Hello!

slynndowney · Jul 30, 2014

Hello everyone! My name is Shelby and my cavy's name is Maple. We got her from a pet store and unfortunately (or fortunately!) she is pregnant. I believe she is in her last week, maybe two of pregnancy, so we are preparing for little babies!
I realized my knowledge of guinea pigs was limited despite having three while growing up, but we are treating Maple much better. We purchased a 2x4 C&C cage a week ago and I'm giving fleece flippers a try since I don't think I have ever seen a guinea pig poop as much as she does! These forums have been a huge help in learning what exactly she needs.
There are some pictures below of the little cutie

MrsGuineaPig · Jul 30, 2014

Aw she's so cute! I like fleece flippers better than bedding! I hope the delivery will be safe! Try to sex the babies right away and move all the male babies out before they turn 3 weeks old! And hello and welcome to the forum!

Princess_Piggie · Jul 30, 2014

She's such a beautiful girl! Though I have to be honest, in those pictures she doesn't look particularly pregnant, mainly because my Minnie's around that size and she's definitely not pregnant lol How are you sure that she is? Or is it just a guess?

Ditto @MrsGuineaPig, you can use https://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm to sex the pups. Remember to check more than once, and quite frequently, because things can really develop in just three weeks!

Aside from that, welcome to the forum!

guineapigcraz27 · Jul 30, 2014

Welcome to the forum! I have found this place very kind and helpful!

Also my piggies name is Maple to.

slynndowney · Jul 30, 2014

@MrsGuineaPig - thanks for the welcome! yes, I am well aware to sex them and remove the males at three weeks. we definitely don't need more babies! @Princess_Piggie - it is difficult to tell. Honestly, I'm guessing based off the fact that the pet store woman told us she thought all their females were pregnant at the time we purchased her, she has definitely gained weight, I've seen kicking (or she has occasional hiccups!!) and about two weeks after we got her she stopped allowing us to pick her up and she lays down ALL the time. so either she is the strangest guinea pig ever, or I'm guessing she has two babies in her, since you are right. She really isn't that big. thanks for the welcome! @guineapigcraz27 - yay! I have been naming all my pets breakfast foods. I had three sugar gliders named Waffle, Pancake, and Bacon. Eggs didn't sound so great so Maple was next on the list

I can't decide what names I will give the babies. I am waiting to see how many, what sex, and what they look like before I decide! thanks for the welcome

pigger123 · Jul 30, 2014

She's adorable! How long have you had her? If she is pregnant, she doesn't look very far along. Guinea pigs at pet stores are usually pretty young, so she may just be gaining weight because she's growing. If she is pregnant, you will need to baby-proof her cage and make sure she is getting the proper diet for pregnant piggies, which she probably needs anyway if she's under 6 months old.

slynndowney · Jul 30, 2014

@pigger123 thanks, she is definitely a cutie

I have had her for five weeks now. That is the one question I did not ask the pet store - how old she was. I can tell she is young, but she really hasn't grown much in terms of length. it's definitely all been in her middle. she also had some bleeding last Wednesday. I got all excited that the babies were coming, but sadly still nothing

There could be a chance she isn't pregnant, but like i said earlier, her behavior seems too strange for her not to be pregnant. :/ we will know either way in another month for sure!

labgirl5 · Jul 30, 2014

slynndowney said:
@pigger123 thanks, she is definitely a cutie I have had her for five weeks now. That is the one question I did not ask the pet store - how old she was. I can tell she is young, but she really hasn't grown much in terms of length. it's definitely all been in her middle. she also had some bleeding last Wednesday. I got all excited that the babies were coming, but sadly still nothing There could be a chance she isn't pregnant, but like i said earlier, her behavior seems too strange for her not to be pregnant. :/ we will know either way in another month for sure!

Bleeding is not normal if she didn't have the babies yet, as far as I know. You may even want to take her to an exotic vet now, just to confirm she's pregnant, or she's not but she's healthy. What's her diet like?

