Routinely weighing your guinea pig is a recommended part of guinea pig care. Since sudden weight loss and a decreased appetite are among the first noticeable symptoms of illness, regular weighing is good practice. Kitchen scales are the perfect size for guinea pigs and provide more accurate readings than the larger scales meant to be used by humans. The entire chase-grab-weigh-record process is quick and doesn't take more than a few minutes.
These charts show each cavy's weight fluctuations over the past year and the overall trends beginning from when they were first adopted. Judging by the stabilization in their weights, Belka, Truffle, Peaches, Poof and Revy seem to have finished growing. This doesn't come as much of a surprise, considering that all five girls will be turning three this year.
Abby-Roo, who was adopted in May 2012, is still a growing youngster. The pronounced spike at the start of her data is from when she was abandoned at a shelter pregnant before being taken in by our local guinea pig rescue. She became roomies with Revy shortly after her pups were weaned (happily, both were adopted soon afterwards). Ever since joining our family last year, the formerly diminutive Abby-Roo has been eating voraciously and packing on the piggy chub.
Please note that the unit of measurement is in grams (for reference, there are 453.6 grams in 1 pound, 906 grams in 2 lbs, etc). Charts with updated data will be posted in another year's time. Previous weight charts can be seen here.
All six pigs here are regularly weighed twice a week. How often do you weigh your guineas?
Once a month...
ReplyDeleteI record their weight on cage-cleaning day. If I'm worried about illness, I'll weigh randomly during the week (sometimes twice a day) but not record it.
ReplyDeleteMy chart from 2012 is depressing. The one interesting thing about my chart overall is that when I had the trio, all three would gain and lose weight relatively the same, depending on the season. It was kind of neat to see that.
Mine are heftier during the warmer months, likely because they benefit from eating on the lawn. Seasonal favorites like corn husks also contribute.
DeleteThe piggy princesses weigh in on cage cleaning day as well - every 4 days typically for a full clean, except those times that Fergie wants to be a musk-butt and spray the walls....then it's 2-3 days before a full clean :)
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