Weighing Fidgety Pigs!

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Piggly

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I see a lot of advice on this forum about weighing piggies frequently to keep an eye on their health. However... how does everyone go about this? Do even the most fidgety pigs stay still long enough to record weight fairly accurately? What kind of scales normally get used? I have visions of sitting Eddie in the tiny little kitchen scales I have haha. Pretty sure he wouldn't fit! :))
 
I have a set of scales that you can zero and have found an old food tub that is piggies sized. This works for me. Another way would be to use a pet carrier. If you weigh your piggie in the carrier and then subtract the weight of the carrier ...
 
I turn my pigloo upside down and set it on the scales then set it to zero.

They still fidget but I find if I bent down and put myself face to face with them and talk they tend to look at me and I can glance down to see their weight. Ryou is the fidgitiest so the hardest to weigh.
 
I do the same as everyone else - place a small tub/bowl on the top of the scale, tare the scale back to zero, then place your pig in the tub! Generally most piggies will sit still long enough for you to see their weight, but if they insist on fidgeting or try to jump out, you can give them a piece of lettuce to munch which should keep them still for a few seconds.
 
I just sit mine in the bowl on top & if they're a fidgety piggy or prone to jump out, just keep my hand hovering obver their head while I weigh them. Most are OK after a few weeks.
 
Hi, I use my normal kitchen scales. I put a big enough bowl on the scales, then put a cozy inside the bowl - reset scales to zero, then plop piggy into cozy, that way you just get the weight of the piggy, and they are sitting inside something familiar and 'safe'
 
With the most skittish of piggies I have used a padded cardboard box or weighed them inside a cosy they were hiding in to prevent them from jumping out blindly.
 
i just put a bowl on top of my kitchen scale.
 
We use a Twinings 160 t-bag box. Even Astro at 1400gms will squeeze in. Drop them in bum first and pop down the lid, they sit still and its easy them to make sure they are central. Lift the lid and watch them look over the top. I will try to post some pics after the weekend.
 
Thankyou all for your advice - our pigs have their own personal set of scales now, with a small ice cream pig weighing box to sit them in. They have only been weighed twice over the past week and a half but Eddie has registered a 72g loss. The female piggy belonging to my housemates was 30g up on her last, and farted in the box... :)) So funny! I'm a little concerned about Eddies change, though the second weighing was much later in the day than the first. Could this be normal weight fluctuations?
 
Piggly said:
Thankyou all for your advice - our pigs have their own personal set of scales now, with a small ice cream pig weighing box to sit them in. They have only been weighed twice over the past week and a half but Eddie has registered a 72g loss. The female piggy belonging to my housemates was 30g up on her last, and farted in the box... :)) So funny! I'm a little concerned about Eddies change, though the second weighing was much later in the day than the first. Could this be normal weight fluctuations?
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Always weigh at the same time each week. e.g before or after tea.

72g weight loss would put me on edge to be honest, but if you have been weighing at different times that could explain it. Please weigh him daily for a few days if he loses again then it is a trend and needs exploring with a vet.
 
Thanks sport_billy. It is worrying me a bit, but I'll keep a close eye on his weight daily as you suggest. He seems perfectly healthy otherwise!
 
I have these scales from ASDA (I think, hard to tell without the picture). Naughty ASDA have not put a pic on so I will add a "home picture" too.

http://groceries.asda.com/asda-webs...sna1-_-asdacom-dsk-_-hp#/product/910000817942

I place the pig in the bowl and with the likes of my younger squiggly pigs I place them on and gently but firmly hold them there for a second I then let go for a micro-second and they do stay still for long enough for me to make a mental note of weight. I put them back in their cage before writing it down as I daren't wait until I write it as I think they would jump off. I keep the scales in pig room and put them on my mini step ladder next to cages so I don't have to carry the pigs around the house etc..

Pictures below as on my lappy and they are on my phone....
 
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Ok so first pic is joel he is biggest pig (length-wise) that I have ever seen in my life and he just about fits lol :

20140413_142935.webp

then here's my smallest to complete the comparsion :

20140413_143052.webp
 
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