Guinea pigs are such funny, furry pets. So how many guinea pigs are there in the world? There were 1,362,000 pet guinea pigs in America in 2007 (that’s more than a million), and another 1 million in England in 2012. There were also 30 million “small mammal pets” in all of Europe in 2010, which included mice, hamsters, and gerbils…if 1/10 of those were guinea pigs, that’s another 3 million. That gives us at least 5 million guinea pigs. But they often live in pairs, so how many homes have one?
Wee ones: If you just got your 3rd pet guinea pig, how many did you have before that?
Little kids: If 3 houses on your street have 2 guinea pigs each, how many guinea pigs live on your street? Bonus: How many more guinea pigs would you all need to have 10 in total?
Big kids: How many furry feet do 5,000,000 guinea pigs have? Bonus: Guinea pigs love carrots. If starting on a Sunday you give your guinea pigs carrots every 3rd day, how many times have you given them carrots when they first eat them on a Tuesday?
The sky’s the limit: If 5,000,000 pet guinea pigs live in pairs, how many households have guinea pigs?
Answers:
Wee ones: 2 guinea pigs.
Little kids: 6 guinea pigs. Bonus: 4 more guinea pigs.
Big kids: 20,000,000 feet. Bonus: On the 4th time (Sun, Weds, Sat, Tues).
The sky’s the limit: 2,500,000 (2 million, 500 thousand).
And thank you again Katherine for the question and the guineapigalicious artwork!
