, and it never really went away. It just kind of comes and goes sometimes. Should I take him to the vet? Kind of listing everything off I probably should, but it’s so expensive. I’m hoping I’ll hear some good news. Just for info, their daily diet is unlimited hay, 1 bell pepper slice each, one lettuce leaf each, and one baby carrot each. Then one tablespoon each of oxbow pellets.

 

[Piggies&buns]

The fact he gains weight is good. A 20g loss in a week isnt concerning, that's an empty bladder. Weight loss isnt until they lose 50g suddenly or 100g over a sustained period.
It sounds as if he is just small. That's fine, they all have their own individual adult size. What you can do is check his heft by placing your hands around his ribs and seeing what you feel, if you can feel every rib with no fat, then he is underweight, if there is a nice fat layer but you can still subs about feel the ribs then he is a good size for himself - the guide below explains - to check that he is healthy for himself.

Weight - Monitoring and Management

If he has strange poops, then it can be because of a digestive upset - the balance of gut bacteria is not right.
The usual advice is to cut veg out of the diet for a few days, feed only hay and the one tablespoon of pellets. This will give the gut time to settle and allow gut bacteria to reestablish. If the poops go back to normal, then you can then reintroduce veg slowly, herbs first to see if it stays settled. Probiotics can be given every day to also help restore the gut flora. Better still, using poop soup made from the very fresh poops (within five minutes of poop production) of healthy companion will replace the bacteria.

Its always best to have them checked by a vet if you are concerned about anything.

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

In terms of the diet, I would cut out the daily carrot - they are too high in sugar and should not feature as a daily food. Carrots should be a very occasional treat and no more than one small amount once per week. Too much sugar is not healthy and contribute to the gut imbalance. I would also introduce other veggies for variety as well as to ensure lots of nutrients are in his diet. Its best if their veg in their diet is mostly leafy green veg. Herbs are a good one to be in their diet - parsley and dill are higher in calcium so they shouldn't be daily but coriander/cilantro is fine to be given daily
The basis of the daily veggies for my two boys are a lettuce leaf, cucumber, coriander, a green bean, bell pepper. They will also have something else added in if I happen to have it in the fridge.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading

 

[Sullivancourt]

The fact he gains weight is good. A 20g loss in a week isnt concerning, that's an empty bladder. Weight loss isnt until they lose 50g suddenly or 100g over a sustained period.
It sounds as if he is just small. That's fine, they all have their own individual adult size. What you can do is check his heft by placing your hands around his ribs and seeing what you feel, if you can feel every rib with no fat, then he is underweight, if there is a nice fat layer but you can still subs about feel the ribs then he is a good size for himself - the guide below explains - to check that he is healthy for himself.

Weight - Monitoring and Management

If he has strange poops, then it can be because of a digestive upset - the balance of gut bacteria is not right.
The usual advice is to cut veg out of the diet for a few days, feed only hay and the one tablespoon of pellets. This will give the gut time to settle and allow gut bacteria to reestablish. If the poops go back to normal, then you can then reintroduce veg slowly, herbs first to see if it stays settled. Probiotics can be given every day to also help restore the gut flora. Better still, using poop soup made from the very fresh poops (within five minutes of poop production) of healthy companion will replace the bacteria.

Its always best to have them checked by a vet if you are concerned about anything.

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

In terms of the diet, I would cut out the daily carrot - they are too high in sugar and should not feature as a daily food. Carrots should be a very occasional treat and no more than one small amount once per week. Too much sugar is not healthy and contribute to the gut imbalance. I would also introduce other veggies for variety as well as to ensure lots of nutrients are in his diet. Its best if their veg in their diet is mostly leafy green veg. Herbs are a good one to be in their diet - parsley and dill are higher in calcium so they shouldn't be daily but coriander/cilantro is fine to be given daily
The basis of the daily veggies for my two boys are a lettuce leaf, cucumber, coriander, a green bean, bell pepper. They will also have something else added in if I happen to have it in the fridge.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading

Thank you so much for the feedback. I will cut out the carrot and offer more green veggies for sure.