little piggy may be pregnant?

[littlerae]

Hello everyone,
I am new to this site, but I have owned guinea pigs all my life. I started out when I was just 3 with my first male guinea pig. He was an adult boar that a little pet store couldnt sell, and they were planning on feeding him to a snake!! . Of course I couldnt let that happen so I rescued him, and fell in love with guinea pigs ever since I saw all of the pregnancy links on here and thought this would be a good place to post pictures up of my little girl (Jayda) I just got about a week ago. When I got this little cutie she was supposed to have been only with other sows, However I have noticed recently that her stomach is buldging a bit in a very suspicious shape. I have been feeding her lots of veggies and she still is very young so it may just be normal weight gain, but I thought I would post some pictures and she what you guys thought. Sometimes she looks normal and other times she got the buldgy pregnant shape.
She is very young, so I am a bit concerned about her. Just wanted to see some opinions on her shape from you all!

note--- I just love this site!!.. Oh, and I will be building a C&C cage for my girls very soon! This cage is only temporary while my husband and I are in our apartment. We should be moving into our house within the next two weeks and I will then be putting together my 5 by 2 C&C cage asap!!
this picture of Jayda is very suspicious to me

but this one looks more normal.. :/ confusing

here she is lying down.. also looking rather lumpy on her sides.


So what do you all think? pregnant? or just a growing belly?

[bpatters]

How old is she? And how pregnant might she be?

Usually, you can't really tell whether a guinea pig is pregnant until pretty close to delivery, unless you have an ultra sound done. The gestation period runs 8-10 weeks or a little over, usually closer to 10. In a full-sized adult, you can usually start feeling the babies along the mom's flanks about two weeks before birth. But in a very young pig, it's sometimes apparent a little earlier, depending on the number of babies.

I'd weigh her every day, at the same time of day. Before her breakfast feeding would be good, because then what you feed her that day won't influence the weight. Keep a record of that, and you may get an idea of whether or not she's pregnant.

If she is, you need to line up a good exotic vet in case she has problems with delivery. If she has more than one pup, they're apt to be smaller and easier to deliver than if she just has one large pup. You'll also need to baby-proof your cage so the babies can't escape or get their heads hung -- extra coroplast or even cardboard zip-tied to the sides of the cage will work for that.

[littlerae]

She is only about 6, maybe 7 weeks old. So if she is I'm guessing she'd only be about 3 weeks into it. Ok I will start doing that thanks!!
I'm hoping she is not. I don't want anything to happen to her. :/ but if she is I want to do everything I can to help it go smoothly and safely! I do have an exotic vet who has taken care of my piggies for years, so if she is I am safe there.

[bpatters]

Glad you've got a good vet. And good luck with her! I do hope she's not pregnant, poor baby.

[littlerae]

Thank you....I know it! she is such a sweetheart.

[Hhbean]

Hi and welcome! Your piggies are adorable! I hope your little girl isn't pregnant, please keep us posted!

[littlerae]

Thank you!! I hope so too, and I will.

[littlerae]

well, i come home tonight and i got Jayda out for lap time, and out of nowhere poor girl has a runny nose, and goopy eyes! i have no idea why as it is nice and warm in our apartment, i feed them tons of different veggies, and use kiln dried pine shavings for bedding! poor thing so looks like im going to the vet tomorrow anyways.. gunna ask what they think about her belly in the meantime.. I'll let you know what they say!

[littlerae]

actually its kiln dried soft wood.. is this kind of bedding ok? ive used it before and never had a problem, but maybe Jayda is allergic?

[foggycreekcavy]

It's doubtful she's allergic to the bedding. More likely an upper respiratory infection.

[littlerae]

ok that is what i figured. :/ poor piggers

[littlerae]

Good news!! the Vet didnt think Jayda was pregnant!! so that is really good. I'm still weighing her and keeping an eye on her just in case tho. and the vet gave her medicine for a URI and for her eyes she should be back to normal in no time!

[SurfingPigs]

Good luck with the URI. Are you giving probiotics as well? Antibiotics can disrupt the balance of healthy bacteria in the gut, which probiotics will help replenish along with helping to keep her appetite up.

[littlerae]

no Im not, but I can! thank you!

[littlerae]

so my little Jayda was 9 ounces at the vets office on wednesday and today, two days later, she was 12.55 ounces. Is that normal for her age to gain about an ounce each day while she's growing?

[FuryanGoddess]

I've seen piggies grow fast .. maybe she's eating more cause she's feeling better. Keep an eye on her.

[foggycreekcavy]

If she wasn't eating well because she didn't feel good and now she feels better, she could be gaining weight pretty quickly. Make sure to weigh at the same time each day.

[littlerae]

Well, Jayda is doing great and is over her URI thank goodness... I know the vet didnt think she was pregnant, but I have still been weighing her just in case because her belly still looks rather bulgy to me.. So here are her weights

1/9- 12.72oz
1/10- 12.97oz
1/11- 13.12oz
1/12 - 13.16 oz
1/13- 13.52 oz
then I missed a few days
1/16- 14.20oz
1/17- 14.86oz
1/18- 14.98 (420 grams) and I believe she is now a little over 8 weeks old so about 2 months.

Does this seem like just a steady weight gain?

[foggycreekcavy]

Babies grow very quickly. Over at Guinea Lynx there's a chart somewhere that shows the growth of a young pig.

[littlerae]

Just want to let you all know that Jayda was NOT pregnant thank goodness!! she is just a chubby little thing. She is happy and healthy and never going to have to go through having babies!