Is It Normal For An Older Piggy To Be Slightly Smaller If Taking Breed Into Consideration?

[Laaaauren]

Hello everyone,
I have a boar who is a Silkie/Coronet and is roughly 10 months old, and a sow who we’re pretty sure is Abyssinian who is roughly 7 months. Both piggies are happy and healthy, and eat a good amount of hay, nuggets and veggies each day. However, our sow is visibly larger than our boar and we’re pretty sure she’s heavier too (if our scales are to be believed, although they’re not the most reliable).
I never see either of them fight or show dominance when it comes to food, and we make sure they both get a good amount. Because I was a little worried about my boar’s weight our vet did an emergency checkup and found his weight is in the perfect range for his age (just under 1000g) and his teeth are in great condition. Still, the visible difference in size is something that I’m a little confused on.

So I’m just wondering if breed can really determine size in guinea pigs - are Abyssinians commonly larger than Silkies/Coronets? Also, can anyone suggest a good set of scales because ours aren’t the best (UK preferably).

 

[Freela]

There can be a large range of normal weights and sizes for healthy guinea pigs... I've had a couple larger pigs weigh close to three pounds and small pounds who never reached two pounds even at their largest. Both were fine. Right now we have two pigs at either end of the spectrum- Hadley is big-built with a broad head, big feet, and generally such a solid guinea pig. Leela is a lot smaller, even down to a dainty little head and feet. Both are fine, they are just different sizes, just like humans have different heights and builds.

 

[Betsy]

I have a male teddy guinea pig (Dennis) who weighs under 1kg and the love of his life is The Ever Beautiful Betsy and she is over 1kg the size difference is noticeable. They are both happy and healthy. Betsy is around 5 months older than Dennis. Happy healthy piggies is what you want.

Here they both are

 

[Wiebke]

Hello everyone,
I have a boar who is a Silkie/Coronet and is roughly 10 months old, and a sow who we’re pretty sure is Abyssinian who is roughly 7 months. Both piggies are happy and healthy, and eat a good amount of hay, nuggets and veggies each day. However, our sow is visibly larger than our boar and we’re pretty sure she’s heavier too (if our scales are to be believed, although they’re not the most reliable).
I never see either of them fight or show dominance when it comes to food, and we make sure they both get a good amount. Because I was a little worried about my boar’s weight our vet did an emergency checkup and found his weight is in the perfect range for his age (just under 1000g) and his teeth are in great condition. Still, the visible difference in size is something that I’m a little confused on.

So I’m just wondering if breed can really determine size in guinea pigs - are Abyssinians commonly larger than Silkies/Coronets? Also, can anyone suggest a good set of scales because ours aren’t the best (UK preferably).

Hi!

Individual size can vary massively. Please read our weight guide on how to determine whether your piggy is a healthy weight/size ratio at any stage of life (BMI or as we call it 'heft'). It also tells you more about how weight changes over the course of a life, not just the individual genetically determined weight.
Weight - Monitoring and Management

This important guide for life long health monitoring is part of our new owners guide collection which helps you to learn what is normal and what not in many different areas, as well as understand behaviour and where guinea pigs come from better. It is worth bookmarking and using as helpful resource. Unlike books that are quickly outdated, our guides format allows us to update and extend our information at need (and as we have spare time): Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

You can access the full information resource on an even wider range of topics via the guide shortcut on the top bar.