guinea pigs

[CloudCat]

So my sister purchased a sow several months ago we all loved that guinea so much that we recently purchased a bore at our last show. Because the bore was too young and therefore inactive and couldn’t get our sow pregnant we put them together for a split secant to clean the cages .so gees what happened. We are about 75% positive that the sow is pregnant the only problem is that my sister keeps reading that if you are going to get a guinea pregnant you want to do it at the latest of 8 months or ells the hip boons fuse and it would spell the end for the guinea. Our sow is well past 11 months old and my sister is now in her room crying about losing her beloved Izzy.

What I want to know is if this hole hip fusing thing is true and if so is there any way of saving her guinea pig?

 

[NewHopePoultry]

The number one mistake people make with guinea pigs is thinking the boar is too young to breed, which is not the case. They can breed at a young age.

A female should be first bred before 7 months of age due to her hips fusing(yes its true)It is very harmful for the female if the first breeding is delayed.


You can see if you can find a vet that will abort the babies(I know it sounds bad) before they are born, thats about the only way save her.

 

[cutiepieacres]

There is a lot of debate but most "experts" have come to the conclusion that the hips dont actually fuse. But as they get older the pelvis area that needs to dialate during delivery becomes much less elastic and since they have never used those muscles before they may not work as well. So they can have issues with delivery.

They can also do just fine there have been plenty of first time moms over the age of 1 and have even heard of some 2 and 3 year old first timers that have done well.

11 months is probably ok she is still under a year. I wait on a lot of my sows to breed until they are around 7-9 months old since they are in coat and being shown. It gives their body time to mature as well, breeding at 3-4 months can be just as harmful to their health. Most issues are with non-dialation and first time sows are with much older sows around 2 years old or more.

Make sure your sow is not near the boar anylonger, have a vet on call, make sure she has a nice big cage to excersise in(you dont want her to be overweight), handle her as little as possible, make sure she is on quality feed, has good quality hay available all the time, clean water source available at all times and is getting enough vit. C and cacium through her veggies.
But dont panic. Just watch and see how she does if you suspect problems, she gets lethargic, stops eating for more than a day, you see blood and no babies or somthing else take her to the vet you have lined up right away.

 

[CountryMom]

If you are going to have problems with the bones not spreading you are going to have it at any age. I have had young sows die more than older ones really. I find it to be more genetic than age. We have several long haired breed sows that do not end their show careers until they are nearing a year old and then go on to become breeders. My BIS Satin American just had her first litter a few months ago at age 2. Have had others due the same and have no issues.

There is a guinea pig care book by Wanda Curran... can't think of the name off the top of my head, but you can find it on Amazon. Definitely something you would want on hand. Most vets do not know a whole lot about guinea pigs. Mine has a new file with the information I have brought in for them. Sadly they get less than 8 hours on small exotic animals in the average vet school. Unless they specialize you won't get much help from your average vet.

Good luck!

Oh, and boars can breed as early as 3 weeks of age....

 

[FrizzleFreak]

Thanks this will make my sister feel better and give her some hope.

 

[CloudCat]

Ooops Em forgot to log out when on my computer and I didn’t realized until I posted as her so that last post was me. Sorry

 

[coffeemama]

And just wondering...you know that she hasn't had a litter before you got her? You didn't saw so I wan't sure.

 

[FrizzleFreak]

Man, I was checking on this thread, and I'm like, "I didn't think I posted here..." THen I remembered what you told me.

Hi Tiegan!
BTW, does anybody know what the babies might look like? She didn't ask, but I want to know. The mom is a Teddy American cross, mostly Teddy, and the dad is a Peruvian! OOPS!!

this could be interesting...

 

[CloudCat]

She hasn’t ever had a liter before.


Hi Emily

 

[FrizzleFreak]

hi