My young guinea pigs aren't gaining much weight

[h.h.lovecraft]

My two guinea pigs are 7 weeks old now and I've started weighing them everyday. It seems like they aren't gaining much weight. Their diet consists of around 1 tablespoon of versele laga pellets each (around 4 grams each) in the morning, unlimited meadow hay from a farm, a pile of fresh grass every few days, and 30-50 grams of romaine, cucumber, green pepper, and one other interchangeable veggie depending on what I have, but I avoid high calcium veggies. They usually eat most of their veggies and lots of hay. They currently have ringworm and calcium pee more often than I'd like them too (can't really figure out why), but other than that they act like normal happy piggies. I am feeding exactly what is suggested so I'm not sure if they are just slow gainers or what. I've attached my weight chart as well. Advice is greatly appreciate! Thanks!

Weight / date :

Witchfinder-
268g 29.5
281g 2.6
287g 3.6
293g 4.6
291g 6.6
300g 7.6
296g 8.6
Hexenhammer-
216g 29.5
230g 2.6
236g 3.6
244g 4.6
244g 6.6
254g 7.6
245g 8.6

 

[Claire W]

So long as there is a steady increase in weight in which there is, I really wouldn’t worry. Weigh them weekly instead of daily as 30-50g can be the difference between a full and empty bladder. As for the calcium wees you could try filtering their drinking water with a filter jug as tap water contains a lot of calcium especially in hard water areas

 

[Piggies&buns]

This all looks fine. They are gaining well - When you look at day 1 and day 7 weight changes, theyve gained a good amount in a week. You don’t need to weigh them daily, once a week is fine

 

[Wiebke]

My two guinea pigs are 7 weeks old now and I've started weighing them everyday. It seems like they aren't gaining much weight. Their diet consists of around 1 tablespoon of versele laga pellets each (around 4 grams each) in the morning, unlimited meadow hay from a farm, a pile of fresh grass every few days, and 30-50 grams of romaine, cucumber, green pepper, and one other interchangeable veggie depending on what I have, but I avoid high calcium veggies. They usually eat most of their veggies and lots of hay. They currently have ringworm and calcium pee more often than I'd like them too (can't really figure out why), but other than that they act like normal happy piggies. I am feeding exactly what is suggested so I'm not sure if they are just slow gainers or what. I've attached my weight chart as well. Advice is greatly appreciate! Thanks!

Weight / date :

Witchfinder-
268g 29.5
281g 2.6
287g 3.6
293g 4.6
291g 6.6
300g 7.6
296g 8.6
Hexenhammer-
216g 29.5
230g 2.6
236g 3.6
244g 4.6
244g 6.6
254g 7.6
245g 8.6

Hi!

A ca. 20-30g in a week is considered a good weight gain for this stage. You will find that the growth rate is not nicely even so you can have weeks where there is no weight gain at all. As long as your piggies are active and healthy, they will realise their optimal weight/size ration over the coming months in their own time and at their own pace.

PLEASE stop weighing daily; a weekly weigh-in is perfectly adequate for healthy piggies. If you are prone to anxiety, it is recommended to leave health monitoring to another person in order to prevent obsessive health checking so you do not lose enjoyment of your pets.

 

[h.h.lovecraft]

So long as there is a steady increase in weight in which there is, I really wouldn’t worry. Weigh them weekly instead of daily as 30-50g can be the difference between a full and empty bladder. As for the calcium wees you could try filtering their drinking water with a filter jug as tap water contains a lot of calcium especially in hard water areas

Thanks for the advice! I think I will start weighing them once a week. We have soft water, so I figured that filtering wouldn't be necessary. I know soft water can still contain a lot of calcium though. I know everyone says some calcium excess is normal, but I never know how much is normal. Once a day? Once a week? Because it seems like at least one of my piggies does it once a day or every other day.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for the advice! I think I will start weighing them once a week. We have soft water, so I figured that filtering wouldn't be necessary. I know soft water can still contain a lot of calcium though. I know everyone says some calcium excess is normal, but I never know how much is normal. Once a day? Once a week? Because it seems like at least one of my piggies does it once a day or every other day.

I would recommend to filter your water and see whether that does the trick. Calcium pees on a near daily basis are an indication that the diet is out of balance.

 

[h.h.lovecraft]

Hi!

A ca. 20-30g in a week is considered a good weight gain for this stage. You will find that the growth rate is not nicely even so you can have weeks where there is no weight gain at all. As long as your piggies are active and healthy, they will realise their optimal weight/size ration over the coming months in their own time and at their own pace.

PLEASE stop weighing daily; a weekly weigh-in is perfectly adequate for healthy piggies. If you are prone to anxiety, it is recommended to leave health monitoring to another person in order to prevent obsessive health checking so you do not lose enjoyment of your pets.

Thank you for the advice! I will only weigh them once a week from now on, especially since I noticed the daily change can also just depend on how many veggies they had eaten a few minutes before, etc. Very good to hear that they seem to be doing alright.

I do have anxiety and I am a bit of an overthinker, so it's kind of in my nature to be worried unfortunately but I am working on it. I think a lot of it is because they were sick when I got them and are currently getting worse before they can be better (nasty ringworm ) so I haven't had a lot of time to just be fully stress free with them yet.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you for the advice! I will only weigh them once a week from now on, especially since I noticed the daily change can also just depend on how many veggies they had eaten a few minutes before, etc. Very good to hear that they seem to be doing alright.

I do have anxiety and I am a bit of an overthinker, so it's kind of in my nature to be worried unfortunately but I am working on it. I think a lot of it is because they were sick when I got them and are currently getting worse before they can be better (nasty ringworm ) so I haven't had a lot of time to just be fully stress free with them yet.

The daily weight swing over 24 hours is 30-40g. Please consider that alone the difference between a full bladder and empty one in an adult is 10g! Not to mention the difference for or after a meal. The more often you weigh, the more likely you are getting those weight swings.

Ringworm in its milder form is not pleasant but it should not be so bad that it impacts the appetite so your piggies will thrive on your general care nevertheless. The worst of the discomfort and of the active phase should be over within a week anyway.

 

[abrennan110]

I would recommend to filter your water and see whether that does the trick. Calcium pees on a near daily basis are an indication that the diet is out of balance.

What do you consider to be a calcium pee? Just whitish colored pee?

 

[h.h.lovecraft]

What do you consider to be a calcium pee? Just whitish colored pee?

I think some milkiness in the pee is OK, but calcium pee can look like white stains on the fleece or very dry and powdery spot like the ones my piggies are producing. Here are some pics for reference.

 

[Wiebke]

What do you consider to be a calcium pee? Just whitish colored pee?

Milky pees that dry into a white/yellowish powdery substance.