Possibly Pregnant Friend has pregnant 1 year old cavy - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

PopcorningLove · #1 10-06-09, 09:02 pm

Hi! I have a friend who thinks she may have a pregnant guinea pig. I've tried to search for signs on the internet and then relayed them to my friend and some do much but I don't really find many symptoms online. My friend has said she looks much bigger and she sees two ball-like things on her sides. I have yet to actually see the guinea pig but I'm slightly worried because I've read a book that a sow should be under 7 months old to be pregnant because their pelvic bones are too inflexible and could result in death. And I feel she has an even bigger chance of death because my friend say she keeps them in a small cage. I knew I should have said something to her but I don't want to seem rude seeing as she's a new friend. Don't worry, she does change the cage every 2 days because of the size. Any tips? Do you think the sow will survive?

**vicky2** · #2 10-06-09, 09:33 pm

I would tell her to come onto this forum and do much research. You might want to start off by making sure she's on a good diet and getting her to a cavy-savy vet.

**akstrohm** · #3 10-06-09, 10:06 pm

Is she housed with male guinea pigs? If she is, she's probably pregnant. There is a lot to know about caring for any guinea pig, but especially a pregnant one. Complications including death are pretty common. Please encourage your friend to come to this site and do some research to help out her pig.

PopcorningLove · #4 10-07-09, 05:07 pm

Eh. Not really sure who she is housed with right now. All I know is she has two small cages and four guineas. But yes, she says that she has 2 boys & 2 girls. I'll definitely talk to her about it but does anyone have any suggestions for making sure for definite if the pig is pregnant and if she has a chance of surviving?

**Ly&Pigs** · #5 10-07-09, 10:08 pm

The only way to truly know if she's pregnant at this point would be for her to take the pig to a cavy savvy (exotics) vet.

Please talk to your friend about the dangers of breeding, why large cages are important and that if she has the males with the females, she needs to separate them as soon as possible.

DalesLass · #6 10-08-09, 03:15 am

If she says she can see two ball-like things on her sides the pig may be in late stages of pregnancy. Does your friend live in a town where it would be a short journey to take the pig to a vet? If the pig is heavily pregnant a long journey could trigger toxaemia, abortion or other problems if she became stressed.
Your friend needs to discuss these things with her vet - and most certainly have her vet aware that she may need to rush the pig to him/her if there was a problem.

PopcorningLove · #7 10-08-09, 04:54 pm

Thank for your help, guys! Very helpful! Currently, I'm searching for a nearby exotics vet near her area. I'm also worried about another thing that I forgot to post. She lives in a trailer and I feel that she's not financially okay. I badly want to adopt at least one from her care. She bought her guinea pigs from pet stores. Does that increase the chances of her not having a successful piggy birth? Just wondering. ^^; I haven't seen her around in school for days and was planning to tell her about this website and get updated with her piggy.

**akstrohm** · #8 10-08-09, 05:23 pm

Where the pig is from doesn't have much of an effect on how a pregnancy turns out. It just makes it more likely that a pig will come to you pregnant.

What matters is having a competent vet, providing quality food and exercise (large cage), having a non-stressful environment, and the pig's age.

**bamby71994** · #9 10-11-09, 04:18 pm

Good luck, and hopefully all goes well.