New girl coming home...preggers?

[naturegal592]

I have been looking for another female to bring home for a couple of months. Today on petfinder I found one about 10 minutes from where we will be tomorrow. She is a cream and white abby about 3-4 months old. The current owner bought her at a pet shop. Can you guess where this is going... that is right pregnant. The lady said her sides are starting to bulge but you can't feel movement yet. She went to the shop yesterday and the other female that was in the same cage had her babies yesterday. It sounds like the papa is a Teddy. I have 3 females, I am wondering if she hasn't had the babies before the quarantine is over should I add her to the clan or just wait until she has them. I wonder if it will be to much stress along with the new home. Also if I keep her separated, when should I introduce her and the little ones?

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Depends on how dominant your sows are. You may want to wait til after she has the babies to avoid stressing mom out. If the sows have already been together and one is pregnant, I leave them be since auntie usually makes a good nanny but doing an intro may be too much for her esp. if she is moving again.

Thanks for adopting.

[naturegal592]

Yeah that is what I thought. She is only 3-4 months old and has gone from breeder to pet shop to first home to my home (last home). but on top of that quarantine cage to new cage with 3 sows two are pretty dominant. How old should the babies be then before I add them?

[clotho]

I took in two foster piggies - one who was pregnant (the other lost her babies before she came to me). I was treating them for mites and had them in quarantine when the babies arrived. I waited until the babies were 1 week old and then went ahead and introduced my two fosters and the 6 babies all at once to my other two piggies. All went amazingly well - and my two girls are very dominant. The one seemed to need to pick on the babies for a while, but she settled down quickly and never truly hurt them.

[Char-x]

I have no advice sorry but good luck with everything, and its great you took this on board!

[naturegal592]

Well she is home! she is really cute, I will get a picture once she gets settled in a bit more. She is small, I was told she was 3-4 months but I don't think Bella is that old, maybe 3 months. Bella isn't too tubby yet but her side are a little firm. I guess the man at the pet shop told the lady she was pregnant, I wonder if they breed what they have to cut down on expences. SICK! I will also get a weight on her in the morning. I gave her veggies, Green leaf lettuce, peppers and parsley but she hasn't touched them. The lady didn't seem to know much about cavys so Bella probably never had them. I will keep posting, thank you!

[naturegal592]

Bella still isn't eating or drinking, I am keeping a close on on things. I understand she is frightened and I read about this all of the time on here but now it applies to me and she might be pregnant. How long do I let this go before I step in and really try to get her to eat. The lady I got her from only had her for 2 weeks and bought her at a pet store I think Petco. She has never eaten veggies, the lady said she did give them to her. Her weight is 1lb 0.2oz, she is little.

[guineapigluver1]

At about 12 hours is when you need to really start worrying.

[naturegal592]

Here is a picture. I have had her for about 21 hours. What should my first step be, I am new to hunger strikes.

[guineapigluver1]

Yeah, she really needs to eat something now, has she eaten any hay at all? If she hasn't ever eaten veggies it might take a while for her to try them.

[naturegal592]

Not that I have noticed, I gave her timothy, alfalfa, and an alfalfa cube so she had some options. I also sprinkled some pellets where she is hiding. should I make a mash, I have some low sodium V8, or I can go get something. I don't think I have a small syringe though. I'll check.

[guineapigluver1]

Here read this: Guinea Lynx :: Hand Feeding


Note it says a straw can be used in a pinch if you don't have a syringe.

[Ly&Pigs]

Skip the V8 and get some plain pedialyte and make a pellet mash if she's still not eating.

[Malhablada]

Huh, I was in talks with that woman to rescue that cavy. No wonder she hasn't been calling me back. That's annoying. (Not annoying that you saved her, of course, annoying how disposable these animals are to people that she couldn't be bothered to let me know what was going on)

No matter, it's good she's in a safe home, now.

Is she still not eating? Mine go crazy for cilantro. It's the magic balm around here. If she won't eat any other veggies, she may eat that. What she might really need is another guinea pig to teach her how to eat veggies, but of course that's not going to work with her in quarantine.

I hope she perks up soon!

[naturegal592]

I have 3 females waiting for her to join them in a few weeks. I made a mash and tried to give it to her, she bit the syringe and I had to go to the store for more. She did get some pellet flavored water from it though. When I got home she had eaten some pellets!!! Yeah!!! I gave her some water and covered the end of her cage that has the food and water bottle. Within a couple of minutes she was acting like a pig. She gave me a good scare but seems to be doing a lot better now. Thanks for you help. That lady still has the male peruvian and some baby dumbo rats. She said they are moving and her husband is making her downsize her pet population. I may need a home for a baby if she is indeed pregnant. I didn't know about the V8, I saw a few weeks ago that a rescue uses it.

[pigsforlife]

She looks pregnant to me. Is she eating by herself now?

[naturegal592]

Yes she is doing really good now. In that picture I agree she really does. It is hard to believe she is only one pound and pregnant. I will be keeping a really close eye on her that is for sure!