I love the fourth picture of her, by the way! So cute!

pigger123 · Jul 30, 2014

If she's bleeding, that's not good. She shouldn't be bleeding at all except for while she's actually giving birth and a little bit afterwards. I would take her to a cavy-savvy exotic vet. The vet can't confirm whether she's pregnant or not, but they could make sure she's otherwise healthy, since pet store pigs often come with health issues. If she is pregnant and/or under 6 months of age, she should be eating unlimited alfalfa pellets, unlimited grass hay, and 1 cup of veggies per day. The veggies should be mostly red or green leaf lettuce, along with an 1/8-1/4 of a green bell pepper, no more than one baby carrot per day, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, etc. Here's a list of veggies you can feed her and how often to feed them: https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List

labgirl5 · Jul 30, 2014

pigger123 said:
If she's bleeding, that's not good. She shouldn't be bleeding at all except for while she's actually giving birth and a little bit afterwards. I would take her to a cavy-savvy exotic vet. The vet can't confirm whether she's pregnant or not but they could make sure she's otherwise healthy, since pet store pigs often come with health issues. If she is pregnant and/or under 6 months of age, she should be eating unlimited alfalfa pellets, unlimited grass hay, and 1 cup of veggies per day. The veggies should be mostly red or green leaf lettuce, along with an 1/8-1/4 of a green bell pepper, no more than one baby carrot per day, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, etc. Here's a list of veggies you can feed her and how often to feed them: https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List

I thought that an exotic vet would be able to do an x-ray to tell if there are babies? I remember seeing a thread a while back with x-rays showing babies inside a female GP's stomach.

pigger123 · Jul 30, 2014

They could do an x-ray but I don't think it's really necessary and it would be pretty stressful for Maple. I think the best option is to wait a little longer, if she is pregnant it should start getting pretty obvious. Can you feel any movement if you put your hands on her belly?

slynndowney · Jul 30, 2014

Oh yes, she is eating well @labgirl5! I give her about 1/8 cup of pellets/day. I use a measuring cup to keep track because she would definitely eat more if I let her! I have oxbow adult piggie food. She gets timothy hay daily and I mix in a little bit of alfalfa since I think she is pregnant. She always has her own head of red/green leaf lettuce in the fridge, she usually gets a small slice of pepper daily and I have fed her both parsley and cilantro sparingly. She LOVES fruit but I won't let her have more than one blueberry/sliver of peach/one strawberry top per day and I try my best to limit her to every other day! She now will wheek EVERY TIME we either open the fridge or run water in the kitchen (her cage is about fifteen feet from there). So trust me, she is not underfed and I feed her quality stuff

Oh and she drinks plenty of water. She goes through her 8 oz bottle about every day and a half. I usually clean it and refresh it every other day as such.

I did find the bleeding very weird, especially because she expressed zero discomfort. We have not taken her to a vet because my husband hunts a lot and he does not see the point in spending money on a vet for a pet we paid $35 for. PLEASE hold your judgements on this. I don't 100% agree with it, but if she were in ANY distress, we would be sure to put her out of her misery. Or if there are any complications with the birth and a pup was suffering, we would take care of it. I keep close watch on her, especially since I don't work and am home all day (the reason why we got her in the first place!)
@pigger123 I haven't felt movement when I touch her, though it is very difficult for her to sit still long enough to tell. But I have definitely seen what looked like kicking. At first I thought she had a case of the hiccups, and even texted my husband saying that, but it has happened two or three times now and I finally realized that those must be babies kicking. Twelve days ago was the first time I witnessed it and from what I've read online, through forums and guinealynx/guineapigmanual, they typically deliver within 2-3 weeks of visible kicks. So I now wake up every morning and rush downstairs to see if there are any puff balls running around! But not yet.

