I have a male guinea pig just over a year and he weighs 4 lbs.. I know he is really fat because even the vet said so. I am just wondering what should I do to get him to lose weight? I give him a lot of timothy hay and pellets.. He has a big cage and can run around but tends to yawn and lay all the time.. He only gets up to eat/drink. He also gets floor time 2-3 times a week for 30 to 45 mins each but he just sits there and doesn't move. What should I do? I have tried toys and tubes he can go in/out of but he's really lazy. Any suggestions i'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
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Overweight Male Guinea Pig
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 Krys1987 |
Overweight Male Guinea Pig |
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Posts: 16 10/08/09 08:09 PM |
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PooksiedAnimals |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 4114 10/09/09 08:37 AM Moderator |
What kind of pellets does he have? How much are you feeding him? I would say cutting back on the pellets is the quickest way to help him lose weight, since
that has the highest calories of any kind of food he'd be eating.
How big is his cage? Have you considered a same-sex buddy? A friend would keep him moving. Did the vet check for heart problems at all? Heart disease may keep more sedentary, and may be why its so hard to motivate him to get up and move. Has he always been a lump like this? |
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Krys1987 |
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Posts: 16 10/09/09 11:29 AM |
He shared a cage with a female and they are both lump lol... except she's not as big. I have fed them different kinds of food (2 diff kinds) because I have
moved a lot and none of the pet stores carried the food I had. Right now I am feeding him Kaytee FortiDiet Pro Health but I might have to switch again since
that bag is getting low and there are no pet stores here that carried that food and I just moved here a month ago. I am thinking of switching him/her to
Sunseed Sunaturals natural guinea pig food. I bought it at a pet store here but haven't opened it yet. I am not sure how good it will be for them? Today I
only gave him 1/8 of food and that's all I will give him for the rest of the day. He has supply of timothy hay and water. I also give him some treats every
day. Mostly carrots, oranges, cucumber, romaine lettece and celery. I sometimes give them brocolli but I heard it wasn't good for them. Is this true? I
give them fruits/veggies 2 a day. Normally some in the morning when I wake up and some at night. My female guinea pig isn't over weight like he is. The
vets said she is a good size and I don't measure what I feed her. They use to share a cage but she ended up getting UTI the other day so they are in
seperate cages now. both of them just lay in their bed and only get up to eat/drink. The cage they were sharing together is made by super pet and it has an
upper level. I am not sure the exact size but it was the biggest one my pet store had and they said it was big enough for 2 guinea's because of the upper
level but they still don't move that much. I can put them both on the floor together and they just sit there and even when u try to get them to move they
don't. They aren't as scared as they use to be. I can put my hand in their cage and pet them and they don't run away. I took the male to the vet a
few months ago and they said he was healthy but he was just fat. The female one is on antibiotics (Em something?) and she has been getting better. She is
eating/drinking again unlike 2 days ago. She has only been bleeding a lil bit. 2 days ago she was bleeding so much. I have noticed a diff in her attitude. She
looks more aware etc.
I am not sure what else I can do? What brand of food do u recommend? I am trying to find them a bigger cage so I can put them together but seperate them so they each have their spot in the cage. The doc said the male guinea pig has been a lil agressive to the female and we need to watch their behaviour but they get lonely when they aren't together or when they cant see each other. I don't have enough room in my apartment for 2 cages side by side so they can see each other. What do u think I should do? Thanks. |
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PooksiedAnimals |
#3 | |||
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Posts: 4114 10/09/09 01:13 PM Moderator |
I would take the time to read through the FAQs - Links to good answers thread. It has links to good information on diet and cage size.
