Guinea pig disaster!

[sphanges]

As some of you know, I adopted two adult female guinea pigs a month ago who were rescued from a large multi-generation mixed-sex group kept in poor conditions. There's still a question of if one of them is pregnant or not, as she has been getting chubby but it's not definite yet.

I decided to help the rescuer out and take another couple, so we got another baby girl and an adult neutered male today, as well as two baby females for a friend of mine (we'll be dropping them off to her on Sunday). The babies are all around 10 weeks old.

HOWEVER!

Silly old me checked the sex of my two but didn't check both of my friend's babies (there were several that looked very similar and I couldn't remember which ones I had checked). And guess what.. one of my friend's "girls" is NOT.

This means that for the last 6 weeks there has been a baby boy in with all her rescued girls. She couldn't sex them herself, she's not a guinea pig person (although she's doing her best and taking great care of them!) so got a friend to do it. She has three girls left which are possibly all pregnant, and I have my new little girl and my friend's little girl who also may be, plus it explains why my adult Daisy is not definite yet as she could have been impregnated up to two weeks after she had been rescued instead of before as I had previously thought.

ARGH!

To top it off, I am not sure if my friend will want two possibly-pregnant girls (and she's definitely not getting a girl and a boy, I'll make sure of that). So although the rescuer will take back the baby boy, I'm considering fostering the other little girl if my friend won't have it. The poor rescuer has gone from reluctantly rescuing 11 guineas to now facing the possibility of another 6-12 babies, plus two that have already been born to a female who arrived pregnant.

[pig-in-paradise]

Oh my, what a mess! I'm sure you double and triple checked the boy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you all don't end up with too many babies.

Please keep us updated.

[sphanges]

Originally Posted by pig-in-paradise

Oh my, what a mess! I'm sure you double and triple checked the boy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you all don't end up with too many babies.

Please keep us updated.

Yes he has been very well checked. She's bringing all her others back at some point for me to check as she now can't trust what her friend has told her.

My friend who was going to take the girls has now agreed to take the boys, and I'm going to foster the extra little girl for a while, so it hasn't worked out too badly except that I will miss the neutered boy as I originally chose him for us to keep, but the baby boy can't live on his own so it's the best solution.

I need to make some more cuddle cups...

[Pumpkin_RIP]

that is so sad. I feel for you, now with such a mess going on, on the high chance of babies on the way. I always get so sad when pups are born, as they just add to the over population.

[sphanges]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin_RIP

that is so sad. I feel for you, now with such a mess going on, on the high chance of babies on the way. I always get so sad when pups are born, as they just add to the over population.

Yes, when I decided to get these guinea pigs I didn't really understand the fuss about overpopulation because there don't seem to be that many guineas around here, but after getting involved with rescuing these ones I see how a simple mistake can lead to SO many extra new babies very quickly. It's a sad situation. I can feel myself being drawn to large-scale guinea pig rescue..

The rescuer is doubtful they are pregnant because she's never seen any rumblestrutting or mating behaviour from the little boy.. but they've been together for 6 weeks, so who knows? He could have plucked up the courage while she wasn't watching.

[steve_and_pigs]

The rescuer may need a reality check.

Sows go into heat every 18 days or so, and it only takes him a second to pull off the deed. He's been capable since around 3 weeks old.