Total Change of Mind

[dixiedoo4736]

Ok, I have posted a few questions concerning adopting another female for Dixie as a companion. Well, it turns out that my good friend has a male, Buddyholly, she said she would want to breed with Dixie. I would love to go through the experience of Dixie having babies. I have heard the gestation period is 39-69 days and she is about 5 months.
Is this a good idea? Would it be easier to wait for an adoptable female at a shelter? If I am definately going to keep one piggie (female if there is one) is it going to be simple to find good homes for the others? What if there is more than 2 or 3 in the litter? O my gosh I have so many questions.

[Ly&Pigs]

Breeding is never a good idea. You would be putting your sows life at risk by forcing her to mate with a boar. She has a 20% chance of dying. This site is very anti-breeding. You've been here long enough that you should know this by now.

Gestation is 59-72 days, just to clarify.

[seagirl96]

Do NOT breed your pig. How will you feel if she dies, which is a very real possibility. Please read guinealynx on breeding. They are totally against it for medical reasons. Many of us have been trying to help you find a rescue pig because there are so many pigs that need a home. Do you really want to make more, choose your favorite and throw the rest away? Please read some of the threads in the kitchen.

[Terekins]

Also, it would be a fascinating experience to witness a birth etc, but by rescuing a homeless guinea pig you would be saving a life. This is something you could do and feel really good about.

[Piggersrule]

Breeding can be VERY dangerous, not only for the mom but for her unborn babies. GP babies are rather large at birth and the moms can have serious problems delivering them. Please don't breed her, we are against breeding for a reason.

[this_lil_piggy]

If you are unsure of her exact age, it is doubly risky to breed her. When sows reach the approximate age of 8 months old their bones fuse making delivery nearly impossible and a large risk of death for her and her pups.

There is no way to determine how many pups a pig might have. Anywhere from 1-6 pups. What are you going to do with the extra 2-5 of them? From what I have noticed, younger pigs tend to have smaller litters, but your pig being in the puberty range she is likely to have in the mid-large size litter range. Not something I would risk to be honest.

I know it seems intriguing to "go through the experience", but to be even more honest with you, there isn't much to experience. During my sows pregnancy she didn't want to be touched, or held. She was a very miserable and anti-social pig during her pregnancy. As is often the case, there was no experiencing the birth. Pigs are prey animals so they generally save labor and delivery for a time when they feel they are safe, and the whole process is over and done with before you can blink. I was watching Chloe like a hawk, but she held on and delivered her 3 pups in a very small 20 minute time frame when I wasn't around. The pups were cleaned and hidden when I returned and I almost didn't notice them.
The babies are born furry, independent, with teeth, open eyes and ears.....basically like any full size guinea pig in a smaller package.
There truly isn't anything you will experience that is worth risking your sows life, or having a litter of pups you will have to try to find good homes for.
Keep a check at shelters and rescues......they often have pregnant pigs come in. You can get a baby pig to experience that way, or you may can even adopt a pregnant pig that needs a loving home.

[cusunfireguy]

I am just horrified at the thought of any member of this forum actually considering breeding a pig on purpose. I understand how you may want to have the "experience" but it is just not worth your pigs health. Please rescue a pig instead. Also, in your profile it says that you just got your pig on 3/21/07, are you really that experienced to handle any situation that may arise? When I first got my girls, I sweated for 2 months just praying that neither of my pigs were pregnant because of my inexperience.

[sweetjay6891]

If you really want to exerience a female giving birth , rescue a female sow and have around $1000 on hand for a vet if somthing goes wrong. Is that worth it to you?

It's funny how people come on an anti-breeding forum and say " I want to breed, but I don't have a clue at what I'm doing! "

[cookie_gal]

To put it bluntly, do you want your girl to run a serious risk of dying?

PLEASE adopt an unwanted piggy from a shelter if you want more. The experience of a baby lasts a few weeks the experience of rescuing a piggy lasts years.

[smartorl]

You love your pig and want a companion for her, right? Breeding her can open a whole new wealth of problems. It is a very strong possibility that she could die before, during, or after birthing. Are you prepared to handrear babies, that is if any live? The whole "breeding" to provide a friend is ridiculous because it may well cost your pig her life. Without a history on the male or the female, you could walk into a genetic time bomb as well. What if the sow has one large baby? Do you know how to assist and try to turn the baby? Do you know the difference between labor and distress? Are you willing to shell out the money for a c-section or to euthenize your sow if a vaginal birth can't happen? The road to cavy reproduction is paved with death of sows and babies.

