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New Cavy Owner...

laxrick

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Hello, my name is Rick and I am new here. I recently got two guinea pigs from a lady and her son for free as they were dropping them off at a pet store. I figured my children would love them and I admit it was a decision I made a bit too quickly, however, if I did not make it, the guinea pigs would end up in a pet shop which I happened to be looking in for hamsters for my middle daughter.

Unfortunately, most of my guinea pig "knowledge" came from this lady and her son. Apparently, her guinea pigs have been bred excessively and every few months they drop off guinea pigs at this store. They were kept in aquariums and, now that I have the cavies, I can see that that is just inhumane.

I got setup with a standard petshop cage for them and all the stuff they need. However, I have a problem... I got the mother that had been bred and the other "female" turned out to not be a female at all. They were mating last night (all night) and now they aren't... I'm no expert but I suspect she's pregnant.

I have a few questions about the care of my guinea pigs which we were answered incorrectly by the previous owner.

  1. I read that they need hay grass which the previous owner and the pet store said nothing about. How important is it? I assume very important, so should I make sure they never, ever run out?
  2. I'm afraid of Big Mama's pregnancy because her mate was one of her litter from a few months ago. Her size, thankfully, is ok, but I'm a little scared of the complications of in-breeding. How likely is it that there will be birth defects from this unintentional in-breeding?
  3. How deep should the wood chips in their be? How often should I change their cage? Should I change ALL the shavings or just some of them?
  4. Should Big Mama and her mate, Piglet, be separated while she is pregnant? What about after birth?
  5. How often should I feed the guinea pigs fresh veggies? I've been giving them lettuce daily and they always completely devour it. Can they overeat? Is there a rule of thumb on how to distribute it? I keep there bowl filled with pellets always.
  6. I read that guinea pigs need a certain amount of vitamin C. What veggies have this? Should I crush supplements in their food? Or will they be fine with lettuce?
  7. Can I feed them fruits? I've given them grapes and they love it, but I'm no sure how healthy it is for them.
  8. Once birth is given, should I separate the cavies? How to prevent unintended pregnancy? Getting rid of Big Mama or her mate Piglet is not an option because my kids love them both very much.
Sorry for so many questions, but me and my family are commited to being responsible cavy owners. We may have started out uninformed, but we want to correct that. Any help or answers would be appreciated!
 

piggly wiggly

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I will do my best to answer what questions I remember. They should be sperated, because she may not be pregnant yet (Not likely, but incase) also if they are kept together, he can back breed her as soon as she gives birth, very dangerous for her. They should never run out of hay, Timothy hay for pigs over 6 months, alfalfa hay for pigs under, alfalfa also for pregnant and nursing mothers. Male babies need to be seperated from mom and sisters at 21 days old, that's when they can mate. There is an excellent nutrition thread on here, just enter it in search, it tells all about veggies. Welcome, it's great you are doing research. P.S, you could get the male neutered so he can live with her.
 

