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Pregnancy Is my guinea pig pregnant or is she gaining weight/growing??

SSLee

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@julifhy, I'm very sorry to read that Coco's pups did not make it. I'm not experienced with animals and have read that hamsters will kill their young, but did not realize that guinea pigs might also.

I saw another Craigs List posting for a solo female and will contact you directly in the event you are interested in her as companion to Coco.
 

julifhy

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@julifhy, I'm very sorry to read that Coco's pups did not make it. I'm not experienced with animals and have read that hamsters will kill their young, but did not realize that guinea pigs might also.

I saw another Craigs List posting for a solo female and will contact you directly in the event you are interested in her as companion to Coco.
Ty! I will go see that message right now :)
 

julifhy

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Do stillborn guinea pigs still have a heart beat? The pups were not breathing, but I didn’t think to check for a heartbeat :(
 

bpatters

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@julihy, please don't blame yourself. I doubt that you could have done anything to help them.

And the sow did NOT hate the pups. That's a ridiculous idea. It also had nothing to do with the fact that she chews on things. It had nothing to do with malnutrition, or the fact that she was a single sow. [MENTION=45795]peanny77[/MENTION], do NOT post misinformation. We take very seriously our responsibility to provide accurate information, and posting things like this are not accurate. You are a relatively new owner yourself, so please refrain from publishing things that do not come from reputable sources. If you continue to do so, you will be place on moderated status so that your posts have to be approved by a moderator.

Guinea pigs very rarely do anything harmful to pups, even if they are stillborn. To me, the most likely explanation is that the pus were still enclosed in the sac, and that they were bitten as the sow was trying to eat the sac.

I'm very sorry the pups were lost. I hope you can find a buddy for your pig quickly.
 

julifhy

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@julihy, please don't blame yourself. I doubt that you could have done anything to help them.

And the sow did NOT hate the pups. That's a ridiculous idea. It also had nothing to do with the fact that she chews on things. It had nothing to do with malnutrition, or the fact that she was a single sow. @peanny77, do NOT post misinformation. We take very seriously our responsibility to provide accurate information, and posting things like this are not accurate. You are a relatively new owner yourself, so please refrain from publishing things that do not come from reputable sources. If you continue to do so, you will be place on moderated status so that your posts have to be approved by a moderator.

Guinea pigs very rarely do anything harmful to pups, even if they are stillborn. To me, the most likely explanation is that the pus were still enclosed in the sac, and that they were bitten as the sow was trying to eat the sac.

I'm very sorry the pups were lost. I hope you can find a buddy for your pig quickly.
Now that I'm thinking about it, the pups were probably stillborn. I just heard my dad say that they something about "they are dead", woke up and rushed to the cage, and saw the bite marks. That's why I assumed she had killed them. Like I mentioned, the bite marks were only on the pups' paws and mouths. Maybe while she was trying to clean them (they were completely clean when we found them) she felt that some thing was off and that's why she nibbled them, but your explanation would probably make more sense. One of the pups, (Mochi :(), had blood coming out of her nose, so I don't think Coco could of caused that. Coco seemed really freaked out in the morning, and she still is really jumpy, although she does still have a huge appetite. Even though they died, I still named them, Mocha and Mochi.

One thing that really bothers me is that I didn't check if the pups had a heartbeat. They were not breathing, so I assumed they were dead. I know there would of been little I could of done anyway, but I just feel so bad about it.
 

julifhy

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One thing that really bothers me is that I didn't check if the pups had a heartbeat. They were not breathing, so I assumed they were dead. I know there would of been little I could of done anyway, but I just feel so bad about it.
Edit:
I just found out they would not have a heart beat. I think that both of them died because they were not able to breath when they were born :(
 

bpatters

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If they were still in the sacs, they wouldn't have been able to breathe, and their hearts would have stopped pretty quickly.

In every case that I know of that the pups have been bitten or partly eaten (thankfully, very, very few), the pups were either definitely born dead or died shortly thereafter. I think that the sow's instinct is to gnaw the sac open and then eat it. And if the pups are alive, they'll move if she accidentally nips them, and she'll mostly get sac in her mouth. That's what should happen. But if the pups are dead, and therefore don't move if she happens to nip them, then she doesn't know that she's not chewing only the sac and they get nibbled. That's my theory, anyway.
 

Smileandnod

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@julifhy, I am so sorry to hear about the babies not making it.

One of the sows I adopted a couple years ago was very young, like Coco, and unfortunately pregnant. She had complications during the birth due to the first baby being very large. It was stillborn as I suspect your Coco's babies were. Despite the loss of the baby, I was very grateful the sow made it and I didn't lose her too. Pregnancy is hard on sows and complications happen.

Right now it is hard and you are saddened by the loss, but take comfort in the fact Coco is still with you and she survived. She didn't do anything wrong and please do not consider that she may have caused the death of her babies. I was right there when mine gave birth and there was nothing I could do unfortunately to save the newborn.

Listen to bpatters ...there is truth in what bpatters says & lots of experience to back up the information. Please do not let anyone make you feel that you or Coco caused this.

Take care of Coco now and give her time to heal. When you are BOTH ready maybe then you can find her a female companion.
 

ItsaZoo

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I’m so sorry the pups didn’t make it, but at least Coco is okay. There really was nothing you could have done, it’s an unfortunate incident.
 

julifhy

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If they were still in the sacs, they wouldn't have been able to breathe, and their hearts would have stopped pretty quickly.

