Can you over feed a guinea pig?

Question
I have 2 guinea pigs as my classroom pets. They love fresh fruits and veggies as well as timothy hay. My one pig is getting extremely fat and I am concerned about her health. I know people that are over weight experience problems and I don't want to be hurting her by giving her too much to eat. My co-teacher enjoys feeding them something fresh every morning when she first arrives to school. She also leaves them with something to munch on at the end of the day when we are all leaving. My students enjoy giving their banana peels as well as any uneaten fruit from their lunch box. All the while I am giving timothy hay, pellets, and guinea pig snacks to them. They eat everything they are given...is this because they are hungry or they don't get full or know when to stop eating? Are we actually harming them and not loving them by giving them too much to eat. Our one pig is very into food..greedy..and getting larger and larger by the day. Please help us know how much is too much.

Answer
Hi Suzanne,

    Giving guinea pigs a piece of fresh fruit in the morning and at the end of the day is an excellent idea.  However, too much in one day is not good - most guinea pigs will keep eating whether or not they feel full.  Too much lettuce can cause diahrrea, and fruit are like snacks to piggies because of the sugar.  I'm guessing your guinea pigs do not have much of a chance to run around and excercise, so my advice is to have your students cut back on feeding them and only give them fresh fruit twice a day.  Timothy hary is extremely good to have in a guinea pig's diet because it serves as a good source of roughage, so I do not see a problem with adding hay every other day until your piggies lose a little weight.

    Perhaps you or your co-teacher could take them home and let them run around in an enclosed area for a while.  Fresh food, companionship, and love are necessities for a healthy guinea pig - but so is excercise.  This will also serve as added mental stimulation, which is good.

    One other thought - are you positive both are female?  It can sometimes be very difficult to determine the sex of a guinea pig, and the result is an unexpected pregnancy.  From your description of the amount of food they consume daily, obesity does sound a more likely answer, but I just wanted to throw pregnancy out there as a possibility.

    Thank you for your question, I hope I have been of some help to you.  If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  Good luck with your guinea pigs (=

                                               - Nicole