Adoption - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**Quiet Things** · #1 03-19-05, 06:29 am

Hi, I'm a bit new to the adoption/fostering thing and was wondering if you could just give me as much information as you all have, experiences, everything! I was also wondering if it's advisable to adopt pregnant mums? (I have some experience with pregnancies and births and am well aware of vet bills resulting in a problem)
I have a lot of questions, really regarding fostering, I was considering going to my local RSPCA, which is a bit of a drive away and seeing what they could tell me about fostering etc. only I thought I might ask some people I know have experience on the other end aka you guys!
So any advice, info, experiences would be really awesome! thanks!

**CavyKind** · #2 03-19-05, 08:59 am

Hi,
In my opinion....no reputable rescue would allow anyone to adopt a pregnant female guinea pig....I certainly wouldn't. They may allow an experienced fosterer to do so if they were well known to the rescue organisation. Again, I wouldn't...all "at risk" piggies stay with me.

All rescues have different rehoming criteria so my advice is to simply contact the rescue which you intend to deal with. They will be able to answer any questions which you may have.

Barbara

**Thr0wAwayKid** · #3 04-04-05, 04:24 pm

Take it from me, you dont want to foster or adopt a pregnant mother. I had someone give me a "baby" guinea pig because she was letting them breed and die in her backyard. She told me that it was just fat, well 2 months later while her and a baby rabbit she was raised with were playing there was 4 little babies laying there. Now, we raise dogs so I know all about birthing and feeding etc. But these little babies were the hardest to care for because I had never had guinea pigs. If I knew she was pregnant I would have found another more expirienced home like I did for the rest that were at the ladys house. It is very hard work. Only 2 of the 4 babies lived, and I still have one. I should post a picture of them as babies and the one i kept with its mom.

**rabbitsncavyluv** · #4 04-04-05, 05:05 pm

You shouldn't house rabbits with guinea pigs. There are always risks with breeding, but taking in a needy pregnant guinea pig is rewarding. Usually the mother does most of the work, but yes, if there are complications, experience does help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thr0wAwayKid

Take it from me, you dont want to foster or adopt a pregnant mother. I had someone give me a "baby" guinea pig because she was letting them breed and die in her backyard. She told me that it was just fat, well 2 months later while her and a baby rabbit she was raised with were playing there was 4 little babies laying there. Now, we raise dogs so I know all about birthing and feeding etc. But these little babies were the hardest to care for because I had never had guinea pigs. If I knew she was pregnant I would have found another more expirienced home like I did for the rest that were at the ladys house. It is very hard work. Only 2 of the 4 babies lived, and I still have one. I should post a picture of them as babies and the one i kept with its mom.

**Thr0wAwayKid** · #5 04-04-05, 05:19 pm

I didnt know she was pregnant when i got her and she wasnt housed with the rabbit. Her and the rabbit were both female and I let them play together during floor time. The rabbit was only about 3 weeks old when I found her in my backyard. She was laying there and had bite marks in her leg like something tried to attack her and i felt bad so i brought her in and raised her. They loved to play but they were caged seperatly. Their cages were right next to eachother so they could see eachother. I had no idea she was pregnant and it was like she only wanted to care for 2 of the babies. She wouldnt bother with the other two. When she had her babies I gave the rabbit to my neighbor who was looking for a rabbit. I felt i needed to focus all my attention on her and the babies. I still have no idea what type of guinea pig either of them are, her and her baby. If anyone could help me that would be great. The litter was very weird... 3 of them had red eyes, 2 of them had short hair and 2 had longer hair. I can send pictures to anyone who might be able to help

**Piglet** · #6 04-04-05, 05:41 pm

Just post them here. Go on www.photobucket.com to upload them

**Thr0wAwayKid** · #7 04-04-05, 05:51 pm

Heres a picture of the mom and her babies at 2 days old. I dont know what breed or mix she is so if you have any ideas please let me know

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...n/614afd64.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

**Thr0wAwayKid** · #8 04-04-05, 05:52 pm

ok lemme try that again

**Thr0wAwayKid** · #9 04-04-05, 05:53 pm

heres the mom by herself today.

and the daughter i kept. If you haver any idea what the father might be id love to know.