In every case that I know of that the pups have been bitten or partly eaten (thankfully, very, very few), the pups were either definitely born dead or died shortly thereafter. I think that the sow's instinct is to gnaw the sac open and then eat it. And if the pups are alive, they'll move if she accidentally nips them, and she'll mostly get sac in her mouth. That's what should happen. But if the pups are dead, and therefore don't move if she happens to nip them, then she doesn't know that she's not chewing only the sac and they get nibbled. That's my theory, anyway.
I'm pretty sure that is what happened unfortunately. I'm just wondering, do you think that she knew they couldn't breath? She probably accidently nipped their paws, but I looked at them one more time (they are now buried, r.i.p. :() and both pups have blood coming out of their nose, not from the nipping though. Could she have been trying to help them breath and that's why there were bite marks on their mouths? I'm pretty sure they must of died while she was giving birth, like you said, so I guess no one, even Coco, couldn't of done anything :(
Again, thank you for all the help. This all happened so fast...

@julifhy, I am so sorry to hear about the babies not making it.

One of the sows I adopted a couple years ago was very young, like Coco, and unfortunately pregnant. She had complications during the birth due to the first baby being very large. It was stillborn as I suspect your Coco's babies were. Despite the loss of the baby, I was very grateful the sow made it and I didn't lose her too. Pregnancy is hard on sows and complications happen.

Right now it is hard and you are saddened by the loss, but take comfort in the fact Coco is still with you and she survived. She didn't do anything wrong and please do not consider that she may have caused the death of her babies. I was right there when mine gave birth and there was nothing I could do unfortunately to save the newborn.

Listen to bpatters ...there is truth in what bpatters says & lots of experience to back up the information. Please do not let anyone make you feel that you or Coco caused this.

Take care of Coco now and give her time to heal. When you are BOTH ready maybe then you can find her a female companion.
I am really glad she survived. I was asleep when I heard my dad say "they are dead" and at first I thought he meant Coco and one of the pups, so I was terrified. I honestly don't think I'm 100% over my previous guinea pig, Ginger, passing away even though it was almost 3 years ago, so losing Coco would feel horrible :(
I also now know she definitely didn't cause her pups' death. She couldn't of have. I just assumed that at first since there were bite marks.
Coco is now acting the way she did when we first got her, so I'm going to try to keep a schedule to make her feel more comfortable, and I'm not going to be taking her out of her cage much. I'll try to get her a companion soon. I know it will probably make her feel much more comfortable.
 

julifhy

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I’m so sorry the pups didn’t make it, but at least Coco is okay. There really was nothing you could have done, it’s an unfortunate incident.
It really was an unfortunate incident :(
I’m so glad Coco is okay though. Here’s a picture of her I just took :)
23ADC6D2-CCFC-4F08-B68B-199B95DEE138.jpg
 

peanny77

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@julihy, please don't blame yourself. I doubt that you could have done anything to help them.

And the sow did NOT hate the pups. That's a ridiculous idea. It also had nothing to do with the fact that she chews on things. It had nothing to do with malnutrition, or the fact that she was a single sow. @peanny77, do NOT post misinformation. We take very seriously our responsibility to provide accurate information, and posting things like this are not accurate. You are a relatively new owner yourself, so please refrain from publishing things that do not come from reputable sources. If you continue to do so, you will be place on moderated status so that your posts have to be approved by a moderator.

Guinea pigs very rarely do anything harmful to pups, even if they are stillborn. To me, the most likely explanation is that the pus were still enclosed in the sac, and that they were bitten as the sow was trying to eat the sac.

I'm very sorry the pups were lost. I hope you can find a buddy for your pig quickly.
Thank you. I’m sorry,I won’t do it again.

About the chew toys, I think their hay is enough to grind down their teeth. I did get chew sticks for my pigs but they barely touched them.
 

julifhy

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Thank you. I’m sorry,I won’t do it again.

About the chew toys, I think their hay is enough to grind down their teeth. I did get chew sticks for my pigs but they barely touched them.
I got her some willow tree sticks, but she still doesn’t seem interested. My previous guinea pig loved them though, so I guess it depends on the guinea pig lol


Coco is doing a lot better today. She was still kind of jumpy in the morning, but I decided to take her out of her cage for a little while and she started jumping around and popcorning :)
I still feel really sad about her pups dying, but I’m just glad she’s doing well.
 

bpatters

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I never had a guinea pig that would touch a chew stick, so it's nothing unusual.
 

peanny77

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Or maybe you can get a willow bridge. It doubles as a hidey and a chew toy. Peanut loves hers.
 

ItsaZoo

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Mine likes a fresh apple stick once in a while. If you know of anyone with an apple tree that isn’t sprayed maybe you could get few of the small branches. I cut them to about the length of a pencil and scrub them under running water with a vegetable brush.
 

julifhy

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julifhy

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Mine likes a fresh apple stick once in a while. If you know of anyone with an apple tree that isn’t sprayed maybe you could get few of the small branches. I cut them to about the length of a pencil and scrub them under running water with a vegetable brush.
I don't know where I would be able to get an apple stick, be do have an apricot tree, unfortunately I read that they aren't safe for guinea pigs.
 
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