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Fact Sheet
How Old is Old?
Typical life spans of common companion animals
Birds
The life span of birds is highly variable. Among parrots,
about which perhaps the most is known, larger birds tend to
live longer than smaller birds. The general range seems to
be about 4 - 15 years for most companion birds in captivity.
According to Avian Medicine:
Principles and Application (Ritchie, Harrison, Harrison,
Wingers, 1994), Finches typically live to be about 4-5 years
old. Budgies; 6 years (maximum recorded = 18 years). Cockatiels
have a typical life span of about 5 years, although the maximum
recorded life span is 32 years. Amazon Parrots have a typical
life span of about 15 years, although the maximum recorded
life span is about 80 years.
Domestic Cat - 10 -
15 years; rarely up to early 20's
The life span of the domestic cat is highly variable.; it
seems to vary with breed, life style, diet, and level of preventive
health care provided. Several cats have been reported to live
into their early 30's.
Chinchilla - 8- 17
years
Several sources report chinchillas living into their early
20's, however, this seems to be extremely uncommon.
Domestic Dog - 10 -
17 years
The life span of the domestic dogs highly variable.; it seems
to vary with breed, body size, life style, diet, and level
of preventive health care provided. Smaller breeds generally
live longer than larger breeds.
Gerbil - 3 - 4 years
Green Iguana - 13 -
29 years
The life span of the green iguana is highly variable. and
seems to depend heavily on diet, environment, and housing.
Guinea Pig - 7-8 years
Some sources assert a maximum life span record of 12 years.
Domestic Ferret - 5
- 7 years.
Domestic ferrets in the US seem to have shorter life spans
than those in europe and elsewhere. Ferrets in the UK are
said to live up to 10 - 12 years in some cases.
Hamster - 3 - 4 years
Mouse - 1 - 2 years
Rat - 2 - 3.5 years
Snake
Snakes probably have a pretty short life span in the wild.
Captive snakes probably live longer, for obvious reasons.
AMong captive snakes, life spans of 10-20 years are not uncommon.
According to some sources, the oldest recorded snake was a
common boa called 'Popeye' which died in 1977 aged 40 years,
3 months and 14 days at Philadelphia zoo, Pennsylvania, USA.
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