Age surprise!

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Julesie

Julesie

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I took Gilbert to a guinea pig savy lady yesterday because he was having problems going to the toilet and I found out some surprising information.

My lovely boar, Gilbert, is not in fact 1 years old as he should be, the pet shop lied about his age! He's actually 3 years old! I was utterly gobsmacked because I was told Ludwig and Gilbert were 3 months old each. Ludwig is apparently 2 years old.

I'm really sad to hear he's so old as I have no idea what his past life was like. He had a lot of trust issues when I first got him and it took months before he finally completely trusted me unlike Ludwig who trusted me with quite a few things within a week. Within a month he loved me.
I hope he had at least a decent life rather than being locked out back or stuck in the front of the petshop unwanted. I'm so happy I bought him and that he's the most loving guinea pig out of all of my four now.

The lady at the petshop seemed really happy when I bought them both as apparently they were barely given attention and because they were albino's, they were never chosen but their coloured, black eyed companions were. I just hope he wasn't in the pet shop for 2 years. =(

As an added note, before anyone asks why I hadn't rescued back then, I never knew about rescues and how bad pet shops were.
 
That is terrible of the pet shop to have lied! They must have thought you would only buy them if they were younger. Well thank goodness you have rescued them and they are in good hands now.
 
Yeah they must have. The ironic thing is. I had been offered some 6 week old babies but I had my heart set on the older boars from their petshop and not the other ones.

I'm just glad I got them, who knows what would happen if they didn't sell. :(
 
Oh that's dreadful the way they misinformed you! pow-pow
Yes no wonder he had some issues poor little man must've had a rough start in life :(
Now he's with a wonderful mummy and best friend x)
 
Yeah poor guy. =( She said he's starting to get impaction which is the reason he's having toilet troubles. I just have to keep an eye on him and take any bits out of his bottom for him.

I wish the pet shop had told me the truth.
 
Sounds like they just wanted to get rid of him :(

Good luck with the cleaning out, if you do it regularly it doesn't build up as bad. I have a box that i throw all the papers etc into then they come to work's dumpster, i used to hang Sully's butt over the box and manipulate the poops out. They really feel so much better afterwards :)

GIve both the boys a big kiss from the girls and I XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

i'd be tempted to go in and tick them off! but hey you got the best deal you have two gorgeous boys x)
 
Yeah I think so. I went back at a later date and there were no more guinea pigs so I think my two boys might have been the last. At least I'm hoping. All the other animals were gone too. (rabbits)

Ohh thats a good idea. Yeah I'll probably have to start doing that. For now he can get them out but I have to keep an eye on him.

Sadly I think it's too late to have a go at them as I got them November 2010, so as I only found out I think its too much time passed. If I had known sooner though I would have definitely had words with them.

Thank you. I will. :rose
 
Amanda1801 said:
How did she age them?
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I was wondering the same thing... seems odd to me. It's difficult to age after about a year and a half, even for the most experienced of us pig owners. They can also look older or young by how they're brought up and health.

Did she give reasons why she thinks they're that age?
 
She aged them by their toenail thickness.

She said the older they get the thicker their toenails (and sometimes colour turning more yellow).
 
I hate to disappoint you, but you can't tell their age by that, not specifically. I have two pigs who are pretty much the same age, around a year, only a few months apart probably...one has nails like a 3 month old pig (he's definitely not)...whilst they other has large, thick, yellow nails...

You can tell whether they're old or young...just about, but it's not a precise way to age them.
 
Yeah she said its not 100% conclusive but it was the best way to do it and by judging him to my sisters guinea pigs who look much younger but are only a month younger, that along with how he looked was what made her guess him to be around 3.
 
Julesie said:
She aged them by their toenail thickness.

She said the older they get the thicker their toenails (and sometimes colour turning more yellow).
Click to expand...

That's more to do with their over all health, diet etc. I think...
 
Amanda1801 said:
That's more to do with their over all health, diet etc. I think...
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hmmm...possibly, I think there's probably a lot of different things contribute towards it...along with how frequently they're trimmed, what sort of bedding they live on, whether they go out on hard surfaces which makes the nail wear away more...none of them are really conclusive.

But I'd go with what you were told, if they said he was a year/year & half old...then that's probably how old he is, and really you're never going to know exactly.
 
Although the claw thing sounds like a load of rubbish, not all pigs need their claws clipped for the first time until they're over a year old. From then on they'll become thicker and stubbier.

I would have said claws to be honest, that or genitals, grease gland, weight and overall size measurements etc. All those things could help determine their age roughly.

Though having said that, my sow Rose, she's teeny tiny for being a year old, anyone would think she was roughly 6 months. They do come in all shapes and sizes though!
 
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