Guinea pig weight

[Deleted member 149339]

Hi everyone, just a quick question. One of my female piggies seems to have excess fat hanging under her chin and belly and none of my other piggies have this. She is the most dominant out of the herd, and she has had this fat for a long time so it isn’t sudden. I know I should weigh her regularly but she’s very skittish so I don’t generally weigh her. Do you think this means she’s overweight and should I be concerned?

 

[Deleted member 149339]

Hi everyone, just a quick question. One of my female piggies seems to have excess fat hanging under her chin and belly and none of my other piggies have this. She is the most dominant out of the herd, and she has had this fat for a long time so it isn’t sudden. I know I should weigh her regularly but she’s very skittish so I don’t generally weigh her. Do you think this means she’s overweight and should I be concerned?

She is around 2 years old by the way

 

[Princess Dustmop]

You want to feel around the ribs to determine whether a guinea pig is overweight. You should be able to feel the ribcage but not individual ribs.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Please do ensure you weigh her weekly. I know it’s harder in nervous piggies but it is so so important and the only way to gauge hay intake. As hay is often the first food to be dropped during an illness, sometimes before any other obvious symptoms, the weight checks can be an early alert system and allow you to step in with vet help much sooner.
The 50g weight loss which constitutes them
needing help would often not be apparent from
A visual check. By the time you’d see they’d lost weight it could be a considerable amount of loss.

The skin under her chin is called a dewlap.

Check around her ribs to check her heft. This is what will tell you if she is a good size for herself.

Weight - Monitoring and Management

How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely (videos)

Do also review her diet - it’s good to give it a check every now and then and make sure you aren’t overdoing anything - fees Unlimited hay, one cup of veg and one tablespoon of pellets.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[Deleted member 149339]

Please do ensure you weigh her weekly. I know it’s harder in nervous piggies but it is so so important and the only way to gauge hay intake. As hay is often the first food to be dropped during an illness, sometimes before any other obvious symptoms, the weight checks can be an early alert system and allow you to step in with vet help much sooner.
The 50g weight loss which constitutes them
needing help would often not be apparent from
A visual check. By the time you’d see they’d lost weight it could be a considerable amount of loss.

The skin under her chin is called a dewlap.

Check around her ribs to check her heft. This is what will tell you if she is a good size for herself.

Weight - Monitoring and Management

How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely (videos)

Do also review her diet - it’s good to give it a check every now and then and make sure you aren’t overdoing anything - fees Unlimited hay, one cup of veg and one tablespoon of pellets.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Thank you for your advice, I will try to weigh all my guinea pigs tomorrow, I’ve got scales and everything it’s just holding them still that is difficult but I’ll be able to get someone in my family to help me do it