Age and weight in guineas?

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Misty1

Just out of general interest more than anything else.

What age is old for a guinea pig? I've heard they usually live between 4 and 7 years but can live beyond. Our guinea Scruffy is just over 3 years old. I think he has started to slow down as he is sleeping more and generally doesn't want to play much anymore. He isn't showing any signs of illness as he is still eating and drinking as usual and he is passing his stool normally too. He takes just as much interest in his carrot as he did when he was 6 weeks old hehe! I am a little concerned about his skinny frame. He does appear to have lost weight even though he doesn't appear ill. Should I be worried? Do guineas lose their bulk as they get older? Should we be doing other things for our older guinea? I'm just curious as he does appear to be getting old even though he is only 3. Not sure what to do really. What is the ideal weight for a guinea his age? Thanks :D
 
My thoughts on this are that each and every guinea has their own age mapped out from birth and you cannot influence it except to make sure that your guinea fulfills its optimum lifespan be it 6 months, 6 years or 8 years. I have this opinion because I have lost guineas at various ages over the years and have seen friends lose guineas at various ages that are kept under the same conditions over the years. All you can do is help Guinea to achive his maximum lifespan, whatever that may be, in my opinion.

Old is 5+ but if Guinea is only destined to live for 2 years he is old at one year :-\
 
My first two pigs were brothers - Candy (?!) and Chocolate. From what I remember, Candy left us when he was about 18 months old as he developed a growth (I was about 11 at the time so it was Mum who dealt with him). However, his brother Chocolate was around 5 when he went...just of old age I think. They were never big either.

Garry & Minty are quite small piggies too, although they seem to be filling out nicely. Greedy ! :smitten:

I guess they are like us people - lifestyle, diet, exercise all influence your health, but ultimately, we can't do anything about fate! All you can do is look after the piggies to the best of your ability. If you are worried in any way, ask a vet to check him out. :)
 
My pigs are all a similar age from 7 months down to 3 months. I lost one in November who was 5 months. I agree with Karen and M&G. I try and give them everything they need and give a varied diet and lay off calcium foods (although they still need calcium) I think I'm doing alright. I'm obsessed by their health! :D
 
I think it just depends on the piggy really - aslong as we do everything we can for them, diet, exercise, cleanliness, vets when needed etc then we've tried our best. Some die early and we have no idea why whereas others live to be really old :smitten:
 
Id say old in a guinea pig is just over 1 years old and i have a few of them ;D
 
Now I'm confused! ;D Surely if I guinea pig lives to 7 or 8 then 1 is not old, but over 4 would be getting on.

I think pigs are very young at heart, S&T are showing no signs of calming down with the popcorning ::)

I kinda think that you won't know how old is old for a pig until health probs set in, they are all different just as we are. :)
 
no matter how old they get they will always be my little babies :smitten:

although i think 4+ is old i have 2 that are 6 years old in february, they dont like to play as much as the younger ones do.. but they still potter around and eat well, mine dont appear to have lost any weight or gone skinny framed either, one of my sows is having a bit of trouble with cysts atm she has one which has got another attatched and they are growing :( vets cant do much but operate apparently and I'm not willing to have her put under anaesthetic at her age, or be operated on.
 
SunshineAndTwinkle said:
Now I'm confused! ;D Surely if I guinea pig lives to 7 or 8 then 1 is not old, but over 4 would be getting on.

I think pigs are very young at heart, S&T are showing no signs of calming down with the popcorning ::)

I kinda think that you won't know how old is old for a pig until health probs set in, they are all different just as we are. :)
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Yes i know it seems weird but when i see my young ones then my over 1 year old ones i think they look pretty old and act old and thats just my opinion but saying that ive never had a proper old guinea pig as i only started off with piggies ummmmmmm ::) i think 2 years ago ;D or one year 98) anyway ;D

I also agree with karenrgpr :) with everything she has said really
 
Thanks ILA, as I've only had them since June I'm unsure what to expect with the older pigs. Will be interesting to see how the go. :)
 
Georgie is 5 now and I would call her SSP (sexy senior piggy) She is slowing down a little but lives life to the full, and still has an occasional loopy half hour, She hasn't lost weight ,if anything she has "spread" her weight...she's a little bit baggy (know that feeling :)) I guess some age better than others :)
 
SunshineAndTwinkle said:
Thanks ILA, as I've only had them since June I'm unsure what to expect with the older pigs. Will be interesting to see how the go. :)
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yeah id like to see how they go too as my oldest is 2 :D
 
Winter is my oldest pig she is 4 years old now and looks thin but has ovarian cysts but vet says just to leave her be unless she becomes ill or loses too much weight. She still lilkes her food but doesnt run about as much as others. Lost her sister Autumn at the end of July this year.
Fudge is next oldest got her in may at 6 wks old then Rosie & Poppy born June this year (would have to double check with Sokel) then Vanilla, Mocha and Caramel they were born in sept this year.
 
