New Mom rough with babies?

[hgnolte]

Hi,
I am new to this forum, am hoping someone can help me. Our newly adopted guinea pig had two precious babies this morning. The babies seem fine, nibbling on pellets and hay, but the mom is really rough with them, knocking them out of the way, taking hay away, etc. Haven't seen any nursing yet. She is digging and digging in the bedding, and doesn't seem interested in them. Is this normal behavior?
Thanks so much for any insight.

[Deb's4Pigs]

Is she any better yet? I've never had babies before. Do a search on new mothers but I read sometimes it takes young mothers time to get used to the idea.

[trexgorawrrrrr]

It can take a mom 24-48 hours to realize that these squeaking things following me around need to be taken care of! Eating the afterbirth is supposed to help mom kick into gear, but babies are born with enough reserve to last them around 48 hours until mom realizes she has a job to do. As for being pushy or rough, I'm not sure if taking hay is being rough? I guess I would have to see the behavior. I had a rescued sow deliver 3 pups back in November. It took her about 24 hours before I saw her taking care of them like she should be, and I didn't see them nursing for a day or so either.

Here's a good link to read - http://www.guinealynx.info/labor.html The bottom of the article talks about what I'm talking about.

Do you have a kitchen scale to weigh the new babies to see if they're in the right weight range & to be able to make sure that they're gaining weight like they should be?

Also be sure to seperate any males from females at 21 days old. They will be able to reproduce at this age. Here's a page to help you on sexing the pups - Sexing Guinea Pigs: How to Sex a Guinea Pig You can always post photos if you have troubles figuring it out on your own since at that stage their parts are similar.

Would love to see some pictures!

[kathlaaron]

Hi,
I am new to this forum, am hoping someone can help me. Our newly adopted guinea pig had two precious babies this morning. The babies seem fine, nibbling on pellets and hay, but the mom is really rough with them, knocking them out of the way, taking hay away, etc. Haven't seen any nursing yet. She is digging and digging in the bedding, and doesn't seem interested in them. Is this normal behavior?
Thanks so much for any insight.

WELCOME hgnolte !!

I have NOT had any experience with this myself, but wanted to try to be of some help. In case you haven't a chance, here is an accurate medical web site , that you can check out : http:// guinealynxreproduction.com Here is an excerpt from a page from this site on Mothers I thought I would take the time to quote for you, here below:

"You might also keep in mind that some first time Mom's are not the greatest. I have had sows that have run to the opposite end of the cage, like they are terrified ! But usually, by the second day, they realize that no one else is tending to these little noisy creatures so they might as well do it. I usually do not interfere. The babies try eating from the very first day, and they are born with energy ( usually) to sustain until Mom's instincts kick in. I WILL interfere if she is biting the babies, or attacking them. Keep in mind ! Mom's can, and are, very vigorous in cleaning up these babies ! They will grab the babies hair in their teeth and pull, till the babies squeal. They will lick and lick till you think she is trying to remove their fur. That is normal."

I hoped I helped a little ! There are many people on here that have had this experience, and I am sure that you will hear from some of them to help you through this rather "frightening" experience if your not sure what to do or what you can expect ! Warm wishes and good luck ! Keep us posted and we all would just LOVE to see some pictures !!

[trexgorawrrrrr]

Kath you gave a link that did not even work! and copied and pasted from the link I gave in refrence of what I was saying...

[Jodie]

Yes. I agree with tex. I recently have gone through three births. Give it a day or so time and if the Mother is not feeding. You will have to hand feed them. I had one mother who only had one pup (thank goodness) and she did not want anything to do with it. Luckily one of the other mothers took it in.

The Mothers will also be a bit rough with the babies. She won't hurt them. She is teaching them to be tough and competitive when it comes to food and such. It's really amazing just to sit and watch them for hours to see how they teach the pups.

Hope everything goes well. Just keep an eye on her and be sure she is feeding by tomorrow.

[SFailed186]

Kath you gave a link that did not even work! and copied and pasted from the link I gave in refrence of what I was saying...

I assume that she was trying to link you to this page:

http://www.guinealynx.info/reproduction.html

[kathlaaron]

Kath you gave a link that did not even work! and copied and pasted from the link I gave in refrence of what I was saying...

Oh man, I just tried the link I gave, which I realize did not work ! Well that stinks. I must of done something wrong when I tried to give her the guinea lynx link. Thankfully, you did do it right !

Actually, I didn't" copy and paste the quote" ( I don't know how to do that unfortunately) I wrote it down on paper and copied the guinea lynx reproduction quote on new Mothers, that way. It took considerable time for me to do it that way, and when I saw your post, I thought I would send it anyway. I didn't mean to offend you in any way. Thought the written quote would be helpful.

[hgnolte]

Thank you so much everyone for the great feedback! Yes, by the next morning she had clearly adjusted, and is grooming/nursing and clearly decided she is a mom ) What a relief! Again, thanks so much, it was a nerve wracking beginning for sure.