Cleaning My Guinea pig just gave birth

[BloodStream]

I got my Guinea pig May 8th she started gaining weight and my mom said I was over feeding her or she might be pregnant but she was only 14 weeks so I didn’t really think she was pregnant because the pet store I got her from said they were to young to be active…until I got home and she gave birth today at 5 or 4 pm to 3 healthy size looking babies I’ve given her space and a lot of food and water with hay I don’t know how to clean her cage without stressing her and her baby’s out she had a simple cage because she was still young me and my father where still working on a design to build our custom cage for her with a lot more space and I don’t know what to do

 

[ItsaZoo]

You are right to get started on a larger cage. A standard cage is too small. When they are stressed and crowded the mother will harm the babies.

Standard grid cages are easy and economical to make. The problem is that the babies can get their heads through the grids and be injured. You would need to use 2 grids staggered to make the openings smaller, or use something like wire grid shelving panels for the sides of the cage.

Guinea pigs can get pregnant at a very young age, 2-3 months old. And males should be separated from the mother at 3 weeks, or she will be pregnant again.

I hope they are healthy and thriving. It’s more challenging to keep them healthy when the mother is so young.

 

[gpihgos]

This makes me glad my girls didn’t come home pregnant (from petco).

If I were you I would keep a close eye on them for at least a week or two. I’ve never had baby piggies so I wouldn’t know exactly what to do, but I would do research on babies and accommodate them as they grow, such as getting proper pellets. (I use young Guinea pig pellets from Oxbow, since my girls are very young. Just don’t start them on pellets right away, they will need to be nursed from their mother.)

Make sure the mother is taking proper care of them, like make sure she is nursing and not being violent to them. Once they get about 1 month old, they can be weaned off their mothers milk.

That’s all the advice I can give you, good luck! Post pictures.

Edited by bpatters: Correcting some of this misinformation...

They can eat pellets, veggies, whatever they want as soon as they want. No need to restrict them. Also no need to wean them, as the sow will do that on her own. The only ones you might have to wean are male pups, because they have to be separated from mom and sister(s) at three weeks of age.