**Thr0wAwayKid** · #10 04-04-05, 05:55 pm

the weirdest part is that the daughters hair on her butt is sooo long but her brother that lived has really short smooth hair. His hair felt like you were petting silk

**rabbitsncavyluv** · #11 04-04-05, 06:43 pm

You have to post where you are located and create a new thread. You should try to sex the babies and separate the males at 3 weeks. It'll make it easier to advertise them if you know what you have. Looks like you have some abbies.

You still shouldn't let rabbits and piggies "play" together especially if you found the rabbit outside. They carry diseases that are harmful to each other.

**Thr0wAwayKid** · #12 04-04-05, 06:51 pm

okay you need to read the whole thing. 1) the babies are gone
2) i think i know what a vet is
3) The 3nd picture is one of the babies now
4) I was asking what the mother and one baby might be
5) who said anything about trying to sell them?
I already said 2 babies didnt make it and I placed the other with a friend. Im not trying to be rude because i know you are just trying to help but you need to read the whole post. Oh and just so you know... Rabbits and guinea pigs cannot reproduce because they are different species, if you have both you should know that. Im not stupid, I know about animals. My mom owned an exotic animal sanctuary and I was raised with all different types.

**Thr0wAwayKid** · #13 04-04-05, 06:52 pm

How can I have half a litter abby and the other half not? If they are form the same mother. I never really understood that

**rabbitsncavyluv** · #14 04-04-05, 07:08 pm

You're posting pictures of guinea pigs under adoption, which means you are trying to find homes for them, or that's what that should mean if you're posting them here. I never said rabbits and guinea pigs could reproduce. I said it wasn't safe to house or let them 'play' together. I never mentioned a vet, so don't know what you're refering to.

http://www.cavycages.com/rabbits.htm

And it's called genetics. You should have your mother explain it to you.

**Thr0wAwayKid** · #15 04-04-05, 07:18 pm

like i said read the whole post and you would have understood. oh and ya you didnt say stuff about breeding

rabbitsncavyluv

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Re: Adoption
You shouldn't house rabbits with guinea pigs. There are always risks with breeding, but taking in a needy pregnant guinea pig is rewarding. Usually the mother does most of the work, but yes, if there are complications, experience does help.

see? so dont try and change your story now

ya there would be mixed babies but you cant have half a litter be full abby and the other half not... they are going to be mixes so i cant have some abby they would all be abby mixes

**TheAlmightyMiko** · #16 04-04-05, 09:59 pm

Quote:

Re: Adoption
You shouldn't house rabbits with guinea pigs. There are always risks with breeding, but (my emphasis) taking in a needy pregnant guinea pig is rewarding. Usually the mother does most of the work, but yes, if there are complications, experience does help.

Just wanted to see if I could clear this up as I took it a different way--the first sentece about rabbits being housed with guinea pigs seems to be a totally different thought than "there are always risks with breeding, but taking in a needy pregnant pig is rewarding." In the first sentence they are addressing the subject of rabbits and cavies playing/being housed together, and after that they change the subject and are then addressing the topic of adopting pregnant piggers. It did seem "mashed togehter" at first, but if you look at the sentence, the beginning of the second sentence is simply an auxilliary clause introducing the concept of risky pregnancies in pigs and the difficulties of adopting them (notice the use of the conjunction BUT after the comma, thereby connecting the two phrases); not a statement referring to the previous sentence. I just wanted to try and help before a fight started =) hope you don't think I was butting in!

Regarding the genetic factors, I'm not sure how it happens, but I am fairly certain that different breeds can be born to the same litter. My two boys were born from the same litter (My friend had an "oops" pregnancy and so I know this for a fact). However, my Miko is a peruvian/abby mix and my Taiko is a sheltie (no signs that he is any other breed.) I think that it is the same as with human genetics (lets see if I can recall gr.11 biology):

Both the mother and the father are carriers of genetic traits called alleles. Some are dominant alleles and some are recessive. Let's take for example the trait of eye colour. Brown eyes are dominant over blue eyes, so if one parent has brown eyes, it is still possible that they would carry the gene for blue eyes without displaying it (their alleles would be BBbb, B being dominant brown and b being recessive blue). The brown is displayed over the blue because it is dominant and hides the recessive trait. If the other parent had the same BRbl, it is still possible that they both pass on the recessive blue allele to their offspring and so their children could have some of the following makeups: BBBB, BBbB, bbbb etc. so therefore a child whose parents both have brown eyes may still have blue eyes if their parents are carriers of the recessive gene. Similarly, their siblings may have brown eyes because they inherited diffrent combinations of alleles from the same parent. I believe this is genetic diversity, or some concept like that.