[dextersmycutegp]

If you want to witness birth so much, why not foster an already pregnant piggy for a shelter?
Please don't breed your little girl. When I bought Holly, already pregnant (I didn't know at the tiime), I was terriffied that there would be complications, thankfully there weren't. But in many cases there are.
Have you ever had a close friend that was pregnant? The first few months are okay for them, it seems, but towards the end, it seems like a lot of un-fun business. It's not all that different for guinea pigs. The week before Holly gave birth she was obviously uncomfortable. I had to move all her food dishes near her pigloo because she didn't want to move. She just wanted to lay about and get her babies out, it seemed.
Please don't subject your piggy to the pain and distress brought on by pregnancy.

[dixiedoo4736]

I apologize if I have offended any of you. This is my first experience with a guinea pig and with a forum. I appreciate all the advice but some of you did not have to be so mean about it. I am learning as I go and would never jeopardize an animal. I thought a forum was to gain helpful information not hurtful. I will not breed Dixie now that you have so kindly informed me about the dangers. Thank you.

[MinnieMay9]

I know I didn't post, but I know everyone wasn't trying to be mean. They were trying to tell you not to do it in a hurry, so it might have come off as mean.
I agree it would be cool to see the babies, but like they said about the dangers. Maybe someone who's pig has had babies on here lives close to you? You might be able to go and see their babies.

[PiggieMamaKelly]

Originally Posted by dixiedoo4736

This is my first experience with a guinea pig and with a forum. I appreciate all the advice but some of you did not have to be so mean about it.

You've led a pretty sheltered life if you consider these posts mean. You asked questions, people answered them. Nothing was personal.

[mommyoffive]

I sort of have a mix opinion when it does come to breeding. I'm against it because it can put a sow at risk, but there is about 10% of me that says without breeding, about 50% of us wouldnt have even heard about guinea pigs in the first place. Almost everyone has to admit that they got their first pigs at a petstore...me being one of the culprits. Petstore breeders are bad, we all know that, but without petstore selling them, most people would not know about guineas pigs. Its unfortunate for those piggies but there's not much we can do to stop it. Lucy had mites when I bought her, and being that I was a first time parent I did not know what to do, so I searched on the internet and found this wonderful site, it is HERE that I learned about adopting, i've heard of small animal breeders before, but not adoption of small pets (cats and dogs yes), but without buying my guinea pig at a petstore, and checking on here for info, I would have probably never heard about guinea pigs at all and my five other adopted piggies would not have a home. So it's sort of a mixed feeling, I dont want breeding to occur, but it does...what do ya'll think?

[this_lil_piggy]

I am sorry, Dixie, if you felt attacked. Didn't mean to be hateful, was just trying to give facts. I am glad you won't breed your sow. It really is risky ...something as simple as breeding roans and dalmations can have terrible consequences such as Guinea Lynx :: Eyes and resulting vet bills. A lot of times people aren't very accepting of the information given about breeding etc, or they visit only a few times and don't return until one day they come back and say well, I bred my pig and.... or well, I bought a pet store pig and.... It gets frustrating, and we are often eager to get as much information out there while the poster is interested as we can.


Mom/five:

but without petstore selling them, most people would not know about guineas pigs

No one ever suffered any long term ill effects from not owning a guinea pig.
The fact is there are rescues and shelters packed full of adoptable pigs, and pigs are tossed out into the wild to die, abused, and dying every day because of the damage pet stores, irresponsible owners, and BREEDERS do. It is irresponsible to buy pigs, cats, dogs, ferrets from any breeder when there are over populations stuffed into rescues etc. If there were none of these animals in rescues etc, then my views on breeding them would likely be different. I don't have a problem with breeding horses, cows, fish (for examples)..........because shelters aren't full of these animals needing homes.
Furthermore, a lot of breeders are irresponsible. Breeding roans and dalmations, back breeding sows, inbreeding.....and a lot of times these animals live in much worse conditions than they do at the pet stores.