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Boar weighing over 1700g!

annachristina_piggies

annachristina_piggies

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Hi everyone!

Percy is a pure Swiss breed boar and we know his genetic family are all large, however he just keeps putting on weight. We managed to get him down from 1600g to 1550g which I was happy about but he’s now gained weight again at 1721g!

He’s huge! And it’s not just fur. Has anyone got any tips for helping him keep the weight off to maintain at 1500g? We already limit pellets to 5 pellets a day (I count them), he has a big cage with his cage mate and free roam of the living room most days, unlimited hay, small veggie portions and one pea flake a day. I’m at a loss as to what else I can do, apart from cutting out pellets and veggies entirely?!

Any tips/advice would be gratefully received to get this boy healthy again 😊
It’s worth noting that his cage mate maintains a steady weight of 1200g.
 

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How old is your beefcake and does he seem happy in himself?
It is a heavy weight but if his cage mate is maintaining at 1200g it might just be he's a gentle giant!
There's no chance he's a... dare I say it... mum-to-be? He's definitely a boar?
The only thing to check would be whether any other members of the household might be giving him treats without letting you know. Mind you, mine have hubs wrapped round their finger for sneaky treats and they're only 1.3 ish. I'm suspecting genetics.

(I want a Percy now... he's gorgeous 🥰)
 
Aw he's gorgeous. I wonder if Swiss guinea pigs are just big? This is my Rupert whose dad is a Swiss guinea pig and Rupert is just under 1500g and doesn't seem fat but he's a lot bigger than the majority of my other guinea pigs (had 13 boars total, only 2 as big as him) Although I do also have his brother who is so tiny his name is Mouse! But they live together and have the same diet, I'm inclined to think they are just like people and healthily come in all sorts of sizes.
 

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He looks okay to me! How does he feel? More squishy or more solid? If you're worried, you could have the vet assess his body condition.

His head looks pretty big, in my limited experience that's a good indication that they just have big bones. My 3 largest piggies (around ~1400 grams) all have large skulls to match.
 
Gosh what a gorgeous giant! My 2 obese ladies were living in a hamster cage with unlimited carrots and muesli so its hard to make comparisons if he gets plenty exercise and a healthy diet... you could certainly cut out the peaflake for sure, and try a couple of weeks with no pellets.
What veg does he get, and how do you feed it? Scatter feeding tiny bits of low calorie/high vit C veg hidden in a heap of hay and all over the floor so he has to work for them is a good way to get more exercise, also hand feed but from a distance and tiny pieces- I used to offer a single coriander stem from the far end of the cage and make the fatties waddle 6ft for it, then I'd swap cage ends and make them waddle another 6ft for the next stem...
But, those piggies had never had any exercise and had no muscle tone- after slimming down then toning up the more muscular lady pig was the same weight as before, but in all the right places... muscle weighs twice as much as fat, so a heavier pig (or person) may be healthier in heft, muscle tone and cardiovascular health than a lighter pig (or person) who doesnt exercise.
Some pigs are naturally much bigger than others, but 1700g is... big!
 
Betsy said:
OOO I may be round with my piggynapping pal @Siikibam one night! What a gorgeous floofy chonk of piggy:love::love::love::love:. I'll have to reinforce the pockets on my piggynapping coat!
Click to expand...
Please bring me on this trip, I’m in love! :bal::love:

My Luigi is a big pig (1380g ish) and the vet had mentioned his porky size. I cut out all pellets and oats, no carrots or fruit, his C&C cage was made even bigger to 5 x 4.5 with a huge loft and over the last few months he has lost....absolutely nothing! :)) So I’m just giving him his nice things occasionally and giving up on the diet now, that’s just the way he was made!

Percy is utterly gorgeous @annachristina_piggies :wub::wub::wub:
And Rupert too @SusieW! :luv:
 
Free Ranger said:
How old is your beefcake and does he seem happy in himself?
It is a heavy weight but if his cage mate is maintaining at 1200g it might just be he's a gentle giant!
There's no chance he's a... dare I say it... mum-to-be? He's definitely a boar?
The only thing to check would be whether any other members of the household might be giving him treats without letting you know. Mind you, mine have hubs wrapped round their finger for sneaky treats and they're only 1.3 ish. I'm suspecting genetics.

