Monday, May 24, 2010

Are my guniea pigs a healthy weight?

I have two guinea pigs, Matilda and Penelope. I weighed and measured them last night. Here is their information:
Penelope: Age: 9 months, Length: 9 inches, Weight: 1.8 lbs
Matilda: Age 6 months, Length: 9 inches, Weight: 1.4 lbs
Both pigs are extremely social, alert, active and curious. Their fur is lush and shiny with clear eyes. They sneeze occasionally, but no discharge from their, mouths, noses, eyes, ears or anus. Penelope is very bulky and calm, Matilda is more squirrelly and although is the same length looks a ton smaller than Penelope. Both moves and sits comfortably and are both female.
Are their weights healthy for their behavior, body length, gender and age?
Answers:
yes
Yes. They are a healthy weight. Up to two pounds in my experience. THey also sound very healthy! Good job and they sound like they're well taken care of!
it sounds like a normal weight becuse I have twe hamsters and they weigh less then that so yah it sounds about write
Seems to be.if you are not sure, call a vet to ask.
also here is a link on guinea pig's weights:
http://www.guinealynx.com/weigh.html...
hope that helps
yes they are fine
Ok, no these pigs are under weight, I am sorry to say. At three months old we would expect a properly taken care of piggie to be in the 22 ounces range which is about 1 lb 5 ounces. Your piggies should weight at least 32 ounces or 2 lbs minimum!! Anything less is a sign the pig is doesn't have adequate care or there is something wrong that is not allowing the pigs to gain sufficient weight. A good weight for and adult sow ranges between 32-40 ounces, and for a boar 38-45 ounces. And remember there are 16 ounces in a lb if you want to convert this. My suggestion is to take the piggies to the vet for a check up to make sure everything is fine. And you also need to take a look at the food you are feeding them. A quality food has at least (at least) these two components - 18% protein and no more than 2.5% fat. It should be made of a quality alfalfa pellet with out the treat stuff in there. Guinea pigs will pick through their garden variety pet store food and eat only the unhealthy items first leaving behind the nutritional pellets. If you are wanting to give them treats, you should be doing it in the form of fresh vegetables or dandilions. And if you know your food doesn't meet the critieria stated above you need to buy one that does and slowly switch over the course of a week. You do this buy mixing some of the new food with the old food each day. And each day when you mix it you put less of the old stuff in there on, day seven throw away the old food, it is junk!!
Memphis Gal gave you a great link, but only one to the diet requirements, not the link to the correct weight. http://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html... If you read down right below what the vets listed you will get the right weight for the piggies,,,,, Also here is the guide lines from the American Rabbit Breeders Association which governs the rules and by laws for Rabbit and Cavy(guinea pigs) Standard of PERFECTION!!
JUNIOR
Up to 4 months of age, minimum weight 12 ozs. and maximum weight 22 ozs
INTERMEDIATE
5 and 6 months of age, minimum weight 22 ozs. and maximum weight 32 ozs
SENIOR
Over 6 months of age and weight over 32 ozs
These vet reference books are from older sources, what is not being taken into consideration here is that many show breeders trying to reach the standard of perfection breed these piggies to have a large brick shaped robust body and the weight requirements have changed over the last 10 years.
I would say that they are a tiny bit underweight. An average adult (about 1 year old) female pig will be between 700- 900 grams (1.5 lbs- 1.9 lbs). Generally, you will see pigs over those normal weights, not under.
Since your pigs are not quite adults, they can be on the lower end of the range. The most important thing is that they have a healthy diet and are still putting on weight.
Here is a link to proper diet guindelines. http://www.guinealynx.info/diet.html...
It's wonderful that you are weighing your pig. Keep it up!
your guinea pigs sound the right weight! mine are almost 2 years old, and weigh more, but they should because they are older. Like your piggy Penelope, one of mine named yogi is also very bulky and calm. Like Matilda, my other one named scampers is smaller looking. mine are both males. Yours sound very healthy to me!

No comments:

Post a Comment