How old is your guinea pig

Seniors often have crooked and thicker nails. As guinea pigs age, white nails may start to turn yellow. This is one indication that your adult guinea pig may be closer to 4 or 5 than 2 or 3. As guinea pigs age, they lose muscle tone.

A loss of muscle may lead to saggy bellies and necks, but bony backs. This loss of muscle can also affect the jaw, causing the back molars to wear unevenly and cause problems. Weight loss that's accompanied by drooling, a foul odor, an interest in food but inability to eat, dropping pellets instead of chewing them, neglecting to eat hay and tough foods like corn husks, and biting veggies into little pieces but spitting them out signifies tooth problem.

A vet visit is definitely in order. Guinea pig tooth problems can be managed by an experienced exotic vet, but may need professional filing every few weeks or months for the rest of her life. Guinea pigs have individual differences in regard to weight, shape and hair length, so looks alone aren't a reliable way to figure out age.

Adults average around 10 - 12 inches long and weight between 2 and 3 pounds. Just like with humans, though, a guinea pig who is smaller or larger than these "norms" isn't necessarily abnormal or unhealthy. At birth, a guinea pig will generally measure around cm inches. You should expect some natural variation in size between the animals in a litter, with some bigger than others.

The number of pups in the litter also has an effect on how big each baby is - a larger litter will tend to produce smaller offspring.

This makes sense because the more babies there are, the less room they have to grow when inside the sow. Litter sizes tend to vary from 1 to 6 pups, with a typical birth producing 3 babies. A baby guinea pig measures just cm and easily fits into the palm of your hand. Image by Patrick Haney. Guinea pigs grow very rapidly, and will double in size to around cm inches after just 8 weeks.

After this point their growth will slow somewhat, but they will still get significantly larger in a fairly short period of time, reaching around cm inches after 16 weeks. In fact, your cavies will continue to grow until they are about 14 months old, by which time they will have reached around cm inches long. At this point they are considered to be fully grown, and will not get any bigger. These same nails will become thicker and rounder in diameter, trading their translucence for an opaque yellowish cast by the time they are a year old.

A young guinea pig is born with a small set of developed teeth that initially appear white and continue to grow throughout his life. As the guinea pig ages, teeth will yellow, develop ridges and sometimes break.

The animal needs the abrasive silicates found in grass hay to help wear down the teeth throughout his life. For instance, their nails will get thick and brittle and may not be as effective when it comes to playing with toys and navigating their habitats.

Their backsides get wide and their movements slower. Their hair may also start to look thinner than it did in their prime. The only other way to figure out the approximate age of your guinea pig is to take them to your veterinarian. The vet may be able to do testing and expert investigating via a thorough checkup to gauge the age of your pet. If anything, they can let you know whether you are catching the right signs to determine their age if you are unsure of your conclusion.

While it can be fun to try and figure out how old your guinea pig is, in the end, their age does not matter if you are taking good care of them and enjoying the time that you spend with them. Just cherish every day that you get to spend with your beloved pet and treat them like they have an eternity to live. You will create fond memories with your pet that will last a lifetime for you, whether you spend just 3 years or a full 7 with them.

Rachael has been a freelance writer since , in which time she has had an opportunity to research and write about many different topics while working to master the art of fusing high-quality content with effective content marketing strategies. She is an artist at heart and loves to read, paint, and make jewelry in her spare time.

As a vegan, Rachael is obsessed with helping animals in need both in her community and anywhere in the world where she feels she can make a difference.