Zebedee the guinea pig: The record breaker

Zebedee the guinea pig has been with us for nearly three years. And I realised recently that, even though we’re not exactly sure how old he is, he is definitely our oldest ever guinea pig.

Zebedee is a rescue guinea pig we got in March 2023 to keep our bereaved guinea pig, Herbert, company. Herbert was two and a half years old and I’d decided that, much as I love guinea pigs, I was going to take a break from them for a while after Herbert and his new rescue friend.

I wanted to get a guinea pig a similar age to Herbert. Zebedee was a year old when we got him, so a bit younger than I wanted. The animal shelter was unclear whether he had just turned one or whether he was nearly two.

To be honest, his time with Herbert didn’t go that well! They had to be kept apart for the first couple of months because Zebedee kept attacking Herbert. Then Herbert sadly died in January 2024. After less than a year, Zebedee had become a lone guinea pig.

Guinea pigs are sociable creatures. They’re not supposed to live on their own. But nobody gave Zebedee that particular memo.

Zebedee displays none of the behaviours of a guinea pig who is distressed or lonely. For starters, he’s still alive! He eats well, he’s a healthy weight (verging on chunky), he wheeks (the cute noise guinea pigs make) and he’s active. He is also the only guinea pig I’ve ever had who has bounced back from being really ill.

If he had just turned a year old when we got him, he would be nearly four now. If he was closer to two when we got him, he would be nearly five.

All of our previous guinea pigs have died at two or three, despite being happy with a friend to share their hutch. Our longest survivor was Eric, one of our original pair of guinea pigs, who made it to about three and three-quarters. Our scruffy little rescue has passed him and is officially our oldest ever guinea pig.

Zebedee the guinea pig is a record breaker!