How old is my guinea pig?

[luvsgiraffes]

Hi,
I just recently adopted a guinea pig from an animal shelter. They were not super knowledgeable. (I was able to determine the sex about as well as the lady from learning from website pictures.)
They had just received the bunch of piggies the day before did not know the sex or age of any of them.

I am pretty sure she is less than 6 months because my other piggies were estimated to be 6-8 months (I adopted them a little before Zoe) and they look to be about 2 times as big as her. Granted they are abssynians so their fur makes them look slightly larger (Zoe is a smooth hair American)

So is there a way for me to tell her age?
I was reading that baby piggies need as much pellets as they want? And I think alfalfa hay, correct? So just started giving her as much pellets as she wants but I dont want to go and buy the special hay if she doesn't need it. Right now I am feeding her as much pellets as she wants and about 1C of veggies and as much timothy hay as she can eat.

Thanks so much!
I just bought a scale and will post her weight as soon as she is done eating.

[Ly&Pigs]

You can either 1) give alfalfa based pellets and the timothy/or another grass hay, 2) give timothy based pellets, timothy/or another grass hay and supplement with alfalfa hay or 3) give timothy based pellets, timothy/or another grass hay and supplement with calcium enriched veggies more often. When I had pups, I did 1 because I was already feeding Mazuri 5664 pellets which are alfalfa based. If she's under 6 months she can have unlimited pellets. When you guestimate her to be over 6 months, then start limiting pellets.

Go over to Guinea Lynx :: A Medical and Care Guide for Your Guinea Pig and I think there are some weight charts to help you guestimate her age.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

If you post a pic and her weight, we may be able to give you a good guess.

Thanks for adopting. Ditto Ly.

[luvsgiraffes]

Thanks so much for your quick responses.

She weighs 1 Pound 4 ounces
Bella who was estimated to be 6-8months weighs 2 pounds 4 ounces

Here are the two pictures I have of Zoe.
In the first she is laying next to a tape measure and her butt is right at 8.5 inches.
http://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=0...8f3e63a4b1b5ec
http://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=0...8f3e9e9c302199

Sorry I'm not sure how to post pictures and I hope this works. I dont know how to rotate them. I dont have my camera cord so I just took these with my phone then emailed them to myself.

Also... if I decide to supplement with alfalfa hay can Bella not have any? And I should just give it to Zoe by hand. They are seperate now because of quarantine, but in a few weeks they will hopefully be living together.

Well now I think I am getting ahead of myself. I will wait and hopefully we can figure out how old she is.

[luvsgiraffes]

I just did a little more digging online and saw that they estimate guinea pigs to be under 6 months if they are under 2 pounds.
So with this in mind we could maybe estimate Zoe at about 4 months?
I might just take her to the vet if I can get my mom to pay for it to make sure is is in ship shape.

Oh... I have another question. Sorry for all the questions.
But when Zoe wheeks right at the end it kind of sounds raspy... or.. hoarse. Is this normal? Normally when she is just sitting there I dont hearweexing or anything, but when she wheeks at the very end it is kind of raspy.

Thanks so much for you help!

[zachdave]

I have two pigs, one approaching 5 months and one that I just adopted about 7-8 months. Since I should be limiting pellets for the older one but not the younger one, what do you suggest be done? When you limit pellets, how can you know that one of them is not getting an unfair share? My older one seems to be a glutton and the younger one less so. Also, when you limit pellets, do you give two meals a day with about 1 ounce per pig for each meal? ?

[zachdave]

I have two pigs, one approaching 5 months and one that I just adopted about 7-8 months. Since I should be limiting pellets for the older one but not the younger one, what do you suggest be done? When you limit pellets, how can you know that one of them is not getting an unfair share? My older one seems to be a glutton and the younger one less so. Also, when you limit pellets, do you give two meals a day with about 1 ounce per pig for each meal?

[pigsforlife]

Luvsgiraffes - Bella should be fine with the supplemental hay. For now anyway.It is pretty hard to tell how old the pig is by weight. I have a 7 month old who weighs wwaayyy more than Lily who is 1 year old. It really depends on the pig. Saying that, sometimes a combination of weight, length, and nail colour can help someone determine the age of the pig. I remember as bubs, the girls had white softish nails, now their nails are harder and yellow.The pictures here may be able to help (of piggy feet) - Guinea Lynx :: Cavy Feet and Foot Problems

[luvsgiraffes]

Thanks so much for the reference! I will check out her feet in the morning.