So I am still playing the waiting game :/

pigger123 · Jul 30, 2014

If she is pregnant, her and the babies can get unlimited pellets. I hope everything goes well!

slynndowney · Jul 30, 2014

And it is very difficult to tell from the pictures, but it is obvious to me that her stomach is larger and she definitely has increased in size there. When she lays down, you can sort of see in the tube picture, but her sides relax and she gets VERY wide. This is when you can tell the most that she is bigger. If she has been up and running around, she sucks in a bit and you could mistake it. She definitely doesn't have more than two, maybe three, pups in there if she is pregnant. And she has gotten HEAVY. I picked her up the other day and she definitely weighs a lot more. I joked with my husband that if she isn't pregnant I've made her morbidly obese, but I really haven't fed her extra and I've been good about giving her floor time to run around.

slynndowney · Jul 30, 2014

pigger123 said:
If she is pregnant, her and the babies can get unlimited pellets. I hope everything goes well!

Ok good to know! I've been good about refilling her dish (I only coat the bottom with pellets at a time to keep track of serving size) but have tried not to let her eat too much in case she isn't pregnant!

Rywen · Jul 30, 2014

Hello and welcome to the forum, Maple is adorable!

slynndowney · Jul 31, 2014

Thanks @Rywen

Starthecavy123 · Jul 31, 2014

Hi and welcome to the forum. Unfortunately there is no positive way if knowing how old she is. But if you think she's under 6 months she can have unlimited pellets. Make sure the pellets are plane no color bits and no seads. You can also supplement calcium with a few sprigs of parsley. And alfalfa based pallets are also a good choice. As far as anything else I think your pretty much covered.

slynndowney · Jul 31, 2014

Great! Thanks @Starthecavy123

labgirl5 · Jul 31, 2014

slynndowney said:
Oh yes, she is eating well @labgirl5! I give her about 1/8 cup of pellets/day. I use a measuring cup to keep track because she would definitely eat more if I let her! I have oxbow adult piggie food. She gets timothy hay daily and I mix in a little bit of alfalfa since I think she is pregnant. She always has her own head of red/green leaf lettuce in the fridge, she usually gets a small slice of pepper daily and I have fed her both parsley and cilantro sparingly. She LOVES fruit but I won't let her have more than one blueberry/sliver of peach/one strawberry top per day and I try my best to limit her to every other day! She now will wheek EVERY TIME we either open the fridge or run water in the kitchen (her cage is about fifteen feet from there). So trust me, she is not underfed and I feed her quality stuff Oh and she drinks plenty of water. She goes through her 8 oz bottle about every day and a half. I usually clean it and refresh it every other day as such.

I did find the bleeding very weird, especially because she expressed zero discomfort. We have not taken her to a vet because my husband hunts a lot and he does not see the point in spending money on a vet for a pet we paid $35 for. PLEASE hold your judgements on this. I don't 100% agree with it, but if she were in ANY distress, we would be sure to put her out of her misery. Or if there are any complications with the birth and a pup was suffering, we would take care of it. I keep close watch on her, especially since I don't work and am home all day (the reason why we got her in the first place!)
@pigger123 I haven't felt movement when I touch her, though it is very difficult for her to sit still long enough to tell. But I have definitely seen what looked like kicking. At first I thought she had a case of the hiccups, and even texted my husband saying that, but it has happened two or three times now and I finally realized that those must be babies kicking. Twelve days ago was the first time I witnessed it and from what I've read online, through forums and guinealynx/guineapigmanual, they typically deliver within 2-3 weeks of visible kicks. So I now wake up every morning and rush downstairs to see if there are any puff balls running around! But not yet.

So I am still playing the waiting game :/

A piece of fruit every day/every other day it too much. Guinea pigs can get diabetes, therefore a piece of fruit should be limited to once a week at most, because they're very sugary. All of my past/present guinea pigs adore(d) carrots (though only feed 1 baby carrot per day), so that might be a suitable replacement.

Regarding the whole vet issue, I think you talk to your husband and tell him by adopting/paying for the guinea pig, you are responsible for her care. It doesn't matter how much they cost. If you got a free puppy, would you let it be sick/not get it's shots because it costed nothing? I would think not. I hope you don't take this in the wrong way, by the way, I'm just trying to help.

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