Guinea pig having big decrease and increase of weight

[LokiCat]

I am worried about my guinea pig Odin Yesterday when I took his weight he weighed 580g. He lost 46g from the day before.
Today when I took it he weighed 639g. This major decrease and increase happened in just 2 days. I tried to remove as many variables as I could yesterday (make sure his cage was away from females, no one picks him up etc) he is about 2 months

I'm bringing home a scale with Odin so I can keep track of his weight over the weekend.

I took his weight when I got home because I forgot to reweigh the bowl with more food added. And he lost 10g in just a 4 hour 30min time period.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Weight loss is only considered weight loss at 50g or more.
10g in 4 hours is not of concern on its own.

For now I would weigh him at the same time each day, ideally first thing in the morning, for a few days and monitor what happens. Don’t weigh him multiple times a day as that picks up too much fluctuation and makes is unreliable. Weighing at the same time each day means you are in the same place in the feeding cycle.

Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[LokiCat]

Weight loss is only considered weight loss at 50g or more.
10g in 4 hours is not of concern on its own.

For now I would weigh him at the same time each day, ideally first thing in the morning, for a few days and monitor what happens. Don’t weigh him multiple times a day as that picks up too much fluctuation and makes is unreliable. Weighing at the same time each day means you are in the same place in the feeding cycle.

Weight - Monitoring and Management

Yeah I usually do weigh him at the same time it's just I'm very worried about him. I weigh him every day except weekends at 10 am but this time I'm weighing him on the weekend so I can monitor him more closely. He has been eating food and hay this whole time and when I weigh him I weight the food bowl aswell

 

[rp1993]

Sounds daft but have you tried a new battery in your scales? My boys weights were all over the place and it turned out the scales needed a new battery!

 

[LokiCat]

Sounds daft but have you tried a new battery in your scales? My boys weights were all over the place and it turned out the scales needed a new battery!

The only thing is its not my scale. It belongs to my school and the batteries in the back I have to remove the screws with a screw driver. I don't have a screwdriver (I also checked my other Guinea pigs weight aswell he was exactly where we thought he was 1280g he is older thou just did it to check accuracy)

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yeah I usually do weigh him at the same time it's just I'm very worried about him. I weigh him every day except weekends at 10 am but this time I'm weighing him on the weekend so I can monitor him more closely. He has been eating food and hay this whole time and when I weigh him I weight the food bowl aswell

What do you mean by you weigh the food bowl?

 

[LokiCat]

What do you mean by you weigh the food bowl?

We weigh the food bowl with the food in it every day (except weekends) on Fridays we refill it and wash it as well as any day they need more food. We just have to reweigh the bowl after we add the new food

 

[Piggies&buns]

We weigh the food bowl with the food in it every day (except weekends) on Fridays we refill it and wash it as well as any day they need more food. We just have to reweigh the bowl after we add the new food

That is not really necessary.
Piggies need just one tablespoon of pellets per day and one cup of a variety of veg per day.
Weighing veg and pellets out is not really helpful given the differing densities of veg.

If he has lost more than 50g then that is when you get concerned. Anything less than 50g is just normal fluctuation and not concerning.
Weighing too often just means you pick up a lot of fluctuation. A full bladder and tummy can weigh 30-40g which is why it’s not considered weigh loss until there is weight loss of over 50g.

 

[LokiCat]

That is not really necessary.
Piggies need just one tablespoon of pellets per day and one cup of a variety of veg per day.
Weighing veg and pellets out is not really helpful given the differing densities of veg.

If he has lost more than 50g then that is when you get concerned. Anything less than 50g is just normal fluctuation and not concerning.
Weighing too often just means you pick up a lot of fluctuation. A full bladder can weigh 30-40g which is why it’s not considered weigh loss until there is weight loss of over 50g.

We have to weigh there food every day. I am in a class for school called animal science we get the animals from a lab as babys only like 1 month old. When the class ends they all get adopted

 

[Piggies&buns]

Right….well for the purposes of his health the weight of the food is irrelevant.
Hay is their main food intake and weighing him is the only way to know he is eating enough hay.
If he loses more than 50g then he needs to be syringe fed and see a vet.

 

[LokiCat]

Right….well for the purposes of his health the weight of the food is irrelevant.
Hay is their main food intake and weighing him is the only way to know he is eating enough hay.
If he loses more than 50g then he needs to be syringe fed and see a vet.

Okay will do. In the event that he does lose more than 50g how do I syringe feed him?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Okay will do. In the event that he does lose more than 50g how do I syringe feed him?

