5 interesting tips to extend your guinea pig lifespan
one of the questions you’ll ask yourself at some point is this How long do guinea pigs live? You hear many different answers to this question. Some say their guinea pig lived for 8 years and others for only 4 years. There are in fact many factors that contribute to extending the guinea pig lifespan.
You can improve your guinea pig lifespan easily by providing them with what they need in the 5 following ways:
1 – Give your guinea pig a balanced diet
When you bring home a new guinea pig, it’s important to understand what you can and cannot feed them. Some foods are essential for good health, including pellets from a quality source, unlimited timothy hay, and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. The Ultimate Guide to Guinea Pigs also includes how much to feed them, and more!
2 – monitoring your guinea pig’s weight:
you can easily see if he or she is maintaining a steady weight, and be able to react accordingly if weight loss occurs. It is another factor that contributes to extending guinea pig lifespan.
3 – Locate a skilled guinea pig vet near you
not all veterinary offices treat guinea pigs and some that do aren’t very knowledgeable in proper care. It’s so essential to not wait until your guinea pig is sick to begin searching for a vet. Be sure as soon as you bring a piggie into your life (even before!). That is when you find a knowledgeable and experienced vet with guinea pigs. Some offices specialize in exotic pets (guinea pigs, chinchillas, hamsters, bunnies, birds and reptiles fall under this category), and other small pets. However, other general vet offices have veterinarians who are experienced with piggies.
4 – Be sure to keep an eye on your guinea pig’s teeth and nails
Both of these body parts grow constantly and require maintenance. Guinea pigs typically grind their teeth down to comfortable lengths when provided with ample feed, but sometimes their teeth can become misaligned or break, so check in regularly! Nails need to be trimmed every few weeks or else they can curl and cause painful foot problems for the guinea pig.
5 – Give your guinea pigs a comfy and cozy place
Keep your guinea pigs comfy and cozy with these easy to clean, colorful fleece cage liners. They make a good base for bedding all you have to do is a layer in some additional bedding on top of the liner, and then change the whole thing out once a week. But they’re also perfect as a sole bedding solution because they’re just so soft and absorbent. They absorb as much liquid as 2 layers of fleece, but since there aren’t any extra layers of fabric to soak up all that moisture, they can dry out a lot more quickly. Therefore, this tip is very essential too for guinea pig lifespan-extending.
Finally, a guinea pig needs to live in better conditions so as to have a long lifespan. People should take into consideration all these tips before buying one. And if you want to develop your knowledge about pet health, you can check this quiz.
