One pig not gaining weight

[SGpigs01]

Hi all,

First, thank you for this forum. It has been hugely useful in my guinea pig journey. I'm hoping to source some of that collective knowledge now to either figure out what is going on or at least reassure me that I'm on the right path.

I have two six month sow guinea pigs about a day apart in age, Wonton and Siew Mai (the dumpling sisters). The issue I'm having is while Siew Mai weighs 670 grams, poor Wonton is only 470 grams! You can feel the bones in her rib cage. I've been monitoring weight weekly and they both continually gain, but obviously one more than the other.

I've taken them both to two different vets who can't find anything wrong. Wonton seems completely healthy. She runs, plays, wheeks for food, eats plenty of hay, gets good fresh veggies, and pellets. Of the two, she is much more active. I feed them veggies separately so I know they are getting the same amounts. There are also two kitchen setups with hay, pellets and water. One is up in a loft, the second on the opposite side of the cage. Poop is normal, teeth are okay. There are no major outward signs of bullying, no fur missing, no fights, no teeth chattering. The most I've seen is a sort of nose-off where they bump each others heads up for a bit then go their separate ways. When they go out for playtime, they follow each other around the maze of hideouts and play in the giant pile of hay in the middle.

The second vet thinks it might be more subtle bullying, perhaps at night when I'm not around (they're in my second bedroom and WFH means I spend all day with them). I do see Siew Mai go to where Wonton is eating hay and then Wonton will almost always immediately leave. Sometimes Wonton goes to the other hay setup, sometimes she just wanders around. She gets distracted easily and likes to check out new stuff or what might be new stuff. Siew Mai will also sometimes jump into the hideout Wonton is in causing the latter to leave.

So where we are at now is I've reconfigured the cage to two 2x3 C&C sharing a wall so they can see each other. I started this yesterday on the vet's recommendation. I had them out for playtime yesterday together and they had a great time as usual. Today they're gnawing on the bars right across from each other and I'm feeling down keeping them separated.

So I'm wondering if anyone's had experience with a situation like this? Any other ideas or advice? Thank you!

 

[Siikibam]

The first thing I would say is to please not separate them. Put them together in a neutral area and then thoroughly clean out their cage and rearrange before putting them back in. I don’t think it’s subtle bullying. True bullying would go on at any time of the day and would result in a withdrawn and thinning piggy.

It’s normal for piggies to not weigh the same. It depends on their genetic ‘build’, just like with us humans. It may be she was the runt in the litter - the smallest. As long as she is gaining (not losing) then that may just be her body. I have a pair of sows and one was quite smaller than the other from a young age. But her size is okay for her.

If Siew Mai is the dominant piggy then she will get to pick where to eat or sleep etc. I would move the second hay area downstairs and at the opposite end of the cage. I’d also then consider expanding the ground level using the grids from the loft. How big is their cage on the floor level?

Try scatter feeding the veg and pellets. You could also hand feed the veg. I have done that for a long time with my piggies. I hand feed then everything or, if I’m in a hurry, I give them one thing then leave the rest in front of them.

Are you sure she’s six months old?

 

[SGpigs01]

Thank you for the advice!

I can't say 100% they're the same age, the rescue thought they were but they are different breeds so not true sisters. Wonton is Abyssinian and Siew Mai is American. There was a slight weight difference when I got them. Wonton was 295 and Siew Mai was 325 grams.

The bottom level was 2x5 C&C with the loft just being a 2x1 that has a litter box, hay rack, water bottle and food dish. The other hay area is exactly as you described, downstairs at the opposite side. They seemed to like one hay feeder better than the other so I put the favourite downstairs since the upstairs access could be blocked. I do hand feed all vegetables since I noticed Siew Mai eats way faster than Wonton due to Wonton liking to run around and popcorn in between bites. Siew Mai is just an eating machine.

 

[Mikatelyn]

Hi SGpigs! I'm glad you asked this question, since I've intermittently had the same concerns about my piggies, also 6 months old but male abysinnians. They weigh 637g and 700g. The bigger one is a much faster eater, but I hand feed all veggies and pellets to try to make sure the smaller one gets his share. The smaller one gets distracted easily as well, and will go wander around before coming back for food, whereas the bigger one will just hunker down until everything is gone. The smaller one is also in general more active, so I think he's just programmed to expend more energy.
I did notice that (very early on) the smaller one started to gain weight faster when I got a second hay rack that was equal and at the opposite side of the cage so he couldn't be chased away from food opportunities.

By the way, I love the dim sum naming theme!

 

[Freela]

There can be a really wide range of 'normal' weights in guinea pigs... at various times we've had a dramatically larger pig and an itty bitty pig (right now we have a pair like that... Hadley is a big, solid girl with big bone structure and Leela is about half her size with a petite little face, etc.) I wouldn't separate, especially since you aren't seeing any bullying or aggression. I would make sure both pigs have easy access to food (i.e. two food bowls, more than one hay rack, etc.), just to be sure that no one is 'hoarding' the food. Otherwise, I think they may just be on track to be different-sized guinea pigs.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I found my piggies eat so much more hay since I don’t use any kind of hay rack. They just get piles of fresh hay thrown on the floor so can access it from all positions and love sitting in it and munching away

 

[SGpigs01]

Thank you all. They're back together and having a good time. I knew they could be different weights but the dramatic difference, plus how easily you can feel Wonton's ribs, made me worried. She is, overall, a bit smaller than Siew Mai in length and head size. I've started weighing daily at the same time too to keep a closer eye. Right now they're at their separate hay racks munching away.

Mikatelyn, it's the same with these two. Siew Mai hides under a blanket most of the day snoozing while Wonton goes on piggy adventures around the cage nearly all day. Wonton is also the explorer at playtime and definitely uses more energy. I'll just keep working on fattening her up so she's not quite so "model" skinny.

On the names, each time I've met someone new at the vet they crack up at their names.

Thanks Piggies&buns! I have started to put hay into a little box beneath the rack. Well, they started doing it by pulling the entire amount of hay out of the rack all at once and then eating it. Now they alternate between eating what's on the ground or in the hay rack. Or in the very hardest to reach spot that somehow looks more appetising.

A few photos for fun. The black one who always looks angry is Wonton while the more "sophisticated" one is Siew Mai.