Pancake my Guinea just gave birth to 3 little Guineas. She looks to be a good mother and has already cleaned them and looks like she’s nursing (cant really tell). Any one have tips on how to assure babies are healthy?
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you should see the pups hanging out under her legs with their heads where her nipples are, she will begin nursing them quite quickly but actually get her milk in for a day or two. Before that she will be feeding them colostrum, but even colostrum can take a while after giving birth to come in. The pups will be fine during this period, it is completely normal. You will know she has her milk in properly when the pups start gaining weight.
Don't be surprised if you already see pups eating solid food, I had one pup born who ran off and started munching on hay before mum even finished cleaning him off fully, they are born capable of eating regular food. You can also handle them from birth so taking them out to weigh is not a problem, just don't keep them away from mum for extended periods of time. They need to not just nurse from her but also learn how to be a guinea pig, such as guinea pig social ques, from her.
If you see that one pup doesn't start gaining weight like the others you can give it some one on one time with mum a couple times a day, for say 15-20 mins at a time, to give it a chance to suckle.