Pregnancy Pregnancy Watch With Overdue Momma

I recommend to all waiting for their pregnant mothers to deliver to limit their anxiety waiting for the babies by instead focusing on making sure the new babies have the best chance for survival and a healthy beginning.

Limit handling the mom near the end because all you will do is stress her out.

Prepare the cage so it's meets the minimum for several pigs (or better yet, bigger than minimum!). If you have her in a too small setting (like a typical pet shop cage) she will be stressed and you risk her chewing the babies ears off. A painful and preventable issue.

Make sure the male is not in her cage and can't get to her after delivery (a simple divided wall is not enough of a deterrent as he can, and will, climb it to get to her) as she can get pregnant right after delivery. Do not allow males and females ANY time together even "supervised" until he is neutered and you wait the allotted time after.

Babyproof the cage. There is A LOT of info on the forum to guide you. Make sure grid widths and spacing is adequate to prevent babies from getting caught & strangled between bars. Put away hay racks and make sure there is a nice big pile of quality hay on the floor of the cage at ALL times for mom and babies. Hay is the most important food for them all.

Read, read, read... everything you can on this forum about pregnancy, birthing, and new babies.

Then be prepared to separate the males from mom & any other female babies at 21 days to prevent further pregnancies and inbreeding.

Thank you SmileandNod!! We are all hands off mama, vet says her cage itself meets great requirements even for it to be temporary! All males have been separated for a long time and are getting neutered soon! Will be buying more hay and snackies today. Will baby proof when I get home as a I believe the babies could squeeze in between the grid just enough to get in but not out. We are all paws in and its just a waiting game!! Thank you so much for the advice!!

Talkofthepigs said:

Thank you SmileandNod!! We are all hands off mama, vet says her cage itself meets great requirements even for it to be temporary! All males have been separated for a long time and are getting neutered soon! Will be buying more hay and snackies today. Will baby proof when I get home as a I believe the babies could squeeze in between the grid just enough to get in but not out. We are all paws in and its just a waiting game!! Thank you so much for the advice!!

Click to expand...

What size is the cage? Brand and or measurements?

A mom and babies should not be housed in a cage considered sized as temporary. They need a large cage suitable for several guinea pigs.

Many vets still consider pet store cages adequate and they are not...trust me on this... I'm not trying to give you a hard time on this, but I have a rescue who when I adopted her has very little bits of her jagged ears left due to being in a too small cage that was considered "big enough". Please don't make this preventable mistake.

Why are you getting the males neutered if you have more than one?

They will still fight over a female if more than one is housed together with a female or even several females, so why not just house same sex together safely apart. Then commit to responsible ownership by not breeding your pigs by not allowing mixed sex pigs together at any time.

Fresh veggies are the best snacks. Give her some slices of green bell pepper for some healthy increase in vitamin C. Please use a quality pellet like Oxbow or KMS. Avoid snacks and food with colored bits, "yogurt" covered, or seeds.

And of course LOTS of hay. So yes, get some ASAP. All guinea pigs need UNLIMITED hay at all times more than any other food source for healthy digestion and teeth. This is absolutely necessary. Make sure you give your males a good portion as well.

Hard to believe your not but I’ve done my research. My girlie lives in - 6x6 cnc by KAVEE you must’ve read wrong as I said that the cage is temporary because we are building a whole new cage anyways so this would technically be temporary. ALL and I mean all of my pets get neutered regardless because it helps with help and sometimes temperament. “They will still fight over a female if more than one is housed together with a female or even several females, so why not just house same sex together safely apart. Then commit to responsible ownership by not breeding your pigs by not allowing mixed sex pigs together at any time.” This was super rude to me as I’ve stated before non of my five males are housed or closely housed near either of my girls. This pregnancy a purely accidental as my mother had to take care of them because i was in the hospital with health issues. I would like you to keep in mind that I’m 16 and handle all of my 7 guinea pigs with my own money and time because I can care for them. I do not take on pets I can not take care of! I am a responsible owner and that was a really mean assumption to make because accidents and mistakes happen. My boys are only allowed to roam and play with each other and majority of them cant even do that because they just don't click together. I have seven guinea pigs and other pets. Please don’t take me as a newbie. This thread was simply just for advice and happy cheers as we wait for Aprils birth which is anyday now not for criticism on how she accidentally got pregnant or how I take care of any of my other piggies. I go to the vet, continuously researching, and go to the store everyday and spoil my pigs. Thank you SmileandNod regardless.

@Talkofthepigs. I see how upset you are by what you perceived as criticism about your piggies but please don't take it that way. I'm sure you are an excellent pet owner and love your piggies very much. The good advice that was given to you wasn't meant to be mean or derogatory in any way. @Smileandnod was trying to help you. We all want Luna to have a safe delivery with healthy babies. She's a beautiful piggy by the way.

I hope that you will take any advice that is given to you as helpful not hurtful. No one here wants to attack you. We're just a group of people who love guinea pigs and want to share our knowledge with others.

Please stick around and share your knowledge with us. I'm sure you have information that could help others.

Thank you @Kelsie as I’m sure it was pure miscommunication as this is a text forum so sometimes things can see mean when they arent my apologies to both! Definitely can’t wait for April to give birth to her two babies soon. Much love for both of yall and yalls piggies

I am sorry you feel that I was rude, as that was not my intention...just dealing with facts and trying to help you out with the questions you asked.

Your pictures clearly show a narrow cage, not a 6x6 (perhaps a 2x6? ...Which is good for mom and babies if they have all that room and it's not divided up much for other pigs), so if I am seeing something wrong or I misunderstood your post, I apologize.

I will always post in the best interest of the guinea pigs, with the knowledge I have, in response to questions presented to help someone who us asking. Thankfully others on this forum have done the same for me over the years. I would hate for anyone to allow me to unintentionally make mistakes with my pigs without correcting me because they fear they might hurt my feelings.

I hope your health is better. I also hope you continue to learn about how to best take care of your guinea pigs through this forum.

Unfortunately I have seen too many times where "accidental" pregnancies end very badly for mom and babies, so I try not to get too excited and just try to help where I can when asked.

Good luck to you and best of luck to your guinea pigs. I hope she is able to deliver the babies successfully and everything goes well after that.

I guess I can hope that if nothing else comes from this your guinea pigs will enjoy the hay ;-)

Thank you and yes hay will be very much enjoyed!lol!

Hi all!! Just a quick update it’s looking like this week will be our wheek! (Badoomsh) April pelvis has spread more further she is now three fingers instead of two. Her blue house has served as her safety house and all she does is sleep and eat.. she doesn’t even have to get up! Babies are also moving around and doin little kicks together. Can’t wait till they arrive! Hopefully they arrive before vacation

Best wishes to April for an easy delivery and healthy babies. Please let us know when the babies are born. I also want to apologize for calling your girl by the wrong name. I just re-read my post and noticed that I called her Luna. I have no idea where I came up with a different name for her. Please give her my apologies.

April is adorable! So excited for updates on the piglets!

@Rosiethecutepig @Kelsie @Smileandnod April gave birth while we was away to her healthy baby girls Tarot & Totem

Congratulations on the healthy baby girls, Tarot & Totem, and happy that April is doing well also! Thank you for sharing the picture of the lovely piggy family.

I'm so happy that everything went so well for both April and babies. It's so cute that the lighter of the two piggies has a crest just like her mom.