Why are our piggies so small? Is this weight normal?

[bmwnorwalk]

Hi there, I'm back with another dilemma. When we got our two little girls in March 2024, our first challenge was sexing them. Thanks to all the help on this forum, we determined that they both are, indeed, female. Thank goodness! Now we've had our girls for 6 months exactly and we are loving them. They are the most adorable and fun little girls imaginable. They both seem to be thriving ... they eat well (90% hay, 5% pellets, 5% veggies), drink well, poop well, etc. One of the girls is more dominant and does rumblestrut around the other and create a bit of mischief. But they generally get along very well.

But... our girls are about 8 months old and they are absolutely tiny! I don't think they are too skinny or underweight, as I can't feel any ribs when I pick them up. They feel good ... solid ... not fat and not skinny. But their weight seems way off the typical average. Here are some pictures of them, both in their playpen and also on the scale. The tan one (Winnie) is the smallest at only 434 grams. The black one (Tootsie) is slightly bigger at 562 grams. But for 8 month old girls, aren't these both very light? Any guidance or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you as always!

 

[Zorro1]

If they feel like a good heft (can't feel bones easily, but not too chubby), then they are fine. The healthy weight range varies from pig to pig. Don't worry if they are naturally small, they look very healthy and happy.

 

[CTWC]

Post in thread 'Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support' Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support

Maybe this will help regarding the BMI or heft or your girls.

 

[Piggies&buns]

There is no weight to age guide and there is a huge range of adult weights - the guide linked in above explains. Young piggies will get to their genetically determined weight in their own time.
As long as they are gaining weight ant each weekly weight check and their heft is good then there is no concern.

Their diet is unlimited hay, one cup of veg per pig per day and one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day

 

[YvonneBlue]

Also worth checking your scales are accurate. Weigh something that you have bought pre-measured (100g bag of something works well).

Your piggies are lovely and as long as they are eating well and aren't skinny, I wouldn't worry so much about their weight. They should continue to grow until at least 12/14 months old.

 

[naguya]

My Momo is 560g (about 9 months old) and my Bijou weights 504g (about 5 months old) both boars.

They got plenty of healthy diet, fresh hay entire day. I can't feel each rib separately, so they are definitely not underweight. Since June they have been gaining some weight! (Mainly Bijou).

As everyone said, probably it is normal if you are feeding them correctly, they are healthy, eating and running, and also, you can't feel each rib separately

 

[bmwnorwalk]

Post in thread 'Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support' Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support

Maybe this will help regarding the BMI or heft or your girls.

Thank you! That thread is very helpful.

 

[bmwnorwalk]

There is no weight to age guide and there is a huge range of adult weights - the guide linked in above explains. Young piggies will get to their genetically determined weight in their own time.
As long as they are gaining weight ant each weekly weight check and their heft is good then there is no concern.

Their diet is unlimited hay, one cup of veg per pig per day and one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day

Thank you! We have been giving them the diet you mention since we've had them. Plenty of Timothy Hay and sometimes Orchard Grass mixed in. Pellets in a bowl which they nibble from time to time. And fresh veggies twice a day (mostly peppers and romaine with cucumbers and squash mixed from time to time ... no fattening/sugary veggies). So the girls seem to be thriving but definitely are tiny compared to the ones we see in the stores! So happy to hear your views and really appreciate the help (as always)!

 

[bmwnorwalk]

Also worth checking your scales are accurate. Weigh something that you have bought pre-measured (100g bag of something works well).

Your piggies are lovely and as long as they are eating well and aren't skinny, I wouldn't worry so much about their weight. They should continue to grow until at least 12/14 months old.

Thanks! We bought the scale on Amazon and checked it with some water before we weighed the girls. The scale seems pretty accurate (plus or minus a bit). Appreciate your recommendation and help! I'm hoping the girls continue to grow for another 6-8 months. They are much easier to cuddle and handle as they have gotten bigger.

 

[bmwnorwalk]

My Momo is 560g (about 9 months old) and my Bijou weights 504g (about 5 months old) both boars.

They got plenty of healthy diet, fresh hay entire day. I can't feel each rib separately, so they are definitely not underweight. Since June they have been gaining some weight! (Mainly Bijou).

As everyone said, probably it is normal if you are feeding them correctly, they are healthy, eating and running, and also, you can't feel each rib separately

Thanks! And good to hear the weight of your little guys for reference.

 

[Piggies&buns]

We don’t actually recommend the use of food bowls. We recommend that their one tablespoon of pellets each and their veg portions are scattered around the cage and into loose piles of hay. This serves to keep them mentally stimulated by encouraging their natural foraging ability. Piggies naturally spend most of their time foraging so eating from a bowl becomes a rather mindless thing and doesn’t engage them at feeding time.
It also means the dominant piggy cannot food hog - they don’t guard all the food if it is scattered around the cage meaning the submissive gets plenty of opportunity to eat also

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

Some piggies are quite simply small - the unkind expression is 'runt'. As long as they are healthy in themselves with a good BMI then they are reaching their genetically determined optimum and are maxing out on your good care.