Not even knowing the dimensions of the cage, I'm willing to bet its way too small. That certainly is attributing to their sedentary lifestyle. If pigs don't have a lot of room to move, they get bored, and when they get too bored, they just stop being interested in stuff. Once they get like that, its hard to motivate them to get moving. Being in too small of a cage can also cause aggressiveness. If she hadn't been feeling well, that can also cause some pigs to be aggressive, especially if she's normally the alpha pig. Also, have either of them been treated for mites? Do they scratch themselves often? That can cause changes in behavior, too. How aggressive was your male being? How often? Do either run laps? Do they have enough room to do that? My girls go nuts about 6:30am every morning, and run several laps around their cage. I've shot video of it once. Its pretty goofy! FortiDiet isn't the greatest, but is better than the Sunseed guinea pig food. Cheap guinea pig pellets is a lot like feeding them junk food all the time. If you eat junk food, its easy to gain weight. Shop around. See if there's a feed store anywhere near you. You want to find a good quality plain (no colored bits) Timothy hay based pellet. Oxbow and Sweet Meadow Hay are good brands. Blue Seal is halfway decent, I think. Is either your sow spayed or your boar neutered? Broccoli can cause gas, which can be dangerous with guinea pigs. You can give them broccoli, but only give them a very small piece, and probably no more than a couple of times a week. I think a single properly-sized, or slightly oversized cage will start to help in the whole process. More room will give them room to move. It will also mean that they're not stuck so close to each other, and may cut down on any of the aggressiveness you've seen. |
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Krys1987 |
#4 | |||
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Posts: 16 10/09/09 02:34 PM |
They are in seperate cages now. The male (bigger one) is in a big cage alone (the size of his cage is 30"L x 18"W x 16.5"H (Overall Height
21") but he still doesn't move much. The same thing with the female but she is still being treated for UTI. The female is smaller and in a smaller
cage (size is 24" L X 14" W x 15" H.) I am in the process of finding a bigger cage for them but the doctor doesn't know if I should put
them together anymore because of the male being so agressive towards her. I am not sure if the male is neutered but i know the female isn't spayed. The doc
confirmed that the other day. I got them from another couple who had kids and they had a lot of guinea pigs so I am not sure if the male is fixed or not but
probably not. I also noticed after I got him that his ear has been eatin and torn by other guinea pigs so I am guessing that happened at his old home. I will
try to look around for the food brands you have mentioned. I am not sure if those brands are in stores here as I don't recognize those names. I am not sure
where you live but in Canada it's hard to find good size cages, bedding and food for small animals especially at smaller animal pet stores and when you
don't have a vehicle. I notice that there is a PetSmart here (thank goodness) and I find them very good. I am gonna go there this weekend to see what they
have.
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Krys1987 |
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Posts: 16 10/09/09 02:41 PM |
They sometimes run around but mostly if the male is chasing the female. He makes weird noises at her and moves his bum back and forth but apparently that is
his sexual behaviour towards her. He sniffs her bum a lot and that's mostly it. The doctor said he isn't sure if the male had something to do with the
female getting sick or if was caused by her sitting in wet poo/pee too long. I am not sure either because it happened when I was in bed and the next morning I
noticed she was acting strange and bleeding that's why we have antibiotics for her and we THINK it's UTI. Now that they aren't sharing a cage they
only eat, drink, sleep and poo/pee. They don't move around that much to be honest. They seem to like their sleep and being lazy.
The food that I buy them (FortiDiet and now the Sunseed) wasn't cheap. It was almost $20 a bag. To me that is rather expensive actually. I am not sure how "cheap" you're talking about? I am gonna look around for Oxbow or Sweet Meadow Hay but honestly I don't know how much more expensive it can get. |
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PooksiedAnimals |
#6 | |||
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Posts: 4114 10/09/09 03:00 PM Moderator |
So was this a breeding pair? I would certainly keep them separated. Depending on how long you've had them, the sow is quite possibly pregnant. If they came
from a place with a bunch of guinea pigs, its possible Fudge was never well socialized, and that's why he is as he is. At least its not mites. What has he
done to your sow? Either way, unless you get one of them neutered/spayed, you shouldn't have them together, not even for floor time.
The brands I mention are in the US. I am not familiar with Canadian brands. If you search on the forums for Canada, you may find some hits on others who've been looking for good quality brands. Build a cage - don't buy it. Much cheaper. Check out the link I sent you - it includes a link to GuineaPigCages.com. It has *all* sorts of information about cages. You can pay as little as $50 for supplies that could probably build you two cages twice the size you have now. Minimum cage size should be about 28" x 42". Ivermectin can be purchased at any feed store, or online. A small bottle of the pour-on type of ivermectin (0.5%) costs about 15-20$. And that will last you a lifetime. A whole lot cheaper than getting shots at the vet, and it can be applied topically behind the ears (there's information on that, too, on that first link I gave you). Hair loss may be seasonal. But if they were in bad shape, it may require more than the two applications to get rid of the mites entirely. Leafy greens are always good to give them. Again, in that link I gave you, there's a color coded list of veggies and fruits you can give them. General rule is more veggies than fruit (too much sugar). |
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Krys1987 |
#7 | |||
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Posts: 16 10/09/09 03:25 PM |
Kayin (the female) isn't pregnant. The vet saw her 2 days ago and he ruled that out. He said she either had UTI or a tumor but the antibiotics seem to be
working and she isn't bleeding anymore (as far as today goes). I think Fudge tried to mate with her but it didn't work because they were housed
together for 8 months and nothing happened. He was just agressive towards her with his attitude of sniffing her bum and making loud chutter noises at her and
moving his bum back and forth while following her. I am gonna get them a bigger cage the only problem is I only wanna get one because my apartment is small and
I don't have a lot of room. I'd like to get a really big one and seperate sections for her/him. The only problem is Canada only sells cages as big as
46"L and 24W. I know i could make one but I am in College and really busy with school work that I don't have time to make one and I am honestly not
creative enough! Do you think putting the cages on top of one another (space friendly) would affect their behaviour and relationship? They like to be able to
see each other and talk to each other but right now they are on my kitchen table side by side in seperate cages so they can see each other so they won't
get lonely but it's taking up more than half my table. I need to find a better solution but I am not sure to do? I also cannot afford more than 2
guinea's right now and I don't want to sell or give any one them away as I am really attached to them.