(I want a Percy now... he's gorgeous 🥰)
Click to expand...
Hahahaha he is definitely a boy, I won’t shame him by showing off his massive balls though!
 
PigglePuggle said:
Gosh what a gorgeous giant! My 2 obese ladies were living in a hamster cage with unlimited carrots and muesli so its hard to make comparisons if he gets plenty exercise and a healthy diet... you could certainly cut out the peaflake for sure, and try a couple of weeks with no pellets.
What veg does he get, and how do you feed it? Scatter feeding tiny bits of low calorie/high vit C veg hidden in a heap of hay and all over the floor so he has to work for them is a good way to get more exercise, also hand feed but from a distance and tiny pieces- I used to offer a single coriander stem from the far end of the cage and make the fatties waddle 6ft for it, then I'd swap cage ends and make them waddle another 6ft for the next stem...
But, those piggies had never had any exercise and had no muscle tone- after slimming down then toning up the more muscular lady pig was the same weight as before, but in all the right places... muscle weighs twice as much as fat, so a heavier pig (or person) may be healthier in heft, muscle tone and cardiovascular health than a lighter pig (or person) who doesnt exercise.
Some pigs are naturally much bigger than others, but 1700g is... big!
Click to expand...
I’m definitely going to go for no pellets or pea flakes and see how that goes. I’ll have to hand feed Piglet his buddy as I don’t want him to be restricted because of Percy’s chonk 😂
They get cucumber, pepper, coriander, celery and lettuce. I don’t use bowls but I do usually just place in piles in their cage, I could switch to a bigger hay area and scatter the veggies in there! It would be more interesting for them as well. Problem is that his cage buddy Piglet has to work hard to keep weight as he has interstitial cystitis, so I need to make eating work for both of them!
I’ve felt his ‘heft’ and he seems ok. I can just feel his spine and hips. He then ran off and charged upstairs to the loft, as if to prove he is not obese and a fit piggie 😂
 
alpacasqueak said:
Please bring me on this trip, I’m in love! :bal::love:

My Luigi is a big pig (1380g ish) and thvet had mentioned his porky size. I cut out all pellets and oats, no carrots or fruit, his C&C cage was made even bigger to 5 x 4.5 with a huge loft and over the last few months he has lost....absolutely nothing! :)) So I’m just giving him his nice things occasionally and giving up on the diet now, that’s just the way he was made!

Percy is utterly gorgeous @annachristina_piggies :wub::wub::wub:
And Rupert too @SusieW[/
[/QUOTE]
This is really interesting!

Percy said he will happily be stolen if he gets a lifetime of pea flakes and pellets (now banned by Pigmum).
Click to expand...
 
He is absolutely handsome! Don’t worry Percy, all these people are just jealous of your manly muscles and strength!

@Betsy you do the carrying I’ll do the driving. @alpacasqueak you can provide food. You realise we’ll have to take them both don’t you…
 
Siikibam said:
@Betsy you do the carrying I’ll do the driving. @alpacasqueak you can provide food. You realise we’ll have to take them both don’t you…
Click to expand...
I thought we were nabbing all three! Sorted, my lot don’t have pellets these days but a whole bag of emergency ones and pea flakes in the kitchen! :D
(Plan to use them for a lift and pinch the gorgeous chunky boys from under their noses starting to come together :hmm::bal:)
 
Hi, one of my piggies weighed around 1.6kg when he got weighed at the vets before passing away (unrelated to his weight) he was a chunky piggy but happy...the vet had to go get the cat scales for him since the ones he used for small animals he didn't fit on...he just liked eating...if he's happy and getting plenty exercise then he may be oki just a bit chunky...the only other thing we were told to watch out for was that he wasn't bullying the other piggy for the food and veg...but your piggy looks beautiful so floofy I bet he's wonderful to cuddle with...
 
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