Piggie Aging Question

Question
Hi there,

I recently got my first little piggie (don't worry, I give him tons of love, read: spoil rotten ;) and a big cage) but I have a question.  I got him from a store before I knew that guinea pig rescue existed (my future piggies will be rescued) and they told me that he was about 4 months old.  However, I was on another site reading about nail care and saw pictures of a piggie about 2 years old and her nails looked like my Alvin's nails while the 3 month old nails look like the ones my other piggie, Butters, has.  Between this and the bowel impaction Alvin had yesterday that I took care of, I'm starting to think he's much older than 4 months.  Please advise.  Thanks!

Answer
Hi Mallory,

The truth is that most stores have no idea how old the Guinea Pigs are. They get so many in at a time they tend to loose track of who is who and how old they are.

Best way to tell the age of a store Guinea Pig is by size and weight. Guinea Pigs are full grown by a year old, so those a year old and older should weigh 2 pounds and be a length of 10 to 14 inches though average length is about 12 inches.

A Guinea Pigs who are six month old is about half way full grown so they should weigh anywhere from over a pound to almost 2 pounds and be about 10 inches or a little less in length.

Guinea Pigs who are four months and under should weigh 1 pound for 4 months and less for those under four months. They should be the length of 6 inches or so for 4 months and under for those who are younger.

I hope this helps.
 Take care now,
        Jules