I have 4 females that have been together and get along well (estimated ages: 2 yrs, 1 year, 1.5 years and 8 months). I just adopted another female and her daughter 3 weeks ago (our local shelter was trying to prevent euthanasia by clearing the kennels....including guinea pigs). We have the space, an entire room devoted to our piggy girls with two 2x6 cages (with 2X2 lofts) connected to 2 Midwest cages in a very large "U" shape. We got them vet checked, quarantined them and did introductions a day ago. Everything went went. There is some chasing and nipping by 2 of our original girls who are more dominant. But nothing too extreme and no blood shed.
Here's the issue:
Our vet now thinks our new momma sow may be pregnant. We took her in today because she seemed "off" and worried she may be unwell or just depressed from combining her and her daughter with the others. We didn't want to take chances with illness.
Our vet said an x-ray wouldn't be much help in seeing the babies until their bones calcify?? And she admitted she has never done an ultrasound on a pregnant guinea pig. We were told to keep weighing her and keep an eye on her. And that we would know for sure in a couple more weeks.
The next thing we did was double check daughter was really a daughter (she is...we didn't miss anything when we checked before adoption, but it put my mind at ease to double and triple check!)
I never had any intention of breeding any of my girls due to the dangers and because I adopt all my animals so I know there are more than enough unwanted in the world already.
I called the shelter and they confirmed that her and daughter were housed with males when they were surrendered (they had them for one week before we adopted) and that they were mistakenly kept with one male who a worker mis-sexed up until a few days before we adopted. They said they would take her back (I said no, of course!) They assured me they would take any babies if she has any to help us get them adopted. (we'll cross that bridge and make that decision later if she does have babies)
I know nothing about guinea pig pregnancies. I feel so stupid thinking maybe she was just gaining weight from sitting in the hay all day (she was a bit skinny when we got her so thought weight gain was good). I don't know if I should quarantine her from the rest of the girls or even from her daughter. (vet didn't feel daughter was pregnant at all...we took her in too after mom). Her and her daughter have a close bond. They estimate her to be about 1 year and daughter to be 4 months. I don't know if all the chasing from the other girls will cause her harm now and stress her too much or there will be more problems with them accepting her and possible babies after birth.
Should I keep her and daughter in a separate cage again and reintroduce later on? Should I keep her separate from her daughter? (they have a tight bond). I am feeding unlimited oxbow timothy hay and I feed portioned out oxbow adult pellets.(also fresh veggies variety from chart I found here). Should I feed her the young oxbow pellets and alfalfa even if I don't know for sure if she's pregnant? If I keep her with my other girls I know they will gobble this up before she does.
I don't want her to be too stressed and feel badly that through introductions with my other girls, I could have caused harm.
I would greatly appreciate any guidance from knowledgeable members here on how I should proceed with housing, feeding and what to look for (both good and bad). Thank you and I apologize for my long post.
Here's the issue:
Our vet now thinks our new momma sow may be pregnant. We took her in today because she seemed "off" and worried she may be unwell or just depressed from combining her and her daughter with the others. We didn't want to take chances with illness.
Our vet said an x-ray wouldn't be much help in seeing the babies until their bones calcify?? And she admitted she has never done an ultrasound on a pregnant guinea pig. We were told to keep weighing her and keep an eye on her. And that we would know for sure in a couple more weeks.
The next thing we did was double check daughter was really a daughter (she is...we didn't miss anything when we checked before adoption, but it put my mind at ease to double and triple check!)
I never had any intention of breeding any of my girls due to the dangers and because I adopt all my animals so I know there are more than enough unwanted in the world already.
I called the shelter and they confirmed that her and daughter were housed with males when they were surrendered (they had them for one week before we adopted) and that they were mistakenly kept with one male who a worker mis-sexed up until a few days before we adopted. They said they would take her back (I said no, of course!) They assured me they would take any babies if she has any to help us get them adopted. (we'll cross that bridge and make that decision later if she does have babies)
I know nothing about guinea pig pregnancies. I feel so stupid thinking maybe she was just gaining weight from sitting in the hay all day (she was a bit skinny when we got her so thought weight gain was good). I don't know if I should quarantine her from the rest of the girls or even from her daughter. (vet didn't feel daughter was pregnant at all...we took her in too after mom). Her and her daughter have a close bond. They estimate her to be about 1 year and daughter to be 4 months. I don't know if all the chasing from the other girls will cause her harm now and stress her too much or there will be more problems with them accepting her and possible babies after birth.
Should I keep her and daughter in a separate cage again and reintroduce later on? Should I keep her separate from her daughter? (they have a tight bond). I am feeding unlimited oxbow timothy hay and I feed portioned out oxbow adult pellets.(also fresh veggies variety from chart I found here). Should I feed her the young oxbow pellets and alfalfa even if I don't know for sure if she's pregnant? If I keep her with my other girls I know they will gobble this up before she does.
I don't want her to be too stressed and feel badly that through introductions with my other girls, I could have caused harm.
I would greatly appreciate any guidance from knowledgeable members here on how I should proceed with housing, feeding and what to look for (both good and bad). Thank you and I apologize for my long post.