Is There Any Way To 'age' A Guinea Pig?

[Tewdric]

Just asking on the offchance? I know you can use teeth to age horses and sheep. Is there any way to age a pig?

I'm wondering as we don't really know how old our Lilith is. She was fully grown when we had her from the rescue, but they didn't really know how old she was. It was guessed that she was somewhere between 9 to 18 months. She'll have been with up for 2 years in November.

I'm beginning to wonder if she's older than the top estimate. Nothing concrete, but up until we've had our current group we've had pigs of the same age that have aged together if that makes sense.

Now we've got Brunel who'll be 4 in Feb, and Wenlock and Wellington who are now both just over 1 year old.

I've noticed over the past few weeks that when Lilith sleeps, she really sleeps. She's missed out on weeding bonus treats a couple of times as she's been tucked up in her hay and hasn't heard us. Her shape has changed a bit too.

On the other hand, she's completely her mad self when she's up and about. No loss of condition, still into everything and demanding her own special attention. No loss of weight or appetite or anything like that, she's just a bit 'slower' and it shows against the other two youngsters.

So, is there any way we can work out her age?

 

[Lady Kelly]

I am so not the person to answer this we thought willow was about 2 and then when she gained weight but her ribs stayed skinny we thought she was probably around 4. Now the vet says she has cataracts starting I'm thinking maybe older than that. She can certainly run up and down the ramp spritely enough for an old'un

 

[Tewdric]

No easy way then?

I suppose I've just noticed a difference because I've got the youngsters charging around, wheras in the past my pairings have been the same age and aged together. It would be interesting to know how old she actually is.

 

[Freela]

There's no real easy way to peg age in an adult guinea pig, unfortunately. Tooth wear doesn't work because they have constantly growing teeth. You can look at their nails, which get curlier/thicker with age, but a 2-year-old's nails and a 5-year-old's nails are not going to be much different. My pigs did thin out with age and lose muscle mass, so my best guess would be that if you can feel the bones in their shoulders without the padding that the muscle provides in a younger pig, that pig is on the older side (say, more than 4 or 4.5.) But it's really hard to tell sometimes, especially in those middle 'adult but not elderly' years.