1 GP is overweight, the other isn't - diet?

[TeenDivided]

So the title sums it up. We have recently adopted 2 x indoor female GPs. They had previously been kept together in a group of 4 but rehomed as two 2s.

One GP is clearly overweight, the other isn't.

How do we cut down food for 1 whilst still ensuring the other has enough without physically separating them? Or what else should we do? I've looked online and it says reduce the biscuits and up the fresh food, but what will stop greedy tubby one still munching her way though more than her fair share and staving the other?

I've seen they need more 'floor time' and we can do that to make her exercise a bit more, but how do we manage the food?

You guys have been really helpful so far so hoping you might have good suggestions here.

This happened to me. One was pregnant.

I didn’t realise this was in the little pets group. I thought you were talking about Doctors! And I don’t know anything about Guinea Pigs sorry.

Hopefully definitely not! They have been in a single sex group, and you can see the excess weight all over, not just a pregnant look. (If a bunch of babies arrive, college will be getting them back!)

Yes, guinea pigs, not doctors or grandparents.

What really helps is if they can spend as much time out in a run on grass as possible. Probably best to start this in the summer as they would get a shock if you tried to start it now- I do put mine out for short periods over winter though although I know lots of people disagree with that. Then they need to be in the largest cage you can possibly manage- C and Cs are good. People warn against cages with different levels but it has worked for mine to increase floor space, just make sure ramp isn't too steep definitely not more than 30 degrees. Agree about reducing nuggets and feeding more fresh food- especially grass which you can pick from grass verges its a pain but good for them. I guess you could have the larger one on your lap while the other one has time at the dry food bowl? Good luck- are they getting used to you and squeaking for food yet?

Oh and definitely use two food bowls for two piggies :-)

Thanks, yes they are getting more vocal. Was very interesting last week when DD went in in her college uniform (where the GPs had come from) she said they really upped the excitement level then.

We trimmed the claws for the first time today, very exciting.

Oh that is interesting :-)

Are they smooth or rough coated?

I've found all my smooths were lardy , the Abbys and long haired were slimmer , our Teddy was slim, our Rex was a solid 1.4kg (muscle not fat )

Keep a close check for lumps , females can be prone to uterine or mammary growths , less so if they've had piglets before .
Teeth is an issue for some pigs , if they aren't eating, or are dribbling or dropping food consider that .

Put the hay in loo roll tubes to make them work a bit harder
Some veg (carrots, parsnips ) and fruit are high sugar

And excercise for guinea-pigs ? HaHa - they don't do excercise unless it suits them

We used to give ours cardboard boxes with doors cut out to give them "rooms"
Those long extendable plastic tunnels , they had a Hopp In for the outdoor run.

Change things about , make them find things . They love to explore
Though I'm sure ours went back to the PigShed when we'd cleaned it and put the houses back and tutted "FFS , we left the house here she's bloody moved everything again "

One more bit of Piggie Advice -
weigh them
If you've got accurate kitchen scales put them in a plastic bowl to weigh and keep a chart/spreadsheet
Do it every week

Weightloss is a redflag , if they lose a couple of ounces (50g) you question.
4oz (100g) they should see a Vet .

Average weight is around 800-1200g , depends on sex and breed
Our smallest was 1066 (like the Battle) biggest was 1400 !

@70isaLimitNotaTarget Thanks for all the extra advice. DD is doing the health checks for lumps etc, she has done this at college. they are short haired, so interesting that they can be bigger.

Lots of excitement yesterday as we gave the piggies an extension, the new 2x7 area feels much better than the 2x5.

They are mainly on kale, pak choi, broccoli, red lettuce, parsley, celery, occasional red pepper & carrot, and unlimited hay of course.

I'll tell DD about the boxes and hay in tubes as we have been looking for ways to add enrichment activities.