PLEASE help me, I'm worried for my female pig!

[Breejett]

Hello everyone, thanks for reading this. Please bear with me as I give a bit of backstory.

I have a female guinea pig named Dita (short for Gordita) that I bought at a pet shop. She's my first. I took her to the vet just to make sure everything was on the up-and-up, and my vet approximated that Dita's around three months old. I bought her last Sunday, the 5th.

I decided to get her a companion today, and I wanted another young pig so they would be less likely to fight. I went to a different pet shop and asked to see their females, chose one, looked her over, and brought her home.

When I introduced them I noticed Dita mount the newcomer when she got too close to her personal space. They would fight, and eventually the new pig mounted Dita, but only twice. After that she would rumble at Dita and chase her and scare her away. I thought they were just trying to hash out who would be the dominant pig.

I decided to give them both a bath, and when I was drying off the newcomer, I turned her over on her back to dry her belly and immediately noticed that SHE was a HE. I was horrified. Dita is not neutered. I just trusted the pet shop to know what sex their animals are; this male was in a pen with several other females.

I separated them right away, but I'm really scared that Dita could be pregnant. They have been together for nearly the whole day; I only left them alone while I ate dinner. I only saw him mount her twice, at the very beginning of their meeting, but I left them together alone in their play pen. From what I saw, they're not very friendly with each other; he often chased her out of the pigloo. And they would charge at each other.

So my question is: what are the chances that they would mate under these conditions? I did research on getting Dita spayed, but it sounds like there are a lot of risks. If she is pregnant, she's going to the vet right away, but it's something I would like to avoid unless absolutely necessary. I do plan on calling the vet tomorrow, however, as well as the pet shop I got the boy from.

Thank you so much for reading this, I know it's long. I'm worried for my little girl, and I feel stupid for not noticing my other "girl" was a boy.

[Envyxo76er]

Well, i don't know if there's a high possibility, but if you find a copulation plug in the cage in the next few days then they definitely mated, it's a white plug thing, if you go to my post you will see a picture of what to look out for, i recently just found this in my cage, i adopted a female that was with two males and now just found out my little one i thought was a girl is a little boy but things happen =) , hopefully she is not pregnant since she's around 3 months and that's really a high risk but goodluck keep updated!

[Breejett]

Ah, thank you so much! I'll definitely keep my eye out for the copulation plug. Dita's so small; she can fit easily in one hand. If she does turn out to be pregnant, I'd rather spay her and risk complications or infections than have her go through birth. But honestly, thank you thank you thank you!

[CavyMama]

Whether you find a copulation plug or not, there is still a chance that your sow was impregnated. It doesn't take long but the female has to be in heat for it to happen. It can happen as young as 3 weeks old.

Pet stores, as you found out, often mis-sex their pigs and sometimes unknowingly house males and females together, and end up selling a pregnant pig.

Your first lesson learned here, is not to trust or buy from pet stores. They really are ill-informed and under-educated about guinea pigs. They also obtain their guinea pigs from breeding mills.

As for getting one fixed, it's a lot less invasive to have the male neutered than to have the female spayed. Until then, keep them in separate cages. After a neuter, there is a 2-3 week waiting period to make sure everything is good to go.

[iamsnape]

Ah, thank you so much! I'll definitely keep my eye out for the copulation plug. Dita's so small; she can fit easily in one hand. If she does turn out to be pregnant, I'd rather spay her and risk complications or infections than have her go through birth. But honestly, thank you thank you thank you!

http://www.guinealynx.info/reproduction.html This link has some information on accidental pregnancies and getting guinea pigs spayed/terminating pregnancies.

This is an example of why pet stores are rubbish. They often don't know much about guinea pigs which result in a lot of mis-sexing, including the possibility that when you buy a 'female' guinea pig, it could already be pregnant. And they're bred in horrible, horrible conditions. Maybe have a look to see if you can adopt a guinea pig next time And speak to the vet about your options and when the best time would be to get her spayed. They would be able to discuss any possible risks.

[Breejett]

Thanks for the link, iamsnape; it was extremely helpful. And actually, I have a friend who is experienced with guinea pigs who's going to take my male, and I have an appointment on Tuesday at a guinea pig rescue to adopt a new little girl. I definitely learned the hard way not to trust pet stores. I'm a cavy n00b, but I'm learning. Thanks to everyone for all the great information!

[iamsnape]

Thanks for the link, iamsnape; it was extremely helpful. And actually, I have a friend who is experienced with guinea pigs who's going to take my male, and I have an appointment on Tuesday at a guinea pig rescue to adopt a new little girl. I definitely learned the hard way not to trust pet stores. I'm a cavy n00b, but I'm learning. Thanks to everyone for all the great information!

At least you've been able to rehome your male pretty quickly Good luck finding your guinea pig a companion at the rescue. Make sure to double check the sex before you put it in with Dita!