New to pigs and need help please! (one preggers)

Hey love,

Well, let me start off by saying that no one is here to slam you. Although people here are very adimant about ther beliefs, they are also very welcoming and informative. So you came to the perfect place!

I actually stumbled across this site about 2 months ago and was in a very simliar position. I bought one girl from a petstore ( she had mites and a URI ) and about 2 months later, after seeing her acting depressed and lethargic (due to the cage size and lack of companionship) I got her a "girl" friend. Fast forward 4 months, Dolce is expanding and Gia is visibly a male (Giovanni). So, Dolce had her litter. She was 6 or 7 months old, so it was a high risk pregnancy. 2 of the 3 were stillborn. But the third baby lived and is thriving, her name is Cali.

I then learned about the horrors of petstores, cage size, ect. And made some adjustments. I made a 2x9 divided cage for my piggies. (I have 4 now because I adopted another, Suki, a female). We are having Giovanni neutered and all four will live together, they have half of my bedroom!

So, I would give you a few tips.
* Please baby-proof the cage. Build up the sides using poster board, spare coroplast, but make the sides about 1 foot tall. I did not do this in time for the birth, and had baby Cali crawling around on the OUTSIDE of the cage. She just walked right through.
* If you can feel the babies you probably have 3 weeks. If her sides are very distended and firm, it could be less. If you watch her sides, you may be able to see the babies kicking ( I could see them kicking like crazy).
*The babies and mama will need unlimited ALFALFA hay. This is true until they reach about 6 months. Then switch to Timothy.
* I would have some Critical Care on hand in case mama doesn't nurse one of the babies, or if you have a runt on your hands. Make sure to weigh them and keep a close eye on those babies.
* The babies will be munching on veggies within a day or so. Be patient. They won't take to them immediatly.
* You can hold baby, but don't keep her away from mama for too long.
* PLEASE have the second pig re-sexed to make sure she is a "she". We don't need any more accidental piggies!!
* Seeing as they are both girls, you can keep them together. The other sow will do well with the babies, so there are no worries there.
* Babies need to be sexed by 2 1/2 weeks at the latest. Males MUST be seperated from the females by 3 weeks. Also, mama will be in estrus right after birth. So this is why making certain the other female IS a female.


Other than that, just regular care! Keep an eye on mama. She may act a little lethargic and lay down alot more towards the last week. I saw a bit of a loss of appetite in Dolce. But you need to make sure she IS eating. Avoid picking her up when possible. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them. Cali is now 5 weeks old and she is gorgeous! Can't wait to see pictures of your new piggies.


Heidi

Hmm, well first thing I'm glad that they are in good living conditions and are doing good. As far as the siding you can line it with cardboard or some extra coroplast. Also if you like you can also do double grids. Go to the Photo Galleries under Baby-Proofing and that should give you some ideas. If you can't feel the babies yet you still have some time to go. How old was she when you got her at the petstore and how long have you had her since. I believe gestiation is roughly 65 days. Correct me if I'm wrong. And hey...we all have made our mistakes. Half of us have gotton piggies from petstores but the differnece is we realized our mistake and changed our ways. Just as you have.

Hmm sees as someone got to it first...well I'm sure both of us have some points.

Thank you for your help! She has been pretty lethargic the last couple days. The babies might be kicking, I don't want to stress her out too much by holding her. I think I've had her about a month or so. She is the sweetest thing, loves to be held and purr. Thanks for the warking about the baby walking through the sides, I defintely don't want THAT to happen!

Yeah,

It cause ALOT of stress when I found Cali outside the cage... we searched the entire room. I was convinced there were more hiding under my bed!

To baby proof, I simply cut posterboard to fit the OUTSIDE of the cage (they chew it and pull it off if it is on the inside). I used craft wire, poked holes in all four courners and wrapped the wire around (facing the outside of course). This has worked quite well and was very cheap. Hope this works for you!

Heidi

Oh, almost forgot, this baby-proofing will need to remain up until they are around 1-2 months old...depending on the size of the holes in the grids of the cage, and the size of the piggies. I am just now getting ready to remove the poster board and she is 5 weeks old.

Also make sure the other one is indeed female. Because petstores are known for mis-sexed, illness, and well pregnancy.

Re: New to pigs and need help please! (one preggers) UPDATE

Okay, Reeces, the pregnant female, is now absolutely enormous! I'm surprized she gets around so well. The other female Hershey (dark chocolate cause she's a really dark blackish brown), is normal sized. I ordered the coroplast like suggested, and it should arrive on Tuesday (yay ebay!). My question is, her abdomen is hard when i touch it, will she make it until I get the coroplast in before she gives birth? I have newspaper attached to the sides about 10-12 inches up arouund the 2-4 cage, they kept eating the posterboard and i was afraid the shiny stuff on it could hurt them. So far they haven't touched the newspaper yet, but it is more flimsy than the posterboard.

