ANSWERS:
1.  What is the lifespan of a guinea pig?   Old age is 5 or 6, and some rare ones live to 8 and 10.   But usually a guinea pig doesn't make it past 3.5 to 4.5, due to illness, even if protected from the avoidable ones (pneumonia, scurvy).

2.  How can I tell if my guinea pig is male or female?  It is hard to sex guinea pigs.  Press gently on the lower belly, above the private parts area.  The boy's male organ will extend. If you see that male organ, then he is a boy.  If you don't see it, either you're not pressing just right (it's hard to do!) or it's a girl.  Another way is to hold 2 guinea pigs upside down and look for differences between them (this is also hard to do, and without extending the organ, boys & girls look about the same).  An older male may have a couple of lumpy parts which are his testicles. 

3.  My guinea pig hates to be picked up and is jumpy - how can I get her to calm down?  First of all, many guinea pigs just aren't cuddly until past age 5-6 months.  Second, consider how you pick her up.  Try to do so quickly.  One quick swoop is less upsetting to a pig who is learning to be picked up, than a whole bunch of gingerly made efforts at catching her "gently."  The latter tends to result in your hand chasing her around the cage while she becomes more agitated, exactly what makes pet store pigs neurotic.  Better to get the grab over with swiftly, then let her catch on to the joys of being held.  Then let her sit in your lap on (or cuddled in) a towel until she is less frightened.  Daily quiet time will go a long way towards taming her.

4.  I recently bought 2 guinea pigs, and the store said they were the same sex, but then one of them got the other pregnant!  Now what should I do!  Your story is one I have heard a hundred times.  I am sorry this has happened to you, and glad you are serious about doing the best you can with the situation.  Here's what to do and what to expect: 
    1.  Quit using that pet store and tell everyone you know to do the same.  Tell the store why you are boycotting.  Thanks to that pet store, there will be more (probably 3) unwanted guinea pigs to add to the already-serious homeless guinea pig overpopulation problem. 
    2.  She will give birth 9-10 weeks after she mated.  Look at the calendar and count backwards.  The obvious big belly and noticeable movement indicate you are down to the last week or at most 2. 
    3.  If the female was a virgin and was over 7 months old when she mated, then her pelvic bones likely had "fused" and so delivery is very risky to her life.  A C-section, which is expensive, may be needed.  Plan ahead by locating an experienced and recommended guinea pig vet. 
    4.  Separate the dad from the mom before birth.  "Postpartum heat" occurs right after birth and she will be pregnant again if you don't.  (Even if another litter was wanted, it's not good for her health to get pregnant during the post-partum heat.) 
    5.  A litter is almost always 3 but can be 1, 2, 4, 5, or (very rarely) more.  1 or more may be stillborn.  Her first litter is more likely to miscarry or to have only 1 or 2. 
    6.  Put the birthday on the calendar.  Watch for natural weaning, which should occur at age 3-4 weeks.  Also at age 3 weeks, determine gender of the babies.
    7.  Separate the boys from the mom and sisters by age 6 weeks (past 2 months there will be incestuous breeding). 
    8.  Start thinking about what to do with the babies.  See Guinea Pig Overpopulation and How to Find a Home for Yours if you don't want to keep the whole piggie family.

5.  Should I get another guinea pig, or is one OK by itself?  Guinea pigs are herd animals and are very social.  Two females are usually very happy together. Mother and daughter pairs form especially close bonds.  If you have two males, they most likely will have to live separately, to keep them from fighting and hurting each other.  And of course, unaltered males and females must not live together, to avoid litters.  If you want just one guinea pig, and you spend time with him daily and keep his cage in a central part of the house, then I think that is just fine.

6.  I was appalled at the conditions I saw in a local store that sells guinea pigs.  I felt so sorry for the animals there, that I am thinking about going back to buy them.  What can I do?  OK, first of all, I know it's tempting, but NEVER buy an animal to "rescue" it.  If you do, another will take its place, making 2 abused instead of one.  Some places, upon finding that "pity sells," have animals in terrible condition ON PURPOSE!    Bless you for caring, but giving the store money will not help solve the problem.  If you find one in obvious bad shape (sick or wounded), one option is to try to get the manager to GIVE the animal to you. If he says no, you can threaten him that you will call authorities if he does not give the animal to you or release it to some suitable rescue organization or humane society.  But if he still says no, DON'T pay for the animal. 
      What you should do is contact your state's Department of Agriculture, your county's Animal Control division, and your local humane society.  One or more of these groups will be in charge of licensing, inspection, and maintaining standards for the store.  Be sure to stick to the facts and not be emotional.  Don't say or write, "Those animals were miserable. It was pitiful. How can anyone do this to God's creatures. They were starving."  Instead say, (for example) "The animals had no food nor water in the cage at 1:30 pm on March 5, 2003. There was 1 empty bowl with feces in it. Ribcage was prominent on 2 of the 5 animals in the 2'x3' glass aquarium."  
     You can read more advice about this here:   Pet Store Guinea Pigs - How You Can Help and PetCo and PetsMart.   

