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Pregnancy My 9-10 month old guinea pig became pregnant accidentally. What are the risks?

daisychain

New Member
Cavy Gazer
Joined
Oct 2, 2024
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I want to preface this by saying I am a first time guinea pig owner and I did not intend for my guinea pig to become pregnant. I would never intentionally breed her. I also want to say that my guinea pigs were purchased from a pet store which I also now realize was irresponsible and I do not condone this either.

So, as the title says, my guinea pig is either 9-10 months old I believe as the store she was purchased from couldn’t give an exact time of birth. She was housed for the last 3 months with who we believed to be her sister however we quite literally just found out today that her “sister” is actually a male and we are now seeing the signs of pregnancy. We had honestly noticed the pregnant one become a bit larger but just assumed she was getting older so she was filling out a little bit. Her sides are not really protruding i didn’t really notice during her handling considering I thought she was housed with a female. As I said before i would never house a male with a female knowingly so i do feel very stupid now that i didn’t see the pregnancy signs or anything. I also have absolutely no idea how far along she is although i’ve only had the piggies since june 20th. So as I said she is around 9-10 months i assume and i’ve read that pregnancy after 8 months is extremely dangerous and she could die during the birth. I was honestly just looking for some advice here. She is going to a vet ASAP as i said i’ve just found out about 3 hours ago and the vets around me are closed. I removed the male from the housing and she is currently alone. I immediately went and bought some high vitamin c and calcium foods and gave her green pepper, cucumber skin and cucumber, parsley, romaine lettuce and a little bit of radish as she enjoys those. i also gave her an alfalfa mix with her normal timothy mix. Is this a good diet for her pregnancy? Sorry this is such a long rambling post i’m just honestly overwhelmed and looking for any pregnancy advice for my girl. Thank you so much in advance.
 
How dangerous it is can vary between guinea pigs. I have heard people say 12 months and 10 months as well as 8 months. The risks are because of when the pelvic bone fuses. When you’re at the vets they will likely check this when assessing the risk so there may be no age-related risk.

The diet sounds really good and while I’m not an expert it sounds like you’re feeding a good amount of calcium. Your vet could give you some more advice on that too if you’re still concerned.
 
Actually, the pelvic bones don't fuse. What happens is that the pelvic ligament, which has to stretch for a normal birth to occur, begins to stiffen at around 8 months of age or so. It doesn't happen all at once, so a first pregnancy at 8 months is less dangerous than one when the pig is older. The maximum danger for a first birth in an older pig is when the ligament has completely stiffened, which is probably around two years of age, but it can vary widely among guinea pigs.

The diet sounds ok for the pregnancy, but I wouldn't feed her romaine lettuce. Some pigs tend to develop bladder stones when eating romaine. Others don't, and we don't know why. But I just think it's better not to risk it. You can feed red or green leaf lettuce instead.

Don't give vitamin C in the water bottle. It degrades very quickly in water in the presence of light, and very shortly all you've got is funny tasting water. You can give tablets, or Vita Drops -- they're packaged in an opaque bottle, so don't degrade.
 
My two pet store guinea pigs who were pregnant had 1 a month ago and the other girl had hers 2 days ago. The age of your pigs is somewhat risky but its entirely possible she will be ok. Unfortunately one my babies mama died 17 days after giving birth. It was a huge baby and she died from pregnancy toxemia. the baby is ok thought. my second girl had 3 babies, unfortunately one was a lethal and passed away. the others are fine though. with guinea pig pregnancy about 20 percent can die during or after birth. What she needs is alfalfa hay, fruits and veggies, and pellets. she will drink more so make sure the water bottle is always filled. make sure she does not eat too much fruit though. a piece of fruit a week will fine. in pregnancy the pig does need a bit of sugar but nothing crazy. as for the vet she could probably do a ultrasound if your piggy is showing already
 
Actually, the pelvic bones don't fuse. What happens is that the pelvic ligament, which has to stretch for a normal birth to occur, begins to stiffen at around 8 months of age or so. It doesn't happen all at once, so a first pregnancy at 8 months is less dangerous than one when the pig is older. The maximum danger for a first birth in an older pig is when the ligament has completely stiffened, which is probably around two years of age, but it can vary widely among guinea pigs.

The diet sounds ok for the pregnancy, but I wouldn't feed her romaine lettuce. Some pigs tend to develop bladder stones when eating romaine. Others don't, and we don't know why. But I just think it's better not to risk it. You can feed red or green leaf lettuce instead.

Don't give vitamin C in the water bottle. It degrades very quickly in water in the presence of light, and very shortly all you've got is funny tasting water. You can give tablets, or Vita Drops -- they're packaged in an opaque bottle, so don't degrade.
Oops, my mistake. It’s been a while since I’ve researched pregnancy so I must have gotten my facts mixed up!
 

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