My first cousins Llinos and Lleian have both stopped growing at 6 months at about 550g. They have just turned 3 years old and only touch the 600g on their best days. But they have already survived a chunky and seemingly healthy age mate of theirs who suddenly and without warning went into organ failure lst month; Mealona was just a month older and arrived with her mum a month earlier. Her mum Manon was rescued highly pregnant from a proper hellhole.
Just as an example that 'average' is never a guarantee.

With piggies like them you concentrate on making every day count because piggies dn't have a concept for 'normal' or 'average'. They measure their lives in happy todays filled with fun, love and good care. As long as you give them those, you won't fail them and get a lot more out of it yourself. The rest is quite simply out of our all control.

Lleian 'Smew' and Llinos 'Linnet' posing for their 3rd birthday picture (they were born just 5 days apart)



I second @Piggies&buns feeding advice. You can see whether a little more pellets helps with growing. They are only just over halfway to adulthood.

Here are some more ideas how you can turn meal time into fun time: Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

Thread 'Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs'

Mar 11, 2019

1 Company and interaction
- Company of their own kind is the best enrichment
- Human interaction
2 Excercise
- Daily run time and exercise
- Race and obstacle courses
- Outdoors time and how to bring it indoors
3 Sensory enrichment
- Things for the nose and the palate
- Working to get their daily food
- Romping and burrowing in soft...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 3
• Forum: Housing, Enrichment and Seasonal care

• 
• 

 

[bmwnorwalk]

We don’t actually recommend the use of food bowls. We recommend that their one tablespoon of pellets each and their veg portions are scattered around the cage and into loose piles of hay. This serves to keep them mentally stimulated by encouraging their natural foraging ability. Piggies naturally spend most of their time foraging so eating from a bowl becomes a rather mindless thing and doesn’t engage them at feeding time.
It also means the dominant piggy cannot food hog - they don’t guard all the food if it is scattered around the cage meaning the submissive gets plenty of opportunity to eat also

Thanks! This is a great suggestion. We've been using the food bowl for the pellets but I like the idea of spreading the pellets around, especially when they are in their playpen (on a fleece blanket instead of their cage which has shredded paper). And same with the veggies ... we could spread those even more. We are spreading out the hay so each girl can eat in peace. They generally get along great, but when the smaller one is in heat, it seems the other one gets more aggressive.

 

[bmwnorwalk]

Hi

Some piggies are quite simply small - the unkind expression is 'runt'. As long as they are healthy in themselves with a good BMI then they are reaching their genetically determined optimum and are maxing out on your good care.

My first cousins Llinos and Lleian have both stopped growing at 6 months at about 550g. They have just turned 3 years old and only touch the 600g on their best days. But they have already survived a chunky and seemingly healthy age mate of theirs who suddenly and without warning went into organ failure lst month; Mealona was just a month older and arrived with her mum a month earlier. Her mum Manon was rescued highly pregnant from a proper hellhole.
Just as an example that 'average' is never a guarantee.

With piggies like them you concentrate on making every day count because piggies dn't have a concept for 'normal' or 'average'. They measure their lives in happy todays filled with fun, love and good care. As long as you give them those, you won't fail them and get a lot more out of it yourself. The rest is quite simply out of our all control.

Lleian 'Smew' and Llinos 'Linnet' posing for their 3rd birthday picture (they were born just 5 days apart)
View attachment 257250


I second @Piggies&buns feeding advice. You can see whether a little more pellets helps with growing. They are only just over halfway to adulthood.

Here are some more ideas how you can turn meal time into fun time: Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

Thread 'Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs'

Mar 11, 2019

1 Company and interaction
- Company of their own kind is the best enrichment
- Human interaction
2 Excercise
- Daily run time and exercise
- Race and obstacle courses
- Outdoors time and how to bring it indoors
3 Sensory enrichment
- Things for the nose and the palate
- Working to get their daily food
- Romping and burrowing in soft...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 3
• Forum: Housing, Enrichment and Seasonal care

• 
• 

As always, thank you so much! Lleian and Llinos are so adorable! We'll review the link to the enrichment ideas to get some new and fun tips. Will be good for my human children to also read that and learn some tips. Our guinea girls are actually our kids' pets, but my wife and I have basically adopted them as our own.

 

[Wiebke]

As always, thank you so much! Lleian and Llinos are so adorable! We'll review the link to the enrichment ideas to get some new and fun tips. Will be good for my human children to also read that and learn some tips. Our guinea girls are actually our kids' pets, but my wife and I have basically adopted them as our own.

With runts you can never tell how long they will live because there are some dodgy genes in play; just see them as your special gifts and feel blessed every day you have them in your life.

Of course, I cherish my long-lived piggies, especially the ones I have had from a young age but there are some special characters that I haven't had for long but that have nevertheless made the short time feel so much longer than it actually was and that I cannot but remember with a big smile on my face.