Pregnancy Questions

As far as pups go, I think it's 1-8, but the average is 3. So no need to worry about 10+.

The only thing I can offer advice on is baby-proofing. Really the only thing you need to change is the coroplast. The sides need to be higher because their little heads and bodies, even, could get stuck.

I am totally freaked out because I read on another forum a mom had given birth to 10. Ahh! And I don't want anything to happen to Athena because losing two in such a short amount of time and being fairly new to cavy's, I can't take any more losses.

I can use cardboard right and stick it between the coroplast and the grids?

I am thinking of letting Athena in the cage with Elise as it is a 2x4. This should be okay for her and the babies I read. I'm just hoping that Elise turns out to be a good auntie.

Oh, well, I could have the numbers wrong, I'm not 100% sure, but I thought it was 1-8. I do know the average is 3 though. If Mom has 10+ pups in her, you would definitely know. She would be absolutely enormous.

Yes, cardboard between coroplast and grids will work just fine.

Yep. You can put an aunt in with the babies as well.

Good luck with everything!

Drawingwords said:

I can use cardboard right and stick it between the coroplast and the grids?

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I've seen this done before for baby proofing. -nods-
You could also double up the grids as shown here: https://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showgallery.php/cat/532
But that's more work and more costly if you don't have spare grids.

As for babies, a friend of mine got a piggie from a garage sale and she was labeled "Snake Food"!! She took her home and found out she was pregnant. Her pig only had three babies, another member here recently had babies and they had three, and another just a few days ago had one. I wouldn't worry too much about 10+ or even 4+.

I've seen a litter of 9 before. I know of some sows that have had up to 12 (some didn't make it though). But the norm is between 2 to 4. You may have a litter of one hopefully and it is a girl so you can keep her

You want to make the coro sides higher. Babies can fit through the grids.

I'm going to try to post some pictures of her. She isn't that big, actually she looks kind of small to me for a pig that is so close to being due. Maybe the pups are really small?

I don't think they'll be too small, I think you just have a small number. That looks like 2, maybe 3 to me. I'm no expert though.

Like rabbitsncavyluv said, I hope the one or numerous are girls so you can keep them.

The pregger pigs I've seen are about as wide as they are long before they give birth. You may have a little longer to wait, oooor just having a small litter.

It definitely looks like she's having a small litter, perhaps an odd number (1 or 3) with how lopsided she looks.

She is getting a little larger now. She's at 926 grams. Still not as rotund as most of the pictures I have seen of pregnant sows. I will post more tonight if I can get some. I don't want to lift her up that much so hopefully I can snap some of her in the cage.

I have a question about the vitamin C intake. I was going to get her some vitamins from the pharmacy but she does get a baby carrot, red pepper, always romaine and some other sort of treat daily. Is that enough vitamin C or should I still supplement? I also have those drops from the pet store that you can mix in with the water but can I put those on a piece of lettuce and give it to her that way?

And yes, she is quite lopsided. The bigger she gets the more pronounced she is. I swear they are moving because sometimes one side is bigger than the other, then vice versa. She is also starting to waddle a little bit.

Keep fingers and paws crossed that she has them before or after we leave. :x

Hi Im no expert but my young gp about the same age as yours has just given birth and she looked about the same size as yours and there was only one large baby. Someone said in a post to me that it is common for young sows to only have one or two good luck.

Thank you Charlie. I think she is due either today or def by the weekend. Jo Ellen from the board spoke on the phone with me for 2 hours and I actually could see and feel the babies moving with her advice! It was crazy. My mom stopped over tonight and the babies were wiggling some more. I have everything set up for her delivery, and I am praying to God that everthing goes smoothly. Here are some pictures of how big she is now-




And here is a picture of the late Cinnamon. Gosh, I miss him and if his neuter went well, he would have been an awesome dad.

Hi there! Your momma pig looks quite rotund in those pics. I think I may be in the same situation as you. I adopted 3 piggies last weekend from an animal rescue- a momma and her 2 babies. One pup was a male and I originally wasn't going to take him but the coordinator at the rescue made arrangements for him to get neutered if I would keep him & I happily agreed because he has the greatest disposition. Right now they're in a divided cage because I've already seen him rumble-strutting at 4 weeks old and I didn't want any "my dad is also my brother" situations lol. I am so sorry to hear about your Cinnamon. I am quite scared of the risks involved with neutering but I don't have the space in my small house for 2 cages. Right now they can chat through their cage divider and I really want them all reunited.

I'm now seeing that my situation may not be a very good one. Momma is very nervous so I haven't been handling her as much as the pups because I wanted to give her some time to get used to her new home. Now that it's been nearly a week I'm holding her in my lap and I noticed something that concerns me...she's pear shaped! I've handled a pregnant guinea pig before (years ago) and I remember how it feels both in early pregnancy and late. When I put my hands along her sides I can feel a sensation I liken to 'popping bubbles.' I don't feel any kicks, but if she is indeed pregnant she could only be 4 weeks at the most. I visited the rescue the day she delivered and I saw 2 other adult pigs sharing the same cage. Of course I was told that they were all female, but we know how often piggies are mis-sexed. If she is indeed pregnant, I would doubt that the father is her lil boy pup since he's only 4 weeks old and she's already bulging. My guess is that she got pregnant right after she delivered. At least that gives me an accurate date of conception: July 19th. I will be keeping a close eye on her and weighing her. I will do what's in the best interest of these critters. I wasn't prepared for a potential pregnancy!

Do keep us informed on how your momma pig does. I'd love to see pics of her pups too.

Drawingwords said:

She is getting a little larger now. She's at 926 grams. Still not as rotund as most of the pictures I have seen of pregnant sows. I will post more tonight if I can get some. I don't want to lift her up that much so hopefully I can snap some of her in the cage.

