Sometimes it is difficult to tell if a guinea pig is overweight or not. It will always depend on factors such as race and complexion, as in people. But a good guide is to know that, in general terms, an adult guinea pig -from one year of age- usually weighs between 900 grams and 1,3 kilos, although some males can reach one and a half kilos.
We must be attentive to the weight of our guinea pig, because it is a fundamental indicator to know the health of the animal. It's bad that you're underweight, but it's also bad that you're overweight.
What can we do?
We will try to make you lose weight by reviewing your diet and we will insist that you exercise more.
As for the diet, as you know, the diet of guinea pigs consists essentially of hay -a source of fiber and essential for proper intestinal function-, fruit and a variety of vegetables -which provide vitamins, fiber and minerals- and I think -that It is what they usually like the most and what makes them fattest because it provides them with carbohydrates, in addition to mineral correctors.
Therefore, the first thing we should do when our guinea pig has an overweight problem is to reduce the amount of feed and add more hay to its diet. He probably won't like it that much, but if he's hungry he'll eat it. To facilitate the change and make the diet more bearable, you can try different varieties of hay. You know that there are many hays with flowers and fruits of different flavors. Give him this whim.
The other measure -which must be parallel- to make our guinea pig lose weight is exercise "click here". If you have space, build him a fence and let him run and have fun inside it. Add toys – hay balls and tunnels are great for this. In this way you will achieve your goal and your pet will be healthier and have a good time.
