Well, apparently I'm going to be a Grandma

[BrowniesMemory]

I noticed that my youngest pig, Choco, was getting "fat" rather quickly and this morning I could've sworn I felt movement twice. So I took her to the vet and it only took him a few seconds of touching her belly before he nodded. So my little Choco is going to be a mommy. We don't know how many babies but I've had her 53 days so she is probably pretty close. I got her from a pet-store so I knew I'd need to keep an eye on her for at least two months. One of my old college professors actually sent me a FB message yesterday asking how guinea pigs were to take care of and I told her what I knew and referred her to here and guinealynx, so I have a potential owner.

I've already got the back of her and Momo's cage baby-proofed I just need to get the sides and doors before I'm done. The only other things in the cage are two igloos the food bowl and the water bottle spouts...well and the other female Momo. I've been putting their hay on the floor or on top of the igloos and keeping the fleece as "bean" free as possible. So far Momo is doing fine albeit a little more interested in Choco's rear, should she be safe once the babies are born? She took to Choco really well when I introduced them. Should I add clean towels and fleece under the igloos to be changed daily?

 

[Paige.Buttons]

i have had many babies and they usually give birth around 60 days of being pregnant. i don't know about other people but i have always separated my pigs for the first week of the babies being born and then gradually introduce the other piggy into the cage. only reason being i did have a piggy that went quite nasty to the babies every time they went near them, also the mother can get protective, but its up to your own judgement really. if you have a calm piggy then they should be okay. and as for putting towels under the igloos, i think thats actually not so good, it sounds disgusting but they eat everything that comes out to clear up. if theres blood when she gives birth she will clean it herself. as well as the babies.
hope this helps and good luck with the little ones mine were little escape artists x

 

[BrowniesMemory]

That actually doesn't sound that disgusting, I mean practically every mammal except humans will eat the after-birth to clean up or for whatever nutrients. I didn't think about that, guess I was only concerned about a soft spot for her to rest. I use fleece in the cage already, what should I do about that after they're born?

Here are some pictures I took at veggie time:

 

[Cavy Treenie]

Alright this sounds disgusting but some women actually eat the placentas for the extra vitamins. Yeah, health class was a bit of a nasty one. While watching a birth video my friend passed out, and a couple of the guys in my class had to leave or lay on the floor because they were dizzy. Sorry for getting off topic and congradulations! :goodvibes

 

[Kermit_Koeller]

keep me in mind! We could always meet in Fargo....It's almost exactly half way!!

 

[BrowniesMemory]

Uh, that's a wonderful offer but considering I don't have my own car and would have to use the family car...that might be a pretty hard sell where my parents are considered.

 

[Kermit_Koeller]

Oh lol well just a thought!

 

[foggycreekcavy]

i have had many babies and they usually give birth around 60 days of being pregnant. i don't know about other people but i have always separated my pigs for the first week of the babies being born and then gradually introduce the other piggy into the cage. only reason being i did have a piggy that went quite nasty to the babies every time they went near them, also the mother can get protective, but its up to your own judgement really. if you have a calm piggy then they should be okay. and as for putting towels under the igloos, i think thats actually not so good, it sounds disgusting but they eat everything that comes out to clear up. if theres blood when she gives birth she will clean it herself. as well as the babies.
hope this helps and good luck with the little ones mine were little escape artists x

Usually the other females in the cage help to rear the babies. Is your other female pregnant as well? I would not separate them.

You can certainly put towels/fleece pads underneath their houses and change them out. I do this anyway, and my pigs aren't pregnant.

 

[BrowniesMemory]

Momo isn't pregnant, but had a litter sometime in her past before I got her. She was the one who I thought was pregnant when I got her but turned out not to be. I've been thinking about making fleece "cushions" to go under the igloos for a while but just haven't gotten around to it.

 

[BrowniesMemory]

I just wanted to give an update. Still no babies but I can definitely feel them moving when I weigh her and I can occasionally see when a baby kicks. Poor Choco looks like she's about to pop so hopefully she'll have them soon. Last week I made a comment to my mom about it being neat if they were born on Valentine's Day, well it remains to be seen if they will or not. I guess in the meantime all I can do is keep praying for a safe birth.

 

[BrowniesMemory]

They're here! They're here!

Can you tell I'm excited? Choco had her babies tonight around 9:30 and I think it may have been Momo who drew my attention to the cages on my way by. Everyone appears to be healthy, but I know I will need to monitor everyone closely for a while. I weighed the three pup and their weights were 108g, 102g, and 96g and first guesses on genders are boy, girl, boy in respect to the weights but I will keep checking and rechecking. Tomorrow I will call the vet and let them know that Choco had her babies so they can update her file. Is it alright if I clean the cage tomorrow? I put a shallow tray with some bedding in there but she ended up having them in the igloo. lol For now mom and pups are sectioned off in the babyproofed section of the cage with Momo in the other. I'll work on babyproofing the rest of the cage, and see how Momo does with the pups, tomorrow when I'm more awake. Now what most of you will be waiting for, on to the pictures. I apologize for the quality, my digital camera battery picked a bad time to die.

This is one of the presumed "boys", he stayed in that spot where I set him after weighing him. I think he got a little overwhelmed.
I love how they just happened to be sitting in order chromatically; most brown to all white.
The little family all together.

 

[SheWolfSilver]

Re: They're here! They're here!

Aww they are very cute! I hope the family stays happy and healthy!

 

[BNCavy91]

Re: They're here! They're here!

adorable!! I want, I want!

 

[MicheleB]

Re: They're here! They're here!

awww adorable

 

[missnickelback]

Re: They're here! They're here!

They are the CUTEST i think i might die from CUTENESS!!!!!!!!!!

 

[madelineelaine]

Re: They're here! They're here!

They're adorable! I just want to double check, momo isn't the male is he? I don't think so But I'm confused!

Oh they are just so cute though I want to cuddle them all

 

[YourSoJelly]

I'm pig napping them!!! They are mine! Omg! So cute... So cute!

 

[BrowniesMemory]

Re: They're here! They're here!

They're adorable! I just want to double check, momo isn't the male is he? I don't think so But I'm confused!

Oh they are just so cute though I want to cuddle them all

No worries, Momo is a girl too. I had gotten Choco to be her cagemate.

On another note I removed the divider and all five pigs are together. When I was cleaning the cage I think mama pig accidentally stepped on the pups a couple times. Can an adult guinea pig hurt pups without drawing blood? Also I looked at the pages on sexing on guinea lynx and I still think I have two boys and one girl but I believe the one I thought was a girl is a boy and..yeah. At least I still have some time to keep checking and double-checking.

 

[BrowniesMemory]

Baby may need Special Attention. How long?

I weighed the babies tonight and it seems like the little white one lost a couple grams, but the others stayed the same. By the way I think the birth weights were completely off since I doubt they could loose ten grams in one day and still be alive. Tonight I'll try and encourage all of the babies to try some lettuce and tomorrow i'll get some parsley, while Momo is in her little veggie time area I'll lay down some alfalfa. The reason I take Momo out is I don't want her bullying for more than her own bowl of veggies and she WILL eat the alfalfa if its down.

Can anyone tell me how these weights look for the pups:
Pup 1: 98g 3 1/2oz. (yesterday and today)
Pup 2: 90g 3 1/8oz. (both days)
Pup 3: 90g (yesterday) 88g (today)

Also what is a typical rate of gain for the pups? Is there one?

Note: All three babies are active and alert.