I found Oxbow food in a store here in Canada (I just looked it up online) so I am gonna go buy some. As for the Ivermectin I may purchase some online but we'll see. My guinea pigs have had healthy coats since I got them with no baldness or scabs. They use to itch a lot but after the 2 ivermectin shots at the vets they don't itch as much. I have also bathed them and brushed them and looked for stuff on them and haven't seen anything altho I realize mites or other bugs could be very tiny. I read somewhere not to worry about mites as much unless your guinea pig has baldness or scabs and its affecting their life. So far the only thing my guinea pigs have trouble doing is being active but that is probably because of the cage size. I also noticed they both yawn a lot. I read this could mean boredom or that they are relaxed? Do you know anything about that? The only fruit they get is apples, oranges and sometimes grapes but that's all. Not a lot either. It is mostly vegetables anyways. |
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Krys1987 |
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Posts: 16 10/09/09 03:53 PM |
I should also mention that I didn't know Kayin was a female until about 3 months after I got her. The people I got her from said Fudge and Kayin were both
males but then I bought a book about guinea pigs and it turns out she's a female. I wanted 2 males to begin with but now I don't know if I should pair
them up again once she is better (I am sure it's UTI she has because she's not bleeding anymore today it has been 48 hrs since she's been on meds).
I am not sure if Fudge even did anything to her to begin with. I just know he shows interest in her... like the attitudes I told u in my last post. I was
thinking about buying a 46L by 24W home for both of them and trying it out. It's the biggest cage I can get here in Canada and I read reviews about it
online and people said they house 3 guineas in there. In a couple weeks I was gonna get that home for them and put them back together when she's done her
meds and fully better and see what happens. If she has a UTI (which im sure it is) it wasn't caused by the male guinea pig anyways. What do you think? I am
lost and dunno what to do because I don't have room for 2 cages.
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PooksiedAnimals |
#9 | |||
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Posts: 4114 10/09/09 06:20 PM Moderator |
You're going to pay a fortune for a cage that size. The guineapigcages.com has step-by-step instructions on how to build one. If you can't find grids,
you can always use the metal wire shelving you can get at any home improvement store, and have them cut it to size. I've had both store-bought cages, and
the home-made one. Knowing what I know now, I wish I had learned about the C&C cages earlier. It would have saved me a lot of money, and it is so much
easier to maintain. It took me an hour or so to build it (and then another hour or so just to play with what I could do with it). I'd find a handy friend
and throw one together. But... that's just my opinion.
What you're describing as being aggressive sounds like normal dominance display or, since he's a boar and she's a sow, is standard courtship ritual. Its time to worry if he's lunging at her, trying to bite her, or is harassing her so much she can't sleep or he's guarding the food from her. Otherwise, this is business as usual, and they're fine. Mostly, it sounds like he's just telling her what a big man he is, and how lucky she is to have him around. Its possible one or the other of them is sterile, but don't be surprised if you wake up to babies one morning. What does the vet think about the situation? Stacking cages is fine for space, but it will stop any type of socialization between the two of them. They'll hear and smell each other, but that's about it. Even side by side isn't so great, for normal cages, because the sides are so high, the only way they can see each other is if they're standing up looking through the bars. You can't see mites, because they're microscopic. You can only see the effects. If they have bald spots or scabs, they are horribly infested -- you should diagnose and treat mites long before it reaches that stage. Can you imagine how uncomfortable that must be? Pour-on ivermectin is so cheap, and so easy to dose, I usually recommend people to just dose their pig, if they even think they might have mites. Yawning can be a couple of different things. It could be just a yawn. It can also be: see my teeth - they're big teeth - don't bother me. Depends on the body language. If they're looking lazy, or not directly at each other... its a normal yawn. A UTI wouldn't be caused by a male. Its an infection of the bladder - likely either from just some unknown infection, some internal cause, or a dirty cage. Go with one large cage. There's nothing here (except for the fact that they're a boar and sow) that indicates that they shouldn't be housed together. |
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Krys1987 |
#10 | |||
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Posts: 16 10/09/09 09:32 PM |
I found a cage for $90 that is 46.5"L and 24"W and H. I think I am gonna purchase that. I read some reviews on it and one lady said she was housing 3
guinea's in it and it was perfect for them so I think it would work for my babies. It also has an upper floor too and my guys have that now and they like
climbing up/down it. I think if I make my own cage it'll cost the same as when I buy one. The stores in Canada are pretty pricey and after I buy all the
supplies it'll cost just the same except the store bought cage won't take 1-2 hours of my time which I don't have much of because of school. I also
have a VERY tiny apartment and not a lot of room to put my babies. I had their cage on a coffee table when they were housed together but I only really have 1
spot to put them because I don't want to put them beside any heaters or vents etc. I wish I had more room here but honestly it's a tight sqeeze so a
home made cage wouldn't work for me right now anyways.
