Mr. Dinkles is pregnant.

[Stephen Kipple]

I have four male guinea pigs, Coconut, Dinklage, Episky, and Frasier. The first two are rescues, the later are store bought. Upon getting the second from the animal shelter (apparently he was abandoned and found wandering a local high school) we had him sexed by the two volunteers that worked at the shelter and again by the local exotic vet. The shelter was positive he's a male, the vet was much less sure since he has what appears to be a penis, but no testicles. The vet said Dinkles was either nuetered at a very young age, or he was a hermaphrodite.

Turns out Dinkles is at least a hermaphrodite because s•he is now pregnant.

Since s•he is a rescue I have no idea if s•he has had a litter before or exactly how old s•he is. The animal shelter (who labeled him a definite male) put him at around 6 months old and I've had s•him for another 8 months. Dinkles is in otherwise great health but I've read contradicting threads about "older" pigs having trouble in labor.

Best I can tell s•he is about two weeks away from giving birth and I can feel at least three babies inside who are very active (kicking but no teeth chattering). S•he is very upbeat as usual, if it wasn't for the noticibly enlarged abdomin and kicking babies, s•he caries on as usual. S•he drinks like a sailor and eats like Kobayashi, still coming to the edge of the cage to say hello.

For now Dinkles has his/her own cage away from the boys, we are all hoping s•him a safe delivery and hopefully we can Maury Povich who the father is.

 

[muddygrl]

Wow that's the first I've heard of something like this !


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[Stephen Kipple]

It's a very weird situation. I know pregnancy can be dangerous for sows, that's why I had all the same sex (or at least I thought I did).

I keep reading that after 8 months for a first litter can be dangerous, but I also keep reading that "pelvic fusing" is rubbish. Apparently the study was based on boars and not sows, but if Dinkles is both, who knows how it will turn out.

 

[jaycriae]

https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...inea-pig-is-pregnant-And-how-far-along-is-she

Seems like you already know for sure that your pig is pregnant, but this thread might be helpful anyway.

You're right that after eight months a first litter can be dangerous, but you're also right that "pelvic fusing" is rubbish! What I mean by that is that it isn't actually fusion which happens, but a stiffening of the ligaments/tendons in the pelvic area that makes a first birth more dangerous after 8 months.

It sounds like Mr. Dinkles is definitely an unusual case, but biology never is as black-and-white as people think. I'd definitely have the number of that exotic vet programmed in, and a 24-hour vet as well if the exotics vet is not one. Delivery could well be very dangerous for poor Dinkles.

 

[Soecara]

The issue with older guinea pigs giving birth for the first time is simply that the pelvic ligaments don't stretch as much thus the pelvic bones don't spread as far as if they were a younger sow or if they had given birth in the past. This puts them at a higher risk of birthing complications, most notably the pups can get stuck in the birth canal, however if the pups are smaller there is a good chance of a safe birth.

The highest risk is if it is only one pup as generally smaller litter sizes have a longer gestation which generally results in larger pups. Larger litters have a shorter gestation and generally results in smaller pups. So if a sow is pregnant for the first time at an older age she has a better chance of successfully birthing a larger litter rather than a single pup.

 

[bpatters]

Hermaphrodites are almost always sterile, whatever species they are. If she's pregnant, she's female.

I don't usually recommend vet visits for pregnant pigs, but an x-ray could show you whether there's one large pup that might be harder to deliver than normal-sized pups. And since she's at least 14 months old, she is at a higher risk for delivery problems. Soecara is right about the pelvic ligaments getting less stretchy as they age.

 

[Stephen Kipple]

I don't know why, but not a single vet I've taken Dinkles to had said female; although I'm sure they'll be more sure now that she's pregnant.

I've read that breeders wait for their sow to be a year old before breeding their show sows, since Dinkles is about to pop that would mean she was knocked up at around 12 months. The other pigs she'd been kept with have purred at her but I've never seen one even try to mount her so I'm curious who the father is.

I've tried to feel her pelvic bones but I have no reference what they felt like before pregnancy so it's not very helpful. I'll try to post a picture because she's really large but still able to run around when she hears bag rustles.

 

[bpatters]

I doubt seriously that's true about show breeders waiting until a sow is a year old before she's bred. Do you have a source for that? I've never found anything recommending a first litter after a sow is about nine months old.

 

[Stephen Kipple]

I've just seen blogs from breeders saying they wait for 11-12 months and don't have problems. I've also seen that weight plays a bigger roll than age, which would support the idea of older sows having trouble since they're usually fatter. Luckily Dinkles isn't too tubby so that should help with birthing.

 

[CavyMama]

I would question how qualified or experienced those breeders are then. Anyone who puts a male & female together with the purpose of making babies is a breeder. Like @bpatters said, after about 9 months, it becomes difficult and can be dangerous. You said the latter two you got are from the store. If that's the case, they originated from a breeding mill, not a licensed breeder. There's no way to know WHEN she was impregnated and not really an accurate way to tell exactly how old she is.

 

[Nadiv]

Welcome to the forum and I'm so sorry this is happening to you and Mr. Dinkles, I hope everything goes well.