Pregnancy Care

[kmug500]

Today we found out that we are having babies!

I brought my two Guinea Pigs to the Doctors for check-ups and found out we are having babies in about three weeks.

I was wondering if there is anything I should be doing different now that Rose is pregnant?

[auburnmare5]

Never dealt with a pregnancy, but buy Alfalfa based pellets, Oxbow Cavy Cuisine (Ithink that is the name) will have what you need for the most part probably pellets wise.(Probably)

Guinea Lynx will have posts on it and there will be some on here for sure!

Good Luck!

Was it accidental or on purpose?

How far along?

Is your vet experienced with piggie pregnancies?

Are you prepared for it?

Do you know about the health risks it can pose?

Possibly death? Both momma and pups?

[Jenni_Feathers]

She will need more calcium in her diet. Either in the form of alfafa pellets in addition to timothy, alfalfa hay in addition to grass hay, or in calcium rich veggies.

How long have you had her? How old is she? Are you sure your other pig is a female and not a mis-sexed male. You should probably start to baby proof the cage.

[kmug500]

We got Rose a few days after Christmas, they said she was around a month old when we got her. Her getting pregnant was an accident. The vet said she was due in three weeks, give or take. We know for sure Dash is a he. Our cage is a new 2 X 4 C&C cage with a second floor ( which I haven't added on yet). Jenni_Feathers ~ can you tell me a little more about baby proofing? Thank you!

[pigsforlife]

If you have cardboard, you can slide the cardboard between the coroplast and the grids. That is one way.

[buttons]

Well, baby-proofing the cage is basically just making the sides on the walls higher, because the babies can fit through the 1" spaces in the cubes!

Otherwise give her extra veggies, and try not holding her as much, only when necessary.

As the others said, more calcium, and buy alfalfa based pellets and hay (the good brand of course)

Otherwise, I wish you all the best - hopefully they will all be healthy and you'll have little cute piggies jumping around soon!

*By the way, you can hold the guinea pigs the day they are born, as long as the mom is ok with it, which they usually are if they know you.
Take pigtures for us!

[pigsforlife]

Alfalfa hay should ALWAYS be supplemental, regardless of the age or whether the pig is pregnant. Guinea pigs should ALWAYS have timothy hay.

I second Jenni's advice, either
- Alfalfa based pellets and/or supplemental alfalfa hay
- Calcium enriched vegetables

Extra vitamin c is often recommended. Perhaps someone else will chime in here, but I believe that pregnant sows should be getting 50mg of vitamin c a day. Normally all of the vitamin c they need comes from the vegetables they eat, but I think a vitamin c tablet (plain) would be an idea, though certainly not necessary.

Hopefully you will have already separated the adult boy. If you havent then I suggest you do it now, he can stay in the 2x4 and the sow can go into the second level - if that isnt already built then do you have a temporary cage that she can go in? 3 weeks after the bubs are born, any males must be removed (even if they protest) and can be placed in with the adult boy. The girls can stay.

The mother will do most of the work once the babies are born. In the later stages avoid holding her, instead scoot her into a box or something if you need to get her out.

I also second making sure you have a good vet on standby. Here is some infohttp://www.guinealynx.info/reproduction.html

[Ly&Pigs]

The most important thing you need to do if you haven't already is separate them. When she gives birth she can get pregnant again right away.

Make sure you keep feeding grass hay, alfalfa is only a supplemental hay. If you feed alfalfa hay, you don't necessarily need to feed alfalfa based pellets. If you feed alfalfa based pellets you really don't need the alfalfa hay.

[kmug500]

Thank you & sorry!

[kmug500]

Good morning!
The "Thank you & sorry" was for Ly&Pigs, for the color & font thing.
OK, first the cage has been separated into two. I bought new fleece in awesome colors for the new cage. I am also making a fur tunnel today for them ( I will take pictures). I do let them spend some time together (floor time & when I clean the cage), the vet said it was OK for now. I am not worried at all about food, they eat better than I do LOL! Dash will be fixed in less than two weeks, which I will keep him apart from her (after birth) until he is safe to be with her again. I told the kids to pray for girls. Thank you everyone. I feel so much better knowing if I have a question, I can come here and you will all help. Thanks again.

[Ly&Pigs]

I wouldn't let them be together at all. Mainly because putting pigs together and then taking them apart repeatedly causes stress. You don't need to put more stress on an already pregnant sow.

There is another option. You could wait until the pups are born and see what she has. If she has any baby boars, you could house them with dad once they are 21 days old and the baby sows could stay with mom.

If you decide to get him neutered, then wait 3 weeks for the sperm to completely die off to reintroduce them.

[Wheek Weak]

A couple of other things you should do is:

Weigh the sow everyday up to the birth, and for about a month afterwards. Just be sure to lift her gently, and carefully. Use a small box, or something similar, to take her out of the cage and put her back. Weigh the pups on a daily basis also. On GuineaLynx you can find a good weight record chart to print and use.

Make sure she has plenty of fresh water 24/7. Pregnant sows drink a lot more water than normal (our Ruby would empty an 8-oz bottle in about 8 hours).

Here is an information sheet on labor that we had printed off for reference when Ruby was pregnant: GuineaLynx Labor

[kmug500]

Thank you for the chart. They are separated. I only let them together that one afternoon we went to the doctors. I uploaded pictures of our new cage. Thank you again