Help! My guinea pig is to fat

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Bailey&madi2019

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello so I do not know the exact weight Bailey is but he is very round and I need to put him on a diet cause I just give him lettuce and more and more pellets and more and like that so how much should I give him of pellets and lettuce a day and he is about 10/11 months
 
First, you can’t know he is overweight unless he is weighed but even then I would get a vet to tell you whether his weight is acceptable if you aren’t sure. Don’t just put your piggy on a diet as it could be very damaging to his health.

A guinea pigs diet should be 80% hay. They should eat more hay than anything else. My pigs get their hay topped up anything up to five times a day. They should only have one tablespoon (which is such a tiny amount) of pellets once per day and the pellet bowl should be removed in between meals. Pellets are not essential in a guinea pigs diet. Hay is essential. I give my pigs about 45 minutes to eat their pellet portion and then remove it and they don’t get their bowl back until the next day when I give them fresh pellets. If they haven’t eaten their pellets in that time, then I still remove the bowl. They then eat hay for the rest of the day. I give them a handful of veg at dinner time with more hay.

He should also be given a variety of fresh vegetables. lettuce is not nutritious enough to be the only vegetable he eats. Guinea pigs can’t make their own vitamin c so they need a diet which is rich in vitamin c such as some herbs and bell peppers.

I am going to link a useful feeding guide for you below to read. It details quantities to feed as well as a guide of what a sample veg plate for a piggy should be like.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
 
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Great advice there from @Piggies&buns :)

You should always weigh piggies weekly, but bear in mind that heft (amount of fat over the ribs) means much more than absolute weight! A healthy adult can weigh anything from 700 to 1300g, like with humans or any animal, some are large and some are small.

As you were advised above, the majority of the diet should be hay, pellets should be very limited, and the veg intake should mainly be focused on small amounts of a good variety of veg that is rich in vitamin C.

Obesity in piggies is rare as they have a very fast metabolism, last year I adopted 2 piggies who were obese (couldnt clean themselves, feet barely touched the floor) but this was a combination of both overfeeding and a complete lack of exercise in a tiny cage. What size is your cage, and do your piggies get regular exercise?

Though without giving us a weight or a photo or your vet's opinion of course we are just guessing, piggies cannot and should not "diet" with restricted food intake as they need to eat hay constantly to keep their guts moving, but switching to a more hay based diet and plenty of exercise and limiting pellets and sticking to lower calorie veg like peppers and herbs that provide enough vitamin C with less sugar, is always a good option for a long and healthy piggy life!
 
Hay, hay and more hay, that’s what’s needed. Essential for digestion and very importantly dental health too! My Ted weighs 1350 gms, he’s a big piggie but not over weight just full of muscle, they come in all shapes and sizes.
 
Bailey&madi2019 said:
Hello so I do not know the exact weight Bailey is but he is very round and I need to put him on a diet cause I just give him lettuce and more and more pellets and more and like that so how much should I give him of pellets and lettuce a day and he is about 10/11 months
Click to expand...

Hi!

What guinea pigs should eat most of is hay, hay and more hay - over 80% of the daily food intake should be hay.
A carefully balanced mix of veg (50g or less) and 1 tablespoon of pellets should be treated more in the way of a daily treat than the mainstay of the diet.

Daily exercise is also important. Rather than feeding treats, turn veg and pellet time into exercise and enrichment time; leave your boy only with hay for the rest of the time.

Please take the time to read these guides here; you will find them very helpful:
- Weight management including working out whether your piggy is overweight or not (heft) and how to best deal with overweight piggies: Weight - Monitoring and Management
- Or detailed food guide, which looks at all food groups and also contains a picture of a recommended sample veg diet:
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
- Enrichment ideas to make food time fun time while you feed less: Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

PS: Is Bailey a single piggy or does he company? Single piggies can become more food obsessed because of attention seeking and boredom. Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

What guinea pigs should eat most of is hay, hay and more hay - over 80% of the daily food intake should be hay.
A carefully balanced mix of veg (50g or less) and 1 tablespoon of pellets should be treated more in the way of a daily treat than the mainstay of the diet.

Daily exercise is also important. Rather than feeding treats, turn veg and pellet time into exercise and enrichment time; leave your boy only with hay for the rest of the time.

Please take the time to read these guides here; you will find them very helpful:
- Weight management including working out whether your piggy is overweight or not (heft) and how to best deal with overweight piggies: Weight - Monitoring and Management
- Or detailed food guide, which looks at all food groups and also contains a picture of a recommended sample veg diet:
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
- Enrichment ideas to make food time fun time while you feed less: Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

PS: Is Bailey a single piggy or does he company? Single piggies can become more food obsessed because of attention seeking and boredom. Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities
Click to expand...
Ok thanks I will look at those websites and bailey is a single guinea pig and has been since I got him but for Christmas I am getting another one
 
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