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Skinny pig boy not gaining weight.

Skinnycow83

Skinnycow83

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello everyone.
May skinny boys came a pair - they are around 11 weeks and despite some mild dominance behaviours , get on pretty well. We have 6x2 c+c cage with two of everything. One of our boys (who I think May emerge dominant one) is gaining weight slowly but steadily- coming in at about 700g. My other boy though is steadfast at 580. We’ve been weighing him weekly. He has no ribs showing and as he is a skinny you can mildly see a vertebrae when he hunches over to eat his hay.We have reduced pellets to 1tbsp between 2 of them as their urine was very chalky (Better since reducing pellets) abs they get around 70g of fresh veg safe veg a day. We top up hay about 4 times a day and there’s always an excess. I don’t think Renton is bullying Spud outof food as we hand feed and do forage boxes (Spud is smarter and gets more out of those) and hay is constant. I’ve noticed Spud is way more active that Rents- always zooming around and popcorning especially at food time. And climbs on our laps to eat. Vet saw last week and had no concerns. But I’m an anxious mother! So my question is how can I fatten him up? Should I even try? Any advice welcome. ❤️ NB I’ve added the pest pic I canto show their sides.
 

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I should just add- Spud is at the front in this pic. Pink left shoulder.
 
They put in weight in their own time and you can’t compare one piggy’s weight to the other. If he is eating hay well, isn’t losing weight, definitely isn’t being bullied away from food and a vet has confirmed he is healthy (never hurts to have another check done if you are worried), then I would continue as you are and see what happens over the coming weeks.
If his weight decreases then you obviously then need step in.
 
Hiya thank you! I really don’t think bullying is the issue- I’m very aware Renton is the hefty boy and my husband abs I hand feed all the fresh food/ pellets or supervise feeding time. We are at home most the time at the mo and check on them all the time and hay is unlimited. I am probably just being over anxious. Poos seem fine and are in abundance so that’s something! I’ll continue to keep an eye- Spuddy is the littlest one anyway so he might just be small.
 
I would expect at 11 weeks old they should both still be making some weight gain. The forum feeding guide says that you can give young piggies unlimited nuggets until they are between 4-6 months old. I do find that my skinny pigs need slightly more food than my other guinea pigs to maintain their weight. If your boar continues to not gain weight i would get him checked out by the vet again.

One thing i would ask is if they are warm enough, skinnies can expend a lot of calories keeping warm if the temperature is too low for them. The room they live in should be kept at a temperature no lower than 18 degrees centigrade at all times.
 
Piggies&buns said:
If I’m not mistaken the forum feeding guide says you can give two tablespoons of adult pellets (ie non alfalfa containing pellets) to piggies under four months, but not unlimited pellets.
Click to expand...
It depends on which guide you read i think that maybe one of them has not been updated. I took this from the Pregnancy and Baby Care section.

i.e. unlimited pellets or handful of alfalfa hay/40g pellets during the first fast growing phase until the weekly growth rate is slowing down at ca. 4-6 months old, then gradually reduced to the half or handful of pellets (ca. 10-20g) that fully grown mature guinea pigs need from ca. 12-15 months old). Please be aware that the majority of commercially available pellet brands are alfalfa based and quite high in calcium and protein, hence the need for reduction in adult piggies in order to prevent overweight.
 
YvonneBlue said:
It depends on which guide you read i think that maybe one of them has not been updated. I took this from the Pregnancy and Baby Care section.

i.e. unlimited pellets or handful of alfalfa hay/40g pellets during the first fast growing phase until the weekly growth rate is slowing down at ca. 4-6 months old, then gradually reduced to the half or handful of pellets (ca. 10-20g) that fully grown mature guinea pigs need from ca. 12-15 months old). Please be aware that the majority of commercially available pellet brands are alfalfa based and quite high in calcium and protein, hence the need for reduction in adult piggies in order to prevent overweight.
Click to expand...

Yes, definitely different advice on the two guides then!
The feeding guide says one tablespoon of alfalfa containing pellets Or two tablespoons of adult pellets until four months.
 
Some piggies are just small and slim, and certainly with skinnies the temperature can really affect how many calories they need. However as you have essentially a matched pair, and the chocolate hippo is plump while the little chap with the pink shoulder band looks quite noticeably ribby in the photo, I would advise a vet check just to make sure. Possibly there is nothing to worry about, we have a furry pair of girls Piggle and Puggle who are age-matched sister-cousins and Piggle has always been a whopping great healthy hefty girl while Puggle struggled with bloat for a while but has always been petite- 300g weight difference as adults, Piggle is a very big girl!
But its worth ruling out any medical issues, especially as skinnies are by definition very inbred so might have some issues...
 
PigglePuggle said:
Some piggies are just small and slim, and certainly with skinnies the temperature can really affect how many calories they need. However as you have essentially a matched pair, and the chocolate hippo is plump while the little chap with the pink shoulder band looks quite noticeably ribby in the photo, I would advise a vet check just to make sure. Possibly there is nothing to worry about, we have a furry pair of girls Piggle and Puggle who are age-matched sister-cousins and Piggle has always been a whopping great healthy hefty girl while Puggle struggled with bloat for a while but has always been petite- 300g weight difference as adults, Piggle is a very big girl!
But its worth ruling out any medical issues, especially as skinnies are by definition very inbred so might have some issues...
Click to expand...
 
Hi, thanks- they went to the vet last week for a check up and she wasn’t worried. I’m just very aware that he’s little - that photo isn’t great, you can’t actually see his ribs IRL - you can see his creases- more in that pic but no he doesn’t have the heft of our other pig. ; We are monitoring him closely. We will of course take him back to the vet if it continues.
 
YvonneBlue said:
I would expect at 11 weeks old they should both still be making some weight gain. The forum feeding guide says that you can give young piggies unlimited nuggets until they are between 4-6 months old. I do find that my skinny pigs need slightly more food than my other guinea pigs to maintain their weight. If your boar continues to not gain weight i would get him checked out by the vet again.

One thing i would ask is if they are warm enough, skinnies can expend a lot of calories keeping warm if the temperature is too low for them. The room they live in should be kept at a temperature no lower than 18 degrees centigrade at all times.
Click to expand...
Hello, thank you, yes they are kept above 19-20 c usually with heat packs as well xx
 
Update- I called the vet today who saw him last week. She is an exotic/ small animal vet so piggy savvy. She suggested upping Spuds pellets, weighing every few days abs of no change to bring him in after Christmas. I’m just worrying now it’s something serious. He’s my sweet boy- the cuddly one, a sweet gentle soul.
 
I wouldn’t up the pellets - they’re the junk food of the piggy world. He would likely gain but not a healthy type of weight. How much is he getting now?

Did she suggest doing further tests?
 
They get one tablespoon of pellets between them a day. I keep getting conflicting Advice- on here (see earlier posts) and from the vet- so it’s extremely difficult to know what to do. As I said she said to increase the pellets to a tablespoon a day each and take him back if he doesn’t gain weight within the next week or so,
 
I think as you are only giving them half a tablespoon each, then you can increase the pellets to one full tablespoon each. They are ’junk food’, and generally under feeding pellets in favour of encouraging more hay eating would be a good idea (I only give my boys half a tablespoon each), but I think in your situation and given you do have leeway, then I would increase to the full tablespoon and see how it goes.
 
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