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How Old?

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daisynrosy

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bought this little guinea pig today from a pet shop. They said he was 6 weeks old but I think he's alot younger. He was in a cage with a rabbit and lots of other baby guinea pigs, boars and sows. I wanted a boar as I just bought a 7 week old boar 3 days ago and wanted a friend for him. Do you think his age is 6 weeks and would it matter if he was younger? He's tiny.x

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Aw he's beautiful but gosh, so teeny tiny. Going by his size, I would say he is much younger than 6 weeks but I could be wrong.

Boars are usually separated from mummy and any sisters at 3 weeks as boars are usually sexual mature by that age.

Ideally they shouldn't be re homed until they are at least 6 weeks old

I had a piggy once who was just four weeks old when I re homed her but this was due to her mummy getting fed up with her and the rescue were happy for me to take her as the lady new of my experienced etc.

Before you put him with your existing boy, please make sure you are 100% he is a boy. A baby girl becoming pregnant at that age is very dangerous.

Guinea pigs come in all different shapes and sizes. Is it possible you could weigh him? That may help with being able to age him more. You don't want him to be too light. A healthy boar should weigh around 250g at 3 weeks and more than that before being re homed.

I am tagging some of our more experienced members to help you out regarding his age etc and offer more advise.

@helen105281 @Wiebke @sport_billy @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary

When it comes to starting him on new veg, please only introduce one new veg at a time as not to cause tummy upsets and make sure he can't squeeze through the bars of his cage / hutch.

If you have a wire hay rack / metal feeding balls etc please remove it as tiny babies can easily become trapped and injured.

Are your piggies living indoor or outdoor? It's too cold at the moment for baby piggies to be living outside especially when they're not used to it.

Good luck x
 
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image.jpg Thank you for your reply. He's definetly a boy. He only weights 160g! They are both inside and getting along fine. I thought my first boy was small but now he looks huge in comparison!
 
Gosh, he really is small and I expect he is much younger than 6 weeks but I am glad he is getting on with your existing boy and that he is definitely a male

Please make sure you have the water bottle positioned so that he can reach it. Due to his age and size, you can feed him small amounts of alfalfa hay as it is packed with much needed nutrients for a growing baby.

The members who I have tagged have a lot of experience with baby piggies so will be able to offer more advice in terms of diet etc.

Welcome to the forum btw
 
I would estimate that your new addition is between 10-15 days old - But he could be anywhere between 6-22 days old!

I agree with Claire W - Please consider the practicalities of the accommodation/environment, and remove any potentially hazardous items etc. . .

However, with the correct care, your new addition should be fine - He will require a good diet, and a source of warmth. . . Of course, he will have to be closely observed - It would be advisable to weigh him daily, to ensure that he is gaining weight!

I'm sure that Wiebke will be along shortly, to direct you to the relevant threads.

Nevertheless, you should report the pet shop to the relevant authorities!
 
He is tiny and looks more like 2 week old than a 6 week old! How much does he weigh?

However, it is very difficult to judge the age of a youngster as a lot is depending on his birthweight, which can vary between 40-140g (and I would assume that his was at the lower end) but also on the fitness, diet and litter size of hismum during the nursing period. I am VERY worried that babies are being kept with a rabbit and that boy and girls are not separated. sows have their first season between the age 4-6 weeks, and boars start a week earlier than the girls, so there are likely a number of unplanned pregnancies in the offing! :(

Please be careful with introducing veg. If you have a C&C grid cage, please be aware that he can easily get stuck. You may have block the grids for a few weeks.

Here are our boar tips: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boars-a-guide-to-successful-companionship.76162/
The youngsters are too desperate for company to have much difficulty in bonding, but you will still a fair amount of dominance as they establish a hierarchy.
 
Oh my hes tiny. He looks around the size my baby Arthur was who I adopted as his mother had a really tiny ill baby and all her attention had to go to him.

Arthur was 4 weeks old. He might even be a bit smaller than Arthur was honestly. Here's an attatched photo of Arthur the day I got him.
 

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Athur is so cute. I haven't got names for any of the boys yet. I'm thinking of George for my 1st boar but it's not sticking very well so I'm not sure. Thankyou all for your replies. I've had a read through the boar guide, very informative thankyou. My older boar has been rumbling around a bit but he seems to have settled down. I'm shocked at the pet shop too. There was no hay or food in the cage, just lots of straw. I hope all the babies get good homes. xx
 
I had two boys age 4 weeks about that size- because mum had died- I just had to keep a special eye on them as they were small enough to get caught in cage bars so we
had to put fine netting up etc-
 
I'm not happy about that pet shop either. That is really bad practice. Do you think you could write to them (or the local council, who grant their licence) to explain that keeping rabbits and piggies together is really not on, and especially such tiny piggies who could be crushed by a rabbit. Also, keeping males and females together is just a recipe for unwanted litters. I had my boys at 7 weeks and they were about 3 times the size of him, he is so tiny.
 
Omg he is so so tiny! Poor little mite and thank goodness you found him! I would report the shop to the RSPCA , I'd be very concerned that babies that young were being sold and that the living conditions are so poor. At least he will have a very happy life with you now.
 
When I reported a pet shop the RSPCA told me they don't deal with pet shops its the local council pet shop licencing department like Goth mummy mentioned,so I rang them and they were really good
 
Hi there. Pleased you have managed to get your local council involved in the pretty awful situation at the pet shop. Poor animals who are for sale there, I feel so sorry for them. Ignorance/ greed on the part of the shop owners sounds the likely reason. You new piggy is so cute, but teeny weeny, hope he thrives and you have got him away from his dangerous surroundings at the shop thank goodness! Good luck, sending both your piggies a gentle big hugxx
 
nicky said:
When I reported a pet shop the RSPCA told me they don't deal with pet shops its the local council pet shop licencing department like Goth mummy mentioned,so I rang them and they were really good
Click to expand...

Oh that's disappointing although it's great the council are being helpful! I reported a local pet shop in a garden centre to the RSPCA a number of years ago and they were really good so I am really surprised they weren't interested. Frustrating but the council route sounds a good one.
 
My 6 week old foster babies are between 317g and 350g. They were 160g between 2-3weeks old, but their birth weights were quite low at 50-80g

He is very cute!
 
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