Having read all your messages I guess our piggy is just getting old :( Still eats and drinks and everything but just sluggish now. Will have to give him extra hugs and kisses which he loves. He's our oldest piggy now and we've only lost one other before and she was only 1 year old but she was sick when we lost her. Poor scruffy hasn't been the same since he lost his long time buddy Silver. He's mourned for her since she died in July poor thing. Guess animals grieve like we do if not more so
 
iloveanimals said:
SunshineAndTwinkle said:
Thanks ILA, as I've only had them since June I'm unsure what to expect with the older pigs. Will be interesting to see how the go. :)
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yeah id like to see how they go too as my oldest is 2 :D
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Aww, my oldest is Daisy. Shes five next August!
 
Piggies can go to 10,and we lost a boar earlier this year who was 9.10 years.I find the average is 6 to 7 but I have lost pigs as young as 5 months.
 
ive lost piggies at different ages, my eldest 2 are both 6 years old in feb and they are the oldest ive ever had because they were the first piggies i ever got :)

i lost a couple between 2 - 2.5 years old, for no reason just found them lying there :'(

and shakey who was 9 months, but he was ill.. not sure what was wrong with him..

they all have the same care, food etc
 
Knowing how long they live for I think 4 is middle aged, I'm hoping 4 is middle aged as I want my lot to live that long :)
 
Ive had pigs die from all different ages too one being one years old or about 2 weeks old :'(
 
Losing young pigs is hard but I think once you have gone through it you can deal with anything pig wise (maybe that is just me though) Cuzzy was 5 months when we lost him, he was very tiny for his age only ever reached 750g, looking at Eccles he is around that weight and is only 3 months. A runt perhaps, or genetic defects. I dunno but all we can do is our best for them, if I could turn back time and have Cuzzy back again for the 3 months we had him I wouldn't hesistate. :smitten:
 
not quite anything louise lol ive lost a few piggies and everytime one dies i still cry my eyes out, when gucci died i was hysterical because we were soooo close i had to syringe feed her and me and my mum both were really upset as my mum used to give her feeds during the day whilst i was at work so she had a close bond with her too, she ded at 5 years just over :'(

the hardest one was leaving shakey ill about 4 hours before my flight left to go to spain, i knew id never see him again and all i could do was cry and not wanna go on holiday, i did think of not going but id spent over £300 on it, my mum said she would look after him and kept telling me he was still alive when i called daily to check on him.. wasnt until i got home and i only saw duke it hit me :'( he died 10 mins after i left :'(
 
I remember you saying about Shakey. What I meant was care wise. Any pig death is hard no matter the age but having gone through trying to get Cuzzy back to his normal self I feel I can deal with anything now. I used to dread going through illness with the pigs, I'd wonder how I would cope as I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to anything like that. But I think I done ok, we bonded greatly through syringe feeding and I was overjoyed when Cuz was getting better but then he went down hill rapidly and there was nothing anyone could do, he lost 100g in a day! :(
 
I agree with Karen, i do think that they have 'potential' life spans but i think that if they're not treated right to start with it decreases a lot. My Ralfie is only thought to be about 2 or 3 but with the illnesses he's had and the way he acts he's just like an old man. When he jumped from my mums arms from less than a foot from the ground and managed to get paralysed from the waist down i couldnt help but think it was because maybe his bones weren't developed propperly or something from him not being fed and looked after propperly from birth. I could be wrong but when i got him he was fully grown, looked a bit chubby and weighed about 900g, now he's put on a lot of weight, about 8oz and is very muscly rather than just fat, his eyes are brighter and he even attempts popcorns sometimes bless him. So i dont think Ralf will live to his potential because he hasnt been cared for propperly :( but he seems happy enough! x
 
You've worked wonders with Ralfie Emma, you should be really proud of yourself. He may suprise you, now he is on the road to recovery he may be ok and leave a long time, I hope so. :)
 
Aw thanks Louise lol, he's looking at me now with his head on the side making me feel mean for saying that ;D
 
Yep poor thing, he was back at the vets yesterday and appears to be back to full health but he's on another week of septrin just to make sure its gone. He's had this URI for over 2 months now! Fingers crossed thats the last of it though. Ive noticed his head is very slightly tilted too, ive never actually looked closely but it is. I dont think hes had a stoke whilst with me or anything and i asked the vet to check his ears but he said he seems in fine health so I'm not worrying about that unless he seems in pain or it gets worse ::) really hope this is the last of my poor piggy's bad luck x
 
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