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Guinea Pig Age.

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Mav

Mav

Junior Guinea Pig
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Right now, the guinea pig I'm getting is 3 weeks old. He will be 4 weeks when I receive him. Ive read that some guinea pigs may pass away because they were too young to be taken away from their mom. Now thats my concern. Is 4 weeks too young to where the pig will (may) die because of being too young?
 
It was on a facebook page for guinea pigs. And one died a few hours after they had gotten it. And she said the pig was young. It got me scared.
 
Mav said:
It was on a facebook page for guinea pigs. And one died a few hours after they had gotten it. And she said the pig was young. It got me scared.
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Please try not to worry. X
Facebook say all sorts of things.
 
A guinea pig should not be sold before they are six weeks old. Yes, the boars are separated from the mother at three weeks but they should stay in the home until three weeks. I would not trust anybody getting rid of a guinea pig before six weeks old.
 
As far as I'm aware (could be wrong!) if a baby guinea pig has an illness, it is likely to show up in the first six weeks of the piggies life. Hence why they should not be sold before six weeks. This could be why that person's piggy died, it was maybe born with an illness that hadn't surfaced before they owned it.
 
Young guinea pigs (like human babies) are more prone to picking up illnesses and are less likely to withstand them when they are very young as their immune system takes time to fully develop and they also don't yet have much body mass.
The move away from the protection of their mum and siblings is very stressful, especially if they go into a single situation. Being cooped up with other stressed youngsters can make it very easy for infectious diseases like URI (respiratory tract infection), mites or ringworm to spread if they are present in the environment. While many youngsters will survive with prompt and correct vet care, sadly far too many die as their new owners are often not aware just how fragile their new babies are or that they are ill in the first place until it is too late. :(

It is generally advisable to wait until a piggy is 6-8 weeks old and much sturdier to cope with the huge chances to its life. Sadly, many breeders and pet shops sell babies too young. It is likely that the facebook piggy had picked up a bug or had a congenital issue.

PLEASE do not get just one guinea pig; especially when they are just weaned, they are truly desperate for company of their own kind and will be much less stressed if they are not alone. Guinea pigs are group animals, they are not wired to live as singles. You, as a human, can simply not replace that need for round the clock company.
 
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