With a proper recovery feed. Mushed pellets can be used in an emergency but they aren’t as high in fibre so a proper recovery feed can be best depending on what illness is causing the weight loss and how long the syringe feeding is going to be needed.
The guide below explains

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Out of interest, if you are weighing his food, how much veg and how much pellets does he get?

 

[LokiCat]

With a proper recovery feed. Mushed pellets can be used in an emergency but they aren’t as high in fibre so a proper recovery feed can be best depending on what illness is causing the weight loss and how long the syringe feeding is going to be needed.
The guide below explains

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Out of interest, if you are weighing his food, how much veg and how much pellets does he get?

Usually about 450g of pellets every week and lettuce every day as well as rotations of Carrots, strawberries, spinach, and green pepper. I don't give him cucumber he doesn't like it.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Usually about 450g of pellets every week and lettuce every day as well as rotations of Carrots, strawberries, spinach, and green pepper. I don't give him cucumber he doesn't like it.

That is an absolutely huge amount of pellets - way beyond what they should be eating. I have four piggies and I don’t get through 450g of pellets in a month!
The recommended one tablespoon of pellets per day typically weighs no more than 10g so it should only be about 70g of pellets per pig per week at most.

Too many pellets will cause a reduction in hay intake which can lead to a multitude of health issues.

Carrots and strawberries should not be fed as anything other than a very occasional treat due to the sugar and spinach too high in calcium to be fed regularly.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[LokiCat]

That is an absolutely huge amount of pellets - way beyond what they should be eating.
The recommended one tablespoon of pellets per day typically weighs no more than 10g so it should only be about 70g of pellets per pig per week at most.

Too many pellets will cause a reduction in hay intake which can lead to a multitude of health issues.

Carrots and strawberries should not be fed as anything other than a very occasional treat due to the sugar and spinach too high in calcium to be fed regularly.

He only gets strawberries and spinach when we have it so he has only had it 2 times and strawberries once. I grow my own fruits and veggies for my guineas and just them. Next time I'll try to limit carrot intake. It's really hard to find veggies Odin likes he doesn't like a lot of veggies only lettuce really he only ate carrots when he saw my other guinea pig eat them. Now that I think of it the only thing he eats is lettuce (romaine) pellets and hay

 

[Piggies&buns]

He only gets strawberries and spinach when we have it so he has only had it 2 times and strawberries once. I grow my own fruits and veggies for my guineas and just them. Next time I'll try to limit carrot intake. It's really hard to find veggies Odin likes he doesn't like a lot of veggies only lettuce really he only ate carrots when he saw my other guinea pig eat them. Now that I think of it the only thing he eats is lettuce (romaine) pellets and hay

Hay is the most important thing for him to eat for long term gut, dental and general health.

Make sure you only feed one tablespoon of pellets per day - actually use a tablespoon measure. Too many pellets are not healthy and contribute too much calcium which can lead to the formation of bladder stones.

Try to introduce a variety of veg - lettuce, cucumber (I know you said he doesn’t like it), bell pepper and cilantro are the four safe daily veggies. Most other things should only be in rotation.
They learn what is safe to eat from watching older piggies.

 

[LokiCat]

Hay is the most important thing for him to eat for long term gut, dental and general health.

Make sure you only feed one tablespoon of pellets per day - actually use a tablespoon measure. Too many pellets are not healthy and contribute too much calcium which can lead to the formation of bladder stones.

Try to introduce a variety of veg - lettuce, cucumber (I know you said he doesn’t like it), bell pepper and cilantro are the four safe daily veggies. Most other things should only be in rotation.
They learn what is safe to eat from watching older piggies.

I give him access to hay all the time he loves it. He likes to run head first into the clump of hay then start eating.
My other Guinea pig like more stuff but he only sometimes eats Bell pepper. He also hates cilantro.

 

[LokiCat]

That is an absolutely huge amount of pellets - way beyond what they should be eating. I have four piggies and I don’t get through 450g of pellets in a month!
The recommended one tablespoon of pellets per day typically weighs no more than 10g so it should only be about 70g of pellets per pig per week at most.

Too many pellets will cause a reduction in hay intake which can lead to a multitude of health issues.

Carrots and strawberries should not be fed as anything other than a very occasional treat due to the sugar and spinach too high in calcium to be fed regularly.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

I just remembered something he doesn't get 450g of food! that is the amount of food with the bowls weight added. And his bowl is pretty heavy because he can't flip it over (and I've never seen him flip stuff) so he probably actually gets about 100g - 150g. This is not every day that he gets this! This is only the amount he gets when we refill it which is usually after we deep clean it. I do not give my guinea pig at home this much he only gets about 50g. Also we did get more vegetables in a larger variety they have not had Bell peppers yet