Life span of guinea pigs?

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cami

cami

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Just wondering as i have only been keeping guineas for a couple of years and as yet not had any die from old age so to speak, just had one sadly pass away from unknown causes

so it would be nice if everyone could say the ages of their longest lived pigs and the average age of the ones they have had
 
My oldest (and my first piggy we got almost 20 years ago) was just shy of his 8th birthday when he died. Most of my piggies passed away at 5-6 years old. A couple younger, a couple older.
 
Same as the above, my eldest was nearly 8, average age seems to be between 4-6.
 
mt oldest guinea pig was 9 and a half, but all my others have been between 5-6 but some have been a little younger
 
My oldest piggy is currently 8 years old, I have another of 7 1/2 and quite a few of 5-6 years. Plus some young ones!

I'd say 5-6 is a good age for a guinea pig. I've had a few die at 4 years or so and have usually regarded that as normal too unless there was something evidently wrong with the piggy. I think some of it comes down to genetics and some of it environmental. Plus piggies are good at masking illness and sometimes they only seem ill when it's really too late.

I've had 1 or 2 mysteriously die at less than a year. I had a gorgeous DEW called Magic and she was probably 10-11 months when I just found she had passed away. She'd been fine a few hours before that, that was very puzzling.

Someone I know has the theory that the guinea pigs that drink the most and need their bottle topping up more regularly live the longest. I'm not sure how true and correct that theory is though, I don't have a lot to base it on!
 
NatalieMT said:
Someone I know has the theory that the guinea pigs that drink the most and need their bottle topping up more regularly live the longest. I'm not sure how true and correct that theory is though, I don't have a lot to base it on!
Click to expand...

I do hope that's true as my 3 drink loads!

My oldest died last year aged 7, my others died around 4-5 years old.
 
I would say that in view of the current indiscriminate mass breeding, the average life expectancy has to be rather downgraded to about 4 years and anything above as an added bonus. Sadly, more and more well cared for youngsters seem to die suddenly without warning from unknown causes (heart failure?) for the same reason.

The longest lived piggy I ever had was our first family piggy in the seventies, who lived without any major illness apart from a couple of tummy upsets to nearly ten years old. In those day, it was perfectly normal having piggies living to a ripe old age of seven or more years.
 
cami said:
Just wondering as i have only been keeping guineas for a couple of years and as yet not had any die from old age so to speak, just had one sadly pass away from unknown causes

so it would be nice if everyone could say the ages of their longest lived pigs and the average age of the ones they have had
Click to expand...

Thanks for the question. I was wondering the same thing. My girls are only 9 months old.
 
NatalieMT said:
My oldest piggy is currently 8 years old, I have another of 7 1/2 and quite a few of 5-6 years. Plus some young ones!

I'd say 5-6 is a good age for a guinea pig. I've had a few die at 4 years or so and have usually regarded that as normal too unless there was something evidently wrong with the piggy. I think some of it comes down to genetics and some of it environmental. Plus piggies are good at masking illness and sometimes they only seem ill when it's really too late.

I've had 1 or 2 mysteriously die at less than a year. I had a gorgeous DEW called Magic and she was probably 10-11 months when I just found she had passed away. She'd been fine a few hours before that, that was very puzzling.

Someone I know has the theory that the guinea pigs that drink the most and need their bottle topping up more regularly live the longest. I'm not sure how true and correct that theory is though, I don't have a lot to base it on!
Click to expand...

In that case, Boxy is going to live forever!
 
My oldest pig was Jenny - she made it to over 9 years, she passed away a couple of years ago.

Next was LilyPig - she was 7 1/2, I lost Lily last year.

I've had lots of old pigs but because they were all mature adults when they arrived it's not possible to determine their true age.

If I lose a pig before 5 yrs I'm upset as most here get to 5/6. Some early deaths are due to the poor lives they lived before rescue, and sadly some of the medicines needed to clear them of the problems they arrive with have an impact on the their lifespan. Though in general I put the early deaths down to the mass breeding practices so widely seen in the supply of the 'major pet shops'.

Suzy x
 
Average is about 5 years.
Ive had one live till he was 2 due to bad breeding
Rex pig (RIP) was nearly 10 before I had to PTS :'(
 
Average is about 5 years.
Ive had one live till he was 2 due to bad breeding
Rex pig (RIP) was nearly 10 before I had to PTS :'(
 
I've always taken the view that it's all about quality and not quantity of life. Taking on some very ill piggies, and ones with ongoing issues, means I don't look ahead, and if today is good then there is plenty to smile about.

However, many of these 'extra needs' piggies seem to have an extra zest for life and live very long and happy lives.
 
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