I have a question about the vitamin C intake. I was going to get her some vitamins from the pharmacy but she does get a baby carrot, red pepper, always romaine and some other sort of treat daily. Is that enough vitamin C or should I still supplement? I also have those drops from the pet store that you can mix in with the water but can I put those on a piece of lettuce and give it to her that way?

And yes, she is quite lopsided. The bigger she gets the more pronounced she is. I swear they are moving because sometimes one side is bigger than the other, then vice versa. She is also starting to waddle a little bit.

Keep fingers and paws crossed that she has them before or after we leave. :x

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One thing to watch is to be especially careful when picking up/handling pregnant sows. Make sure to support her well, some people even recommend using a box to lift them out of the cage.

Have you seen Ly's veggie charts? https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...cavys-diet-read-me-nutrition-charts-info.html Her diet right now isn't very varied, so you may want to try adding in a few veggies off the chart.

As far as Vitamin C, as long as she's getting plenty of veggies (the red pepper you're giving her is great for C) and isn't sick, supplementing shouldn't be necessary. Definately don't give her any pet store drops, they contain sugar, dyes, and extra (unneccessary) vitamins. https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...tamin-c-drops-water-can-i-put-tang-water.html Not to mention, if added to water, it changes the taste and degrades rapidly. If supplementation WAS neccessary, it's best to use plain C from a health food or vitamin store.

Pregnant, nursing pigs and young pigs (under 6 months) do need extra calcium though. Either feeding alfalfa based pellets, hay, or high calcium veggies (refer to the chart) can help give them the extra calcium they need.

Are you still feeding them those pellets in the picture? Pigs should be getting plain pellets only, no extra coloured bits, dried veggies, or seeds. The best quality pellets are KM's (broken link removed) available online (hay's available too) or Oxbow (broken link removed) available online or in some stores and vets offices (it has a store locator on the site). If neither of those are possible, the plain Mazuri formula (5664) is the next choice (available only in large bags in feedstores) but it is alfalfa based, so for pigs over six months has to be limited.

Good luck with the babies, hope all goes smoothly.

PixieStix said:

One thing to watch is to be especially careful when picking up/handling pregnant sows. Make sure to support her well, some people even recommend using a box to lift them out of the cage.

Have you seen Ly's veggie charts? https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...cavys-diet-read-me-nutrition-charts-info.html Her diet right now isn't very varied, so you may want to try adding in a few veggies off the chart.

As far as Vitamin C, as long as she's getting plenty of veggies (the red pepper you're giving her is great for C) and isn't sick, supplementing shouldn't be necessary. Definately don't give her any pet store drops, they contain sugar, dyes, and extra (unneccessary) vitamins. https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...tamin-c-drops-water-can-i-put-tang-water.html Not to mention, if added to water, it changes the taste and degrades rapidly. If supplementation WAS neccessary, it's best to use plain C from a health food or vitamin store.

Pregnant, nursing pigs and young pigs (under 6 months) do need extra calcium though. Either feeding alfalfa based pellets, hay, or high calcium veggies (refer to the chart) can help give them the extra calcium they need.

Are you still feeding them those pellets in the picture? Pigs should be getting plain pellets only, no extra coloured bits, dried veggies, or seeds. The best quality pellets are KM's (broken link removed) available online (hay's available too) or Oxbow (broken link removed) available online or in some stores and vets offices (it has a store locator on the site). If neither of those are possible, the plain Mazuri formula (5664) is the next choice (available only in large bags in feedstores) but it is alfalfa based, so for pigs over six months has to be limited.

Good luck with the babies, hope all goes smoothly.

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Thanks Pixie.

Yes, I've read the chart a while ago. It was very helpful and I thought her fruit and veggie intake was really varied. They get lettuce every morning and some more at night with something different mixed in. The lettuce is even varied; green leaf, romaine, red leaf (they pick the red leaf out and let it there.) This week they have gotten red, yellow and green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes (grape and regular), and sometimes some orange slices sparingly. They prefer apples and bananas.

I got regular Vit C tablets at the pharmacy. I thought I mentioned that?

And they are eating Oxbow Cavy Performance now. I weaned them off the Nutriphase last week. Along with extra alfalfa and timothy hay.

...still anxious. :-/

ETA: Oh, and my husband agreed that we will be keeping all of the pups as long as there isn't an outrageous number and everything goes smoothly. I'm hoping that most are females or it's an even number so the boars will have a buddy. I never thought I'd have more than 2 but geez, things change. )

Okay, you listed less veggies in your first list. The second list looks much better.

Yes, you mentioned you got the plain tablets, however I was just making sure you knew which types of C you should and shouldn't use.

That's great they have the Oxbow food as well as both hays.

Do you have a knowledgable cavy vet (incase something did go wrong)? It's always good to have a cavy savvy vet in case of an emergency. Hopefully everything goes well and smoothly though!

Hi,
Just wanted to say your pigs are adorable. Let us know when she delivers. I'm looking forward to baby pics!

I'm so sorry about Cinnamon. I know how bad it hurts to lose one of your little ones.

How's Athena doing? She's a beautiful girl, by the way!

Have you read over any, and all, posts about birthing? There are several on this site (including our Ruby...who also had an unexpected pregnancy and birth).

The waiting is sooo nerve-wracking!! I agree with PixieStix - make sure you have the phone number for a good cavy saavy vet within reach, just in case of complications.

Good luck and keep us posted. Don't forget to take lots of pigtures for us so we can oooh and ahhh over the babe-lets!

Hey everyone, no babies yet. However, I did find this video of Athena and Cinnamon before I recognized the err of my ways. If you turn the volume up you can hear them burbling at each other.



YouTube - Guinea Pig Floor Time