dextersmycutegp

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First, a hearty welcome to the forum to you!
You need to seperate both guinea pigs right away if you are unsure of the sex of either of them. If Big Mama isn't pregnant yet, the longer she is left with a male the higher the liklihood is that she will get pregnant. A good page to help you sex them is Guinea Lynx :: Sexing Guinea Pigs . It could be that they are both ladies but the stress of the move is causing them to rework their dominance, which would explain the mounting, that's something all guinea pigs do to each other to dominate the other one. Even same sex guinea pigs do that.
Three of my piggies are severely inbred. I bought one of them from a petstore and got the traditional more for the price of one deal. She ended up to be pregnant by her brother. Both of their parents were also siblings. Her two babies are now a little over a year old and they haven't shown any ill-effects from this yet, knock on wood.
If Piglet is in fact a boy you could have him neutered by a guinea pig savy vet. I had my male neutered and it was scary, but it worked out well with no complications and now he lives happily with his three ladies. If Big Mama is pregnant, she might have both female and male babies, in that case you could keep a female to be Big Mama's companion and keep a male to be Piglet's companion.
Grass hay is extremely important to the health and well being of guinea pigs.
Is their food just pellets without any little bits or seeds in it? If it has seeds in it the seeds could cause them to choke. If Big Mama is pregnant she will need alfalfa based pellets and alfalfa hay mixed with her timothy hay, becuase she will need extra calcium for her babies as they grow. If Piglet is over 6 months to a year you can and should be feeding him/her timothy based pellets and straight timothy hay.
When I used shavings I alway tried to have the layer be deep enough that they could run around with out touching the newspaper uder the shavings so I'd say that was about 2-3 inches. Hopefully you are using Aspen or kiln-dried Pine shavings. Cedar shavings are exceedingly bad for the respitory system of small animals. You can change the shavings all at once. Petstore cages get really yucky really fast becuase they are so small, so you'll probably want to clean it every couple of days or less depending on the size of the cage. When you get a C & C cage you'll only need to clean it once a week since it'll be larger and the poo and pee won't build up so fast.
Guinea pigs really can't eat too many veggies, as long as the veggies are healthy. A good guide is: https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...read-me-nutrition-charts-info.html#post254730
Bell Peppers are great for piggies and they have lots of vitamin C. I usually feed my four half a pepper per day along with lots of lettuce, four baby carrots, and other assorted things I got at the grocery store for them.
Friuts are not so good for piggies every day. Fruits are (I think, I could be worng here) a once a week thing. They have too much sugar in them and can cause diabetes. That chart has stuff about fruits on it too.
You will want to get a C and C cage as soon as possible, especially if Big Mama is pregnant. If she is, you could have up to 7 (the average, according to Guinea Lynx is 1-4) more piggies in 59-73 days or less.
Good luck! I hope I answered all your questions. :)
A great piggy care website is Guinea Lynx :: A Medical and Care Guide for Your Guinea Pig by the way.
 

Choco-latte

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Ragous

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On the off chance that she is not pregnant I would SEPERATE now, that way if she is not pregnant she will ramain that way. Have you sexed the pigs yourself and are sure that one is a male? I have 4 females and they do 'mount' one another to show who's the boss. If in doubt find a cavy savy vet near you and take them in for a check up.

As for your questions, I will do my best and sure others will also give advice too.

As for hay they need a ready supply of timothy hay, my girls have a hay rack that is always full and some hay spots in there cage that they like to lay on.

Pellet food should only be feed by what is required per piggie per day. Most foods come with a weight chart and feeding charts. Vegies is 1 cup a day per pig, Iceberg lettuce is a no-no due to poor nutritional value and can cause the 'runs'. There is a really good thread on this that I hope some one post for you, I still am unsure how to post links in messages. My girls like grapes too but they rarely get them as with any fruits, they should only be given as treats. A small baby carrot a day and a assortment of green leafy vegies should give required Vit. C for your cavies. The supplement that is mixed with water is a waste of money and does no good to the piggies anyways, so don't buy it.

Cleaning cages....I spot clean everyday, removeing whatever shavings feel wet and I do a complete, all shavings and a wipe down with vinegar water change every week.

On a final note....Welcome to the forum, you are on your way to finding everything you will need to know on takin care of your new cavies. I myself knew nothing about guinea pigs when I brought home my first from a school classroom, now thanks to this site I find myself talking about proper care with anyone that brings up guinea pigs in discussions.
 

laxrick

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Thanks for all the help! Nope... Piglet is most certainly a male, not a female. Don't ask me how I know :eek: . Until I can get to the store to get a temporary cage (I'm most certainly planning a C&C cage though) I have little choice on keeping them together for the time being. However the reason I think she's pregnant (or will be soon) is that Piglet has stopped attempting to mate. Still could go either way I'm sure... but I have a gut feeling she is. I mean if she wasn't would he keep trying to mate with her?

If I have to separate them, would making a C&C cage sectioned off, but still have the cavies visible to each other cause a problem?
 

dextersmycutegp

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A sectioned off C and C cage is a good idea. They might try really hard to chew through the botton of the grids that are seperating them, so I'd advise you to double up the grids and put a short piece of coroplast in between, so they can't chew as vigorously, but they can still hear and sniff each other.
 

Ly&Pigs

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To answer your questions:

1. Hay is the most essential food your pigs need. It's a must have in unlimited amounts. You can feed any type of grass hay. Some popular choices are Timothy, Orchard Grass, Sweet Meadow hay, Bluegrass, and Bermuda.

2. Please separate them immediately if you haven't already. I can't really give you an answer because there is no way to tell until the pups are born.

