Well, I thought I had two female guinea pigs (known as sows). When I fed them Saturday, I only saw two (but of course, they have places to hide, so I’m not positive). I didn’t feed them yesterday because we were out of town (I made sure to top up their food and water supplies on Saturday). Today, my hubby went to give them an apple, and yelled to me “Hey, how did we get four guinea pigs?” Uhhhhh, I dunno. I asked if two of them were babies, he said that two were very small, but he didn’t know if they were babies. I looked. Yup. Our two “sows” managed to have babies!
I can’t find too many stories of experiences of caring for baby guinea pigs. I Googled it and found a website that basically said “Don’t breed your guinea pigs! But if you breed them anyway, well, just don’t”
So, I know the first thing is to figure out which one is the Mama and separate her and the babies from the Papa, so we don’t end up with more guinea pigs. Apparently, pigs can’t breed until they are about 4 weeks old, so we have a few weeks to sex the babies, so we can separate them, too.
How old do the babies have to be before they’re separated from their mother? Any other stuff I should know? What are your experiences?
Immediately remove the one the babies are not nursing from. That’d be the dad, unless they are both sows and at least one of them was pregnant when you brought them home. (The gestation period is 68-72 days.) How long have you had them? Male guinea pigs are capable of impregnating their mothers by three weeks of age. Make sure food and water are abundantly and constantly available to the mother, or she may eat her young. One more thing worth knowing, though it doesn’t seem to apply in this case – if a female guinea pig is going to be bred, it needs to happen well before she is six months old. The pelvis of an unbred sow fuses at about that age adn, while she can become pregnant, she cannot give birth.
If the guinea pigs are fairly new, it is possible they are both sows and you got a pregnant one. I worked in a pet store one summer and we made no effort to sex the small animals. If they gave birth it was essentially free stock for the store. I often wondered about the customers who inadvertently got the “bonus pack.” I don’t recall the guinea pigs ever breeding on us, but if they are anything like the rats, be prepared for momma to be very protective.
I once had a guinea pig who came from the store pregnant (we had no idea). Unfortunately, and very traumatically, the two adorable babies and mom all died not too long after they were born. We never could figure out what killed them.
They were cute little boogers, though. I love guinea pigs, and I think when I don’t have a cat again (and am probably still a student, so won’t have a dog), I’ll get another. Or a couple. And I’ll ask the vet to sex them, so I don’t end up with several. Another incident like the one when I was 10, and I’ll be traumatized for life. I don’t care how much older I am now.