7.  What about getting my guinea pig spayed or neutered?   Depending on where you live, you may or may not be able to find a qualified veterinarian to do this.  Up to 1990 or so, guinea pig neuter was pretty rare, and guinea pig spay was almost unheard of.  Both surgeries are more complicated than for dogs and cats, for several reasons.  They have been becoming more common, though.  Try to locate a vet through a reputable guinea pig charity.  If a vet is not knowledgeable about guinea pigs and experienced with them, and recommended by other owners, don't go.  Questions you should ask the doctor:  How many guinea pig surgeries, spays, and neuters have you done?  How many were successful?  (In other words, what was the outcome?  Did the patient die or have complications?)  May I talk to a couple of your clients whose guinea pigs had surgery?

8.  My guinea pig has bald spots.  What's wrong?   Common reasons are: 
    (1)  behind ears - normal!; 
    (2)  stress or boredom, self-barbering - cure:  make your pig happier; 
    (3)  being picked on by cagemate who is barbering - cure:  separate; 
    (4)  female hormones - normal; 
    (5)  female medical trouble (cancer? cysts?) - this is one I've had reported by others - see knowledgeable vet. 
An important clue is - is there stubble?  (points to reasons 2-3, biting hair off)   Or smooth skin? (reasons 4-5, hair falling out)

9.  What's the best book about guinea pig care?  I recommend the Barron's book.  Mine is not the most recent edition, but it is Guinea Pigs/A Complete Owner's Manual, by Horst Bielfeld, published by Barron's.  Another pretty good book, but not as good or as thorough, is ASPCA Pet Care Guides For Kids/ Guinea Pigs/ A Practical Guide to Caring for your guinea pigs, by Mark Evans, published by Korling Kindersley, first published in England, then in NY (ignore the part about housing outside - BAD advice!)  I don't like the T.F.H. Publications books, as they tend to just have a bunch of pretty color pictures of guinea pigs and little real care information.  They also promote breeding, and I think they are still recycling photos from the 1960s!  There are plenty of bad guinea pig books out there, so look before you buy.  I have seen books that encourage kids to breed as a "hobby" and one that even suggests making money by selling animals to laboratories (they don't buy from individuals, by the way). 

10.  Hey, I work at a pet store, and we're not like you describe at all.  There are some caring ones, you know.  I am glad to hear that your pet store is not cruel and heartless like so many others.  In my mind, however, there is some doubt as to whether a pet store can, theoretically or actually, be a humane source for guinea pigs.  For example, I wonder, does your whole staff care as much as you do?   How do you or other employees decide who gets to buy, and is any customer ever really turned away?  (It is highly unusual for a pet store to actually turn away potential customers.  Just by being a store, not a humane society, means the goal is profit.)  Do new owners sign a contract, or do you have no control once they leave the store?  (A good adoption contract such as mine allows follow up visits to the home, and the agency can legally take back the pet if problems are found.)   Also, where do you get your guinea pigs to sell?  (Breeding conditions might be abusive; shipping is stressful and sometimes fatal.  There are many homeless guinea pigs already, without breeding more to sell.) 

11.  Our guinea pig bites!  We are considering giving him away.  Any advice?  It is highly unusual for guinea pigs to bite, even when afraid.  One study showed that only 1 in 400 guinea pigs bites.  He may have been mistreated as a baby, or he may be confused. Did he mistake your thumb for some food you were holding?   Once he is 5-6 months old, he will be mature and calmer, and perhaps then he may stop biting.  There is great danger in giving him to any new home; he may be abused or quickly given to someone else.  If you did that, certainly for his own protection as well as that of the new family, you should be forthright about his biting. 

12.  I'm 12 years old, and I don't agree with your saying that kids can't be good pet owners.  I take great care of my guinea pig, and I buy her food and treats with my own money.  You do sound like a responsible young person and I regret that you were offended.  My page is intended to be read by adults, and while I do not disagree with you that many children are capable of taking good care of pets, I still do not believe it is appropriate for a parent to give that responsibility to a child.  The Home for Unwanted and Abandoned Guinea Pigs stands by its opinion that children should not "own" pets.  A pet is an adult responsibility.  Although you may take good care of your pets, they are ultimately at the mercy of your parents who are the ones who maintain the roof over your heads. You cannot drive the animals to the vet if needed, and almost certainly you depend financially on your parents for the animals' care too. So it is actually a pretense that the pets are yours. You are a minor, and everything in your parents' home is under their care, legally, actually, and ultimately.  Please show this answer and my site (especially the page Children and Guinea Pigs) to your parents for discussion. 

"Just the facts, ma'am, nothing but the facts!"

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