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Nutrition Questions Regarding Newborn Guinea Pigs...

schpooko

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Hi, all I have some questions for an expecting Grandma. My girl Wilma is going to give birth soon... I bought her the alfalfa hay and she hates it, won't touch it. So I have been giving her parsley and kale for the extra vitamins. My questions are

What else should I be giving her to make sure she is getting the best nutrients during her pregnancy? Also when do the babies start drinking water? Should I put a bowl out of water or just hope her Mom shows her how to drink from the bottle? What kind of food do the little ones need? The Mom eats lots so after she gives birth do I feed her separately so the little ones don't get diarrhea from the lettuce, etc? Sorry so many questions but I am a first time new Grandma and I want to make sure I do everything right for her..

Any advice is appreciated...
 

bpatters

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Just feed the pups like you do the mom. They'll be fine.
 

Soecara

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All the babies will need different to an adult guinea pig is extra calcium for their growing bones, but pregnant and lactating sows also need extra calcium, seeing as you are already feeding mum parsley and kale you already have that covered.

The babies will typically start drinking water properly after the first week or two, before that you may see drinking small amounts and imitating the adults but they normally won't do it for sustained periods like they do when they are drinking properly as they will be getting most of their moisture from milk. As long as they can reach the spout of the water bottle they will learn how to drink from it by watching the adult guinea pigs do it, if they can't reach the spout either lower it or consider putting a small paving stone under the bottle that they can stand on.

No need to feed them separately, at the start you will mostly see them just nibbling little bits of what the adults are eating. Having them on vegetables from the start won't cause any diarrhea, to begin with they will only be eating very small amounts of what the adults are eating and they will work their way up to larger amounts as the days go by, this gives their digestive systems plenty of time to adapt to the vegetables.
 
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