10 wk old pregnant(by accident) cavy..what to feed?

[leilee]

When I got my babies they were 3 wks. old. I had never had guinea's before so I had no idea how to sex them. of course, when they turned 5 or 6 wks. old I found this site and the links to help sex them...by this time my babies had been housed together for a month or more. They are now about approx. 10 wks old. They have been seperated now for a month. Her abdomen did seem to be enlarged (hence the check up) and I had noticed that she did seem to be eating a little more than usual. So, I took them in for a check up, my vet noticed her nipples seemed to be a little swollen so he decided to do an ultrasound. He did not actually see any fetuses but did see heartbeats. Of Course now, I'm worried sick because I did not mean for this to happen..I did not want to endanger her in any way and I have read that pregancies are a sensitive if not dangerous thing. I've tried some research on pregnant cavies and have not found much helpful information. My questions mostly relate to diet, what should I be feeding her? Neither her nor my male Tinker like their pellets(Nutriphase), they will eat them only if I run out of veggies for a day. They always have unlimited access to Kaytee timothy hay, Nutriphase pellets and I give them a mixture of veggies(as much as they can eat in an hour) twice a day. They mostly only eat their veggies and hay though. Are their any special requirements for my (99.9 percent sure) pregnant cavy? I'm so worried for her and want to do the best for her while she is with children. I know this question dosn't relate well with the diet and nutrition forum but, I didn't want to post two different threads...What kind of precautions or pregnancy proofing her cage should I do, and when the babies do get here? I'm so lost...I have no idea how far along she is, and no idea when to expect these lil bitty guineas. I know their gestation is 59 to 72 days which logically with the caging issues would put her at about a month pregnant, but she dosn't seem "that big". I don't even know how enlarged a pregnant cavy gets during pregnancy....HELP!!! Please! Thanks so much in advance.

[leilee]

Here are some pics of her....If you click on the thumbnails it brings up the bigger pigture. leilee

[Pumpkin_RIP]

You should be feeding her either Oxbow pellets( they have some made specificly for pregnant cavys) or Kleenmama's, but Kleenmamas can only be ordered online. Because she is pregnant she can have unlimited pellets. The hay you are doing just fine, except you may want to get some better qualitie hay (Oxbow or Kleenmamas) She should be eating a bit more than 1 cup of veggies daily. I read on this site from Ly that they should have about 1 cup a day, but since she is pregnant she probably needs a little more. Here's a great link that shows all the foods cavys can eat and how much of: http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...arts-info.html

About special needs, I'm not really sure....but I do know that when she is in labor(if she is in fact pregnant) she should not go any longer than 20 minutes in between pups. Call the vet immediately at the first sign of problems. Hopefully if you get Oxbow or Kleenmamas pellets they will start eating pellets more, because a pregnant piggie needs all the nutrition she can get! Good Luck!!

[Jenni_Feathers]

Kaytee hay is just fine nutrition wise. She will need more calcium in her diet, either in the form of alfalfa hay in addition to grass hay or alfafa pellets in addition to timothy or in higher calcium veggies. Thats all for if she is preg. I can't tell for sure, she might be though.

[cavyinhawaii]

Guinea Lynx :: Reproduction

This is some good information from Guinealynx.

[Ly&Pigs]

Get her a good high quality brand of pellets and dump the garbage Nutriphase. Make sure she gets lots of leafy greens. Rotate parsley and kale every other day. About 4-5 sprigs of parsley and 1/2 a large leaf or 1 small leaf of kale. Those two veggies will help meet the calcium intake she will need. But too much calcium daily can be too much so that's why I said to rotate those two giving one on one day and the other the next.