Hi guys so I've seen most websites say a healthy weight for a male guinea pig is between 900 - 1200 g but my vet weighed my own boar and said he was healthy at 1350. When I asked he said anything up to about 1400 is healthy so has anybody else been told something similar to this?
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This is true and perfectly normal.
Piggies have a wide range of body types and builds.
Our heaviest pig was actually female and at her healthy adult weight Oreo weighed 1400g - far larger than any of our others (male or female).
Piggies have a wide range of body types and builds.
Our heaviest pig was actually female and at her healthy adult weight Oreo weighed 1400g - far larger than any of our others (male or female).
Thank you so much glad to know my boars are all normal!
Claire W
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Yes it’s normal. Like humans, piggies come in all different shapes and sizes. My heaviest piggy was my Erika who weighed in at 1500g at her heaviest
One of my boys weighed in at 1515g yesterday, the other at 1315g.
Both my boys have good heft (they aren’t overweight), but he is just a healthy but chunky lad!
Both my boys have good heft (they aren’t overweight), but he is just a healthy but chunky lad!
Hi!
The 'average weight' band covers about 50% of all piggies; this doesn't mean that the other 50% are necessarily in any way underweight or overweight.
Please take a look at my Pioden and his wife Helygen: Large Pioden was feeling skinny around the ribs at 1400-1500g whereas when dainty 700g Helygen brought 800g onto the scales, she was starting to feel overweight. Yet, despite the massive difference in weights, both were a perfectly healthy weight for their individual size. I hope that puts the '900-1200g' guideline into perspective?
Please take the time to read our Weight guide, which looks at all aspects around weight, weighing and health monitoring; including how you can work out by feeling around the ribcage whether your piggies are a good weight for their individual size at any age (BMI or 'heft') and establish their individual healthy weight ball park. The guide will tell you what exactly to feel for. It is important that you establish where each piggy has their own ideal weight range because that allows you to judge during the life-long once weekly health monitoring and weigh in whether any weight changes are OK or not. Weight also changes naturally over the course of a life time.
Here is the link; you will find it both very helpful and interesting: Weight - Monitoring and Management
