Long story short, my 12 year old female GP recently passed leaving my 6 year old female alone. I started looking for 1-2 females to put next to Honey, my lonely girl. I noticed my local animal shelter had many, MANY guinea pigs so I went and looked.
I came home with three females: Hocus, Pocus, and Boo. Hocus and Pocus are estimated to be about 9 months old and are likely littermates. Boo is younger, possibly 4-6 months, but probably related. The shelter (an open intake, county facility) did not vet them in any way other than to determine gender. They also don't microchip or spay/neuter any intakes other than dogs and cats.
I assumed that they had at least a rudimentary health check because they came from a hoarding situation. Nope. I got them on the same day they were surrendered, which I didn't know until I read the fine details in their paperwork. These girls were part of a large hoard of 100's of loose guinea pigs kept in a house. About 25+ were sent to the shelter where I adopted them. Others went to other shelters.
So...they might be pregnant. I'm here to learn. My recently departed female was part of an accidental pregnancy 12+ years ago. I kept the parents (2F and 1M) and the offspring (4F and 2M) for their entire lives without another pregnancy. So my prenatal knowledge is very rusty.
Since they came into the shelter on the same day I adopted them; I'm counting the days and watching for signs. They are currently separated from my 6 year old.
I came home with three females: Hocus, Pocus, and Boo. Hocus and Pocus are estimated to be about 9 months old and are likely littermates. Boo is younger, possibly 4-6 months, but probably related. The shelter (an open intake, county facility) did not vet them in any way other than to determine gender. They also don't microchip or spay/neuter any intakes other than dogs and cats.
I assumed that they had at least a rudimentary health check because they came from a hoarding situation. Nope. I got them on the same day they were surrendered, which I didn't know until I read the fine details in their paperwork. These girls were part of a large hoard of 100's of loose guinea pigs kept in a house. About 25+ were sent to the shelter where I adopted them. Others went to other shelters.
So...they might be pregnant. I'm here to learn. My recently departed female was part of an accidental pregnancy 12+ years ago. I kept the parents (2F and 1M) and the offspring (4F and 2M) for their entire lives without another pregnancy. So my prenatal knowledge is very rusty.
Since they came into the shelter on the same day I adopted them; I'm counting the days and watching for signs. They are currently separated from my 6 year old.