My friends ask me all the time "How long do guinea igs even live?" I look and say "Well depends on where you get them and how you treat them. generally you should get them from breeders but pett stores are okay. If you've seen dead animals of any sort in the pet store beware. If the have dead fish it's fine as long as it's not like a mass extinction is going on in the tank." then they ask how lng mine last. I tell them I have had ones last less than 24 hours, 3 weeks, and 5 years. And that I hope that my latest one lives to the oldest it can wich is generally 12 years. They look at me and then walk away.