How often should u weigh your guinea pig and what should a healthy weight be ?

[Annie's pets]

Hi there
Just wondering how often should u weigh your guinea pigs and what a healthy weight is, one my two is around 3kg is that normal she might just be a chunky girl

Also a bonus question is, if guinea pigs have crusty feet [ only slightly ] or their feet are dry is coconut oil ok to put on their feet ? someone told me that a while back I just want to double check that's right.
Thankyou

 

[Deleted member 141156]

Hello! I weigh my pigs every week. They are all boys, and range from 1.3kg - 1kg. The average weight for girls is usually much lower than 3kg, but yours could definitely just be chunky/big boned. As long as she is active and her body is well proportioned, I would not be too concerned. If you’re not sure if she looks overweight, take her to an exotic vet.

Coconut oil is fine to put on dry feet, but I would use an athletes foot cream if the crust is white, as it may be a fungal infection that won’t be treated with coconut oil.

 

[rp1993]

We weight our boys once a week, it is also important to weigh them at the same time each week. There is a guide to weight management on the forum as each piggie has its own “normal” weight and it’s about feeling the heft to measure if they are feeling over or under weight. 3kg for a girl does seem like rather a lot though!

 

[Annie's pets]

We weight our boys once a week, it is also important to weigh them at the same time each week. There is a guide to weight management on the forum as each piggie has its own “normal” weight and it’s about feeling the heft to measure if they are feeling over or under weight. 3kg for a girl does seem like rather a lot though!

I thought that ! We did get her from a pet store [ which I didn't know about where the animals came from and stuff at that time ] but she was generally larger than the rest of the guinea pigs there

 

[Swissgreys]

We have a very in-depth guide on weight and weighing here:
Weight - Monitoring and Management

Healthy guinea pigs should be weighed once a week, and once you have an idea of their average weight over time changes can often be the first sign of problems, so it is useful information to have.

As for the feet I would strongly recommend not to apply anything until they have been checked by a vet.
Crusty feet are not normal in a healthy guinea pig kept in a clean cage, so this is definetly something to have checked out.

By applying home remedies to an undiagnosed condition you risk masking the symptoms and making the problem harder to diagnose.

@sixfluffybums it is lovely to have you as part of the Forum, but please note we prefer health advice to be given out specifically by or specialist health and illness advisors. We also do not advocate home treating without a proper diagnosis for the reasons outlined above.

 

[Piggies&buns]

 

[Wiebke]

Hi there
Just wondering how often should u weigh your guinea pigs and what a healthy weight is, one my two is around 3kg is that normal she might just be a chunky girl

Also a bonus question is, if guinea pigs have crusty feet [ only slightly ] or their feet are dry is coconut oil ok to put on their feet ? someone told me that a while back I just want to double check that's right.
Thankyou

with @Swissgreys .

Please read the advice in our weight link on her post.

3 kg is very heavy in any guinea pig, even for cuy piggies. Please use the weight management guide to check the BMI ('heft') around the ribs to see whether you piggy is overweight or not. If not, then it is what is.
The weight alone won't tell you whether your piggy is a good weight for its size as the average weight only covers about 50% of adult piggies but not the other half, which can be perfectly healthy for their individual non-standard size if they are larger or smaller than average.