Are My Piggies Okay?

Pearl and Zip

Teenage Guinea Pig
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I have two pigs in a 21” x 44” cage. Is this enough room? One piggy is overweight so I know we need a bigger cage so she can exercise. I’ve removed unnecessary clutter from the cage for more room. But I’m not able to get a larger cage until December. Will they be okay until then?

Also, I’m only able to give them floor time 4 times a week. Is this okay?

Thanks!
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. Unfortunately your cage does not meet the minimum standards for housing two guinea pigs. We have a guide to cage sizes here
Cage Size Guide

Is your guinea pig definitely overweight? Some pigs are naturally larger than others and we have seen piggies on the forum up to 1500g in weight but be a very healthy weight and not overweight. This guide might help you The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight
 
Yes, I know for sure my one of my pigs are overweight. I’ll try to send a picture when she’s stopped moving. But I can’t get a new cage until December.
 
Ok, I asked as your reply on another thread used very outdated "ideal weight" guidance. Being overweight needs to be assessed by more than just weight and shape (again not saying you haven't just don't want you limiting your piggies diet unnecessarily). The link I shared above has some tips for action to take to help an overweight guinea pig revert to a healthy weight. Hope it's of some use
 
I can’t feel her ribs. I weigh her every week. She is currently 1171g. And she just turned four yesterday. Where I come from, most female piggies should weigh from 700-900g.
 
I'd definitely get a bigger cage asap! :)

As for your piggy she's a good average weight! All my girls are around that weight except my little girl who's 850 ish but she was the runt of a litter of 5 so she's always gunna be smaller.

700-900 grams seems very underweight for most piggies, I'd be worried if any of my girls dropped to those weights!

Piggies naturally look overweight due to their shape but that's just the way they're built so I wouldn't worry about it :)
 
My smallest is a boar who was the runt of a litter of 3 and has always been small he weighs in at 900g and my largest is a sow who weighs in at 1275g. They are both healthy and I'm not worried about them.
 
Three out of my four past-pigs were her weight or heavier and all but one was a perfectly healthy weight (one was actually over weight because she was a greedy bully) but she lost the excess when we had to get her a new, less submissive companion!

I wouldn’t be too worried about her weight alone. One of the links given will detail ‘heft’ which is more reliable than pure weight.

My girls only get floor time at the weekends when they free-roam my dining room but they have a very big cage for the rest of the time.

If you can’t get a bigger cage until December, they’ll cope. It’s not ideal but it’s a learning process. My first pigs had far from ideal conditions by today’s standards
 
I know she’s overweight because I cannot feel her ribs, she’s extremely fat even for a guinea pig, and she is not very athletic like my other pig. I’ll try to get them a new cage with an area of 10.5ft as soon as I can.
 
Why don't you check out the C&C cages, they are far superior to cages. They can be as big as you want. You can have it on the floor, or up on cupboards, it with loads of plastic boxes. If you have dogs or cats you will have to cover the top. Are you keeping them indoors. If she has more room she gets lots of excercise. Cut down the pellets & slim down the veg, but whatever you do, Don't reduce her hay. Has she got a friend?

Hi & Welcome to our friendly forum.
 
She has a friend. We are limiting her pellet supply. For the last few years, we thought they’re supposed to have an unlimited supply! Oops. They each get 1 handful of veggies a day and we are not giving them fruit until she is not overweight. We are planning on getting a 10.5ft c&c cage ASAP. I’ll try to get it before December if I can. We are also doing floor time 4 times a week for more exercise. We are giving them an unlimited supply of hay.
 
UPDATE:

We got the cage, but we’re still building a stand for it. It’s taking way longer than expected, as we are adding an air filter to make the cage less stinky. Probably will take two more weeks. If it were up to me, I’d buy the stand and get the pigs in the new cage ASAP. But [someone] wanted to build the stand instead, and make it all fancy. I thought we’d be done with it by December, but...

Anyways, they are having floor time 4 times a week inside their huge “pigpen”. Floor time can last up to many hours. Unfortunately, they cannot live permanently in the pigpen because it takes up a LOT of room (about 4ft x 4ft) and it is very difficult to clean.

Also, you guys were saying I should get them a bigger cage ASAP. Well, they’ve kind of been living in the cage for a long time. One lived in it 3 years, the other 5 months, and Jenna lived and died in the 6 square foot cage.

I did most of my research on guinea pigs using out dated books, and they said 2 square feet per Guinea pig. So I’ve been thinking that was right for years now. That’s why the cage is so small.

Okay. This is very off topic, but... The fleece came in today (we’re going to make cage liners for the new cage) and it reminds me of cotton candy! So soft, too! I’m sure the pigs will love it.

image.webp
 
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