My guinea pig is going to have babies!! (:

[cat1994]

Hi all

I bought two female guinea pigs a few mouths ago, knowing that there was a slit chance that one might be pregnate (b/c the man who owned her kept her with a male before I bought her). I got her anyway b/c she was cheap and cute. Anyways she is deffently pregnet.

I mean she is huge

like she is about to bust

I can feel the lil babies when I gentaly prees on her belly.

I'm so happy

I love lil guinea pigs

Anyways I just had to tell someone

I'm so excited

 

[babyblue]

aww congrats on your little ones. she may look huge but they usually only have 2-3 babies at most. we had a freak female that had 6-7 every single litter that all were healthy. you may want to get a separate cage for momma and put it wire to wire with the other, so she can have a little privacy with the babies but still see, hear and touch her buddy is she wants to.

 

[petchickenlover]

Quote:

 

[cat1994]

Quote:
Ya we had one that had 4 one time but never 6-7

Thanks for the tip about separateing them

, I didn't think about her wanting more space and privacy, I will have to do that.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Oh...and dont forget- you will have to separate the boys out very young too- or very soon you will have more guinea pigs than you know what to do with. I cant remember the exact age anymore - but it is around four weeks from memory. When I first had them as a kid- we started with two- and not long after- the count was up to 26. They are so cute as babies too - since they are born with hair- just tiny versions of the parents. I hope you post some photos...baby guineas are so cute.

 

[cat1994]

Quote:
Ya, I have books all about guinea pigs, I remember one of them saying something about at what age to separate them, I will read them again. I already have people wanting to buy the babies when they are the right age to leave the mom. So maybe I can just sell them when they get to the age were they need to be separated. I will be sure to post pics

 

[Akane]

First time litters are usuallly small at no more than 3. We've had sows that after a few litters have had up to 9 before. For guinea pig care info http://www.guinealynx.info/ is the best source but warning they are antibreeding and take it a little far. Do not join their forum. You do not have to separate sows when they are giving birth. There are no problems with leaving them together provided your cage is large enough. You just want to separate the bucks because the sows can get pregnant immediately after giving birth (within that same day). Young bucks should be removed to a cage together at 3weeks because that's the earliest they can start to breed.

 

[babyblue]

akane, how big of a cage would you think necessary to leave them together? we always had the standard size pens as kids ( like 2x4 foot or so) and it was easier to separate to give space then get a huge pen.

 

[Akane]

The aspca now recommends 5 sq ft minimum for guinea pigs. 8sq ft would be about the minimum for 2 adult pigs. 10 sq ft would be preferred. Temporarily you could fit a litter though so long as you don't see any arguments. It would just require more frequent cage cleaning. If you want to keep any you'd need a larger cage or to build a second cage and leave a young sow with each sow. Guinea pigs really are herd animals and do best in groups but they are also a bit touchy about their space so most people's cages are too small and lead to arguments. I would not go under 10 sq ft for a pair of bucks and 12-13sq ft if they had a bunch of young bucks with them. That's where people say bucks always fight. They just need more space than any commercial cage you can buy. Sows you can squish considerably more before you see arguments. We'd keep around 8 sows at a time and 3 or 4 bucks together all the time in about 2.5 x 4.5' up to 2.5 x 9' cages. If we had pregnant ones we'd pull them out with a buddy to a 2.5x4.5' cage to give birth and then after a few days put them back with the group. Right now I have a 3x6' cage I kept 4 in until the last of my guinea pigs died. Now it has rabbits.