3. If you are using pine, please make sure it's kiln-dried pine. Avoid cedar at all costs and plain pine can be dangerous. There are many options for bedding. You may want to take a look at our bedding forum for options. Pine and any other wood chip bedding should be a couple inches deep and needs cleaned out every few days depending on size of cage. If you have a large C&C cage, you may be able to go a week. With a tiny petstore cage, be prepared to change it out every couple of days. Please check out our mainpage- https://www.guineapigcages.com on what a C&C cage is and how to build one. Petstore cages are way too small to adequately house guinea pigs in.

4. Again separate immediately. There is a slim chance she isn't pregnant and you don't want her to become pregnant again if at all possible. Keep them separated now and forever unless you can have him neutered.

5. See this thread- https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...cavys-diet-read-me-nutrition-charts-info.html. It will tell you everything you need to know about diet. There are also many other great threads in the diet and nutrition forum to read.

6. See reply 5.

7. See reply 5.

8. See reply 4. Also, If she is pregant, gestation will take anywhere from 59-73 days. Once the pups are born, they will have to be sexed and the males separated from mom no later than 21 days.
 

laxrick

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Thanks for the great response.

Unfortunately, I was told that it was not possible to sex a baby until there were like two months old (but I was told by the lady who keeps hers in aquariums and indiscriminately breeds them, dumping off the litter at the local petshop almost monthly).

Well, hopefully everything will work out. I'm sure I can either provide a good home or find good homes for the litter if everything works out well.

Thanks for all the help!!
 

Ly&Pigs

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Unfortunately, I was told that it was not possible to sex a baby until there were like two months old
That is an outright lie this woman told you. I wouldn't believe anything she told you as it all seems like wrong info to me. Pups can be pretty easily sexed at 1 week of age.
 

this_lil_piggy

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Pigs are generally sexed between 1-3 weeks, so that males can be separated from their mom by 21 days old.
A male pig wouldn't stop mounting just because a female was pregnant. The only time this is true is when the female gets further along, larger in size, and she bites and kicks him for trying.
It could be that your female isn't in heat, and the mounting was simply an establishment of dominance, or a practice session. She would have to be in heat to get pregnant, so there certainly is a chance that she isn't yet and you could save her from going through it again.
If you have a Target near you, pick up some grids and throw together a CC cage rather than buying another pet store cage. You can build a CC cage in just a few hours max. and you will have a much larger cage for a fraction of the cost (a pack of grids is enough to build a cage and they run about 13.00). IT is a weekend so you may not be able to get a hold of coroplast, but you can use a shower curtain liner as a temporary cage floor. You can use a few extra grids to create a divider in the middle of the cage to separate the boar and sow.
 

rabbitsncavyluv

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I've sexed pigs right after they were born. They can breed at 3-4 weeks so you need to figure it out well before 2 months.
 

laxrick

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Well, my initial information was definitely incorrect. I figured she knew what she was talking about because she was bringing the guinea pigs into the petshop; however, after reading here I probably shouldn't believe anyone bringing cavies into a petshop. Below is a few of the things I was told that I now know are wrong...
  1. They like hay but it's not totally necessary.
  2. Aquariums are the best type of cage for a cavy.
  3. They can eat any fruit and vegetable you give to them.
  4. Pups cannot be sexed until they are 3 months old.
  5. The cage needs to be cleaned and changed maybe twice a month.
Very upsetting that someone like this is out there...
 

Ly&Pigs

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Unfortunately there are too many people like that out there. It's rather scary.

Hay is essential for grinding down molars and for digestion.

Aquariums are one of the worst kinds of cages because of size and also because of ammonia buildup.

There are some fruits and veggies that can be deadly so they can't eat anything you give them.

Those with experience can sex pups at a day old or even less.

Most cages need to be cleaned at least once per week. The smaller the cage, the more often it needs cleaned.
 

FoolOnTheHill

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Welcome to the forums :) As you can see ( ^^ ) the site offers a wealth of info and many helpful members! I'm glad you found us and want to improve your piggies lives - they'll be really happy with you! I think everything you asked has been covered, so I'll just say good luck with the pregnancy if Big Mama is expecting. Welcome again!
PS - Cleaning a cage twice a month? :sick: I can't imagine the stink if I followed that rule!!
 

seagirl96

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If BigMama is pregnant, give us some pigtures and a location and you may get some of the best new homes for babies. Or you may fall in love with all of them and turn into a piggy addict like the rest of us. Just keep building with those cubes & you can make room for lots of piggies, heh heh.
 
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