Similarly, guinea pigs in a single litter may posess different genetic traits based on the genetic makeup of their parents, and which genes are dominant and recessive, and which traits are passed on to each individual pig. Since mulitple births in the case of mammals like guinea pigs are not ones which result in the offspring being identical (same idea as fraternal twins), each pig is a unique sibling who inherets unique alleles from each parent. Some litters may have pigs that are almost identical in breed and colouring, while others may have completely different appearances. Why? Well, let's assume the trait for abbysinian is dominant, A, and the trait for long hair is recessive, l, and that each parent is a carrier of both the A allelle and one l allele, then therefore the offspring may only inherit the dominant allelle for the Abby trait, the recessive allele for the peruvian trait, or a combination of the two resulting in a mixed breed, or a completely Abby pig carrying the recessive trait for long hair that could be passed on to their offspring, etc. And so you could have some pigs that appear to be completely Abby or peruvian, even if their parents or siblings are not, simply based on whether they inherited dominant genes (in this case Abby) that mask the recessive (in this case, Peruvian) alleles. So theoretically, a litter of two pigs from these parents could have one pure Abby and one pure Peruvian due to this genetic diversity and the random nature of the inheritence of these allelles.

Now please remember that the above genetic combinations are most likely completely wrong, but the idea behind it is the correct one. But do cut me some slack, It's been 4 years since biology, so I think I've done pretty well considering that fact

Anyhoo, hope that helps!

**Thr0wAwayKid** · #17 04-04-05, 10:35 pm

You completly lost with me the biology stuff, still havnt passed it. But I now understand what you ment about the pregnancy thing and I apologize for being so rude. I did understand wrong. I thought you were infering a guinea pig and rabbit could breed. Now say half the babies were american and the other abby wouldnt they all be abby american cross because of the parents? I thought if it was 2 diff breed of parents no baby could be full breed. Hmm Im not to sure

**Thr0wAwayKid** · #18 04-04-05, 10:40 pm

Is it normal that the baby has hair like a young peruvian but it stands straight up? She has only one kink in her hair and its at her butt, i thought abbys have kinks all over. Her hair is extremly long and soft but it stands straight up.

**TheAlmightyMiko** · #19 04-04-05, 10:51 pm

No, you're completely right; they can't be "purebread" if both their parents are not. I think what I was trying to say (all that thinking has made me tired, haha) is that a pig can display a dominant trait and carry a trait from one of their parents while one of their sibling displays the opposite trait and not have receievd any of the dominant allelles from either of their parents;so one pig could look mostly Abby, but their brother or sister could only have receied the opposing recessive genes and so would not display any Abby traits (they may have smooth hair, medium length, whatever the recessive trait is that took over because they did not inherit the dominant trait.)

But, even though the pig appears to be Abby, the fact that they carry other recessive genes may be displayed in other ways, I.E they have a smooth head and back (like an american or silkie) but have rosettes near their rump, etc.
I have actually seen that kind of whorl on a pig's rump many times before, and it seems to be characteristic of some sort of abby mix. Your pig probably carries some dominant trait for long hair but is also displaying an abby trait that has resulted in the rosette. What I was saying before about dominant/ recessive genes is't absolute because genetic diversity also allows for a combination of both recessive and dominant traits (which is why things like eye color vary so greatly--because the genes mix to form new traits based on those inherited.) It's just that the dominant genes have a greater chance of winning out over the recessive and depending on the combination, may or may not allow for the recessive genes to be expressed in part or even at all.

**rabbitsncavyluv** · #20 04-05-05, 11:44 am

I meant risky breeding with guinea pigs. Rabbits and guinea pigs won't breed with each other because they are different species.

By the way, sometimes baby peruvians look like abbys when they are born. They could turn into peruvians.

Re: Adoption
You shouldn't house rabbits with guinea pigs. There are always risks with breeding, but taking in a needy pregnant guinea pig is rewarding. Usually the mother does most of the work, but yes, if there are complications, experience does help.

see? so dont try and change your story now

ya there would be mixed babies but you cant have half a litter be full abby and the other half not... they are going to be mixes so i cant have some abby they would all be abby mixes[/quote]