Kayin and Fudge have their cages side by side right now and they love standing up on their cage so they always can see each other. They talk to each other too when they want to. They only yawn when they are lying down in their beds and they aren't yawning at each other. I have never seen them do that. Also, Fudge has never been hugely aggressive to Kayin (the things u mentioned) I have never seen that. He just shows his normal boar behaviour when around a female. He tries to mate with her but so far (after 8 mos) no babies and according to the vet she's not pregnant so I dunno. I bought some fleece tonight so I am gonna try that in their bedding instead of Carefresh. I find carefresh gets really soggy too and doesn't dry so it's not that good. I have to house them in 2 seperate cages for now (another 2 weeks) until Kayin has finished all her antibiotics and is absolutely 100% better and doesn't have UTI anymore. I don't want to put them together until she is better and even the vet suggested that too. The cages will have to remain side by side for another 2 weeks until I can purchase a bigger cage and get it ready. Until then they seem happy just really lazy. I'm gonna go to the pet store tomorrow or Sun to get some toys for them. I tried toys before but they weren't that interested so we'll see. Maybe I just have naturally born lazy pigs lol! The vet said Kayin is NOT pregnant and not to house them together until she is completely 100% better aftre having UTI. He said at least 2 weeks. It has only been 2 days. So I cannot house them together for another 2 weeks and when I do I will have a bigger cage and new fleece bedding. I hope this works out better for the both of them and myself. Thank you for all your advice. P.S. Can you buy Ivermectin from pet stores etc? Or does it have to be purchased online? Where can I find info about this? Thanks! |
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PooksiedAnimals |
#11 | |||
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Posts: 4114 10/10/09 07:30 AM Moderator |
The woman that has three guinea pigs in that sized cage is very lucky to have them all get along. I used that size cage for years, before I discovered getting
a C&C cage. You can try fleece in it, but my experience was that the fleece got very soggy very quickly, because there wasn't enough surface area for
the fleece to wick out and dry quickly. Fleece needs space to work properly.
I lived in a small apartment, too, for a while. I understand the space constraints. I've got my cage up on a table, to store stuff under it, and have shelves on top, to store stuff there, too. Ivermectin cannot be sold at a pet store (or at least not in the US). As I told you, it can be purchased at a feed store, or online. There is information on the FAQs - Links to good answers thread. As for toys - the best toy in the world (according to my girls) is a small paper bag, stuffed with hay. If you're determined to buy a cage, check out Midwest Cages for their guinea pig cage. I don't know what shipping will run you, but it may be cheaper, even with shipping, than the $90 cage. Beyond that, I've given you all the advice I can on a cage. |
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Krys1987 |
#12 | |||
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Posts: 16 10/10/09 10:50 AM |
That site you gave me regarding Midwest Cages is great except they only ship to the U.S and I am in Canada... That is too bad. The cages were cheaper but I
cannot purchase one if they don't ship over here... So buying that $90 is what I will have to do I guess unless I find something else. I have a week to
decide anyways. Thanks for your help
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Krys1987 |
#13 | |||
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Posts: 16 10/10/09 11:08 AM |
I also tried to order Ivermectin online from Valleyvet and I am outside of the area for them to ship it too so I guess that is out of the question as well. It
sucks living here sometimes lol.. I tried to search for a feed store near me and they are all far away and I don't drive. That's too bad
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PooksiedAnimals |
#14 | |||
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Posts: 4114 10/10/09 01:33 PM Moderator |
Well, you could see if guineapigcages would ship a cage to your area. They only give US addresses, but you could check with them. But still... that means
you'd have to assemble the cage they send you. It would be pre-cut, but would still need to be put together. Their small one, shipped, was $60.
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