So, Does anyone think she might give birth before Tuesday? I don't want to risk the babies getting hurt by then if they are born early... Should I take her out and put her in a plastic tote (large sized that I use for them when I clean their cage) until then, just in case or would that stress her out too much?

Thanks so much for all of your help!!!

If you go to a local grocery store, they will often give you packing boxes if you were to ask. After getting some packing boxes, make them go flat, this may require some cutting. Attach them to the sides of the cage, this will be stronger than newspaper, make sure that you attach the cardboard to the outside of the cage so that they do not rip it off and eat it.

Also, are you 100% sure that Hershey is a female? I can not stress enough how important it is for you to sex her yourself, just to make sure. This site Guinea Lynx :: Sexing Guinea Pigs and this site https://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm to help sex Hershey.

Remember to sex and remove any males at 3 weeks of age.

I think I might separate them anyway, and take Hershey to a vet to sex. I sexed her, and to me she looks like a girl... but I could be wrong. Would it stress Reeces out too much to take Hershey out right now, just in case? I have a camera phone, but no way to post pics of Reeces or I would so you could see how HUGE she is...

You could take both to the vet, with the vet only seeing Hershey. If you decide to do this use an upturned igloo or small cardboard box. Usher Reeces into either of these objects to avoid any damage to the bubs. Handling in the later stages of pregnancy can cause still-born babies. Once Reeces is in the carboard box, place the cardboard box in your carrier and gently turn it on its side.

Welcome! Many of us have made mistakes with our piggies. Thke best thing you could have done is come on this site and get the best piggie info you can. I have never had babies, so others can help you there. I just wanted to welcome you and your new little family.

How's Reseece doing? Sorry the poster board didn't work out! I put it on the outside of the cage and they didn't touch it! But the cardboard would surely work too! Yay for ebay! I'm glad you got coroplast.

I just made the bottom of my cage with my boyfriend today, with linoleum. A little less stiff, but worked well. The piggies love it, and they now have a little loft/kitchen area! yay

Hard tummy probably means shes nearly due. Atleast this was the case for Dolce. We gave her about a week...and piggie babies.

Now I DO want to warn you. Piggie pregnancies are HARD on both mama and babies. Many times, some, or even all of them dont make it. Its the sad fact of piggie pregnancies. I had 2 stillborns, and only one survived. But I LOVE my baby Cali, shes our miracle piggie, seeing as Dolce was much too old to have babies. Also, keep a close eye on mom. Usually they like to have the babies in the early morning at around 4...this was my experience and I have heard much of the same thing from others. So, if you don't see it happen (which you probably won't) don't be startled if you find a dead baby or two. It happens, and its not your fault!

Anymore questions before or after the pups arrive, let me know.

Heidi

I just wanted to update everyone on our progress . Yesterday the coroplast I ordered from ebay came in. I was so worried that it wouldn't be here in time! I got her moved over, took the cage apart, put the coroplast in, and moved her back in the cage. Her belly just seems bigger and bigger. I can't really tell how many babies are in there, I don't really want to stress her out by feeling her a lot, either... I've been looking for signs of labor online, and haven't been able to find any, but I'll keep looking. Do they normally give birth in the daytime? night? Just curious... I want to be home for her as much as possible when she is most likely to give birth just in case my assistance is needed. I sure hope it is not though, because I think I'm much, much more nervous than she is! Thanks everyone so far!

She will most likely give birth at night when it is dark and quite. Although, saying that, you can't rule out her not giving birth during the day. Most of the time they choose to give birth when people are not around.

Thanks! I'm hoping that if she goes into labor I'll hear something, since her cage is in the same room. I hope this works! Its a picture of Reeces with my camera phone, eating hay with Hershey. She can't even get in the little pan with the hay in it! Luckily, its overflowing so she doesn't have to try too hard!

Here are a couple of links to better inform you (if you need it, that is!) about guinea pig pregnancy and labor:

Guinea Lynx :: Labor
Guinea Lynx :: Reproduction
Guinea Lynx :: Reproduction Links

On the last link, i especially recommend the links to the "Mette the Vette" articles.

Hope this helps! Good luck and keep us updated!

Lauren

I'm so excited!!! I should have posted this yesterday, but I was too busy watching the new family! When I came home from work, I peeked in the pig room (doors had been shut to give more privacy to mom-to-be and saw a little brown thing sitting in the corner. I have four babies! One is totally agouti, one is agouti with an orange bottom, one is agouti-orange and white, and the other is orange and white. I held each of them for a few seconds they were all running around, wheeking, and following their mother. I'll try to post pics later!