Weighing your Skinny pig about once a week is very important.
Skinny pigs are prey animals and are masters at hiding illnesses before it is almost too late. The first signs of illness are often a subtle or drastic weight loss. Weighing your Skinny pig weekly will allow you to spot a weight concern promptly and put you on alert to a potential problem.

Purchasing a small kitchen scale is often the best choice. You can use the ones that come with a bowl on top to make life easier, then you won’t have to subtract the weight of you adding a bowl or basket to the scale to hold the piggy in. Make sure the dial (if you don’t have a digital) is set to zero, place your piggy on the scale and record the number down. It is important to weigh at the same time of day, because you don’t want to throw off your numbers by weighing them at all different times, what they have eaten will factor in.
Pick a time say in the morning before you’ve handed out their daily veggies and pellets.

I like this kitchen scale for weighing Skinny Pigs. Penny enjoys it and it gives me an accurate digital reading down to the gram.

How Much Is Normal For Their Weight?

 

All Skinny pigs weigh different amounts, so getting to know what is normal for your piggies will just be a matter of weighing them weekly for a little while and getting some base numbers. If you’re concerned about them weighing too much, a trip to the vets is important, they can better let you know if they are concerned by the high numbers. I find my male skinny pigs to weigh anywhere from 800 grams to 1100 grams.

Normal: 5-10 grams weight loss
Keep An Eye On Them: 20-40 grams
Schedule A Vet Visit: 50 grams or more

When you need to keep an eye on your Skinny pig, start weighing them daily to make sure they are not losing weight daily, if they keep going down, they need medical attention. If your Skinny pig has a large weight loss, you’ve scheduled them an appointment already, the only other thing you can do is start to hand feed to help them not lose anymore. Critical care or making a pellet mash and syringe feeding them is vital for keeping their stomachs going and maintaining strength.

Weight loss can be a sign of many illnesses, so medical attention from an exotic vet, who specializes in Skinny pigs is required. No large amount of weight lost is normal, so don’t wait for other signs to show up, get your piggy in to see the vet right away.