Pregnancy My "male" guinea pig might be pregnant?

[Camerafreak]

As many of you know I adopted Charlie from a woman off of craigslist. He was 9 weeks old when I got him on December 16th last year. When I went to pick him up from the woman off of craigslist we both agreed that he was a male and for a fact had a penis. When i introduced him and Archie three weeks later the clicked INSTANTLY and there was absolutely no chattering or fighting at all. They actually fought to be by eachother 24/7. Whenever I take Charlie out of his cage without Archie hell try to run back inside while Archie does the same. They'll even search for eachother when the other guinea pig is no where to be found. I don't know if that mattered or not but I thought I would include that. Recently I have noticed that little Charlie has gained weight super fast and in the past week his pretty much doubled in size. I don't have a scale to weigh him on... I know I'm a bad mom for that one but his belly has gotten wider around his hip areas. When I tried to recheck today to see if he had a penis I couldn't find it even when I pushed above where it should be at. He doesn't have testicles that we can tell of either. As a 6 month old guinea pig (I'm guessing him at that) I would think I would be able to notice if he had testicles. I'm gonna post a video of him and a HORRIBLE picture (he wouldn't sit still) and see what everyone else thinks.:sorry:

video:
YouTube - IMPORTANT

Picture: http://i53.tinypic.com/b51rw3.jpg

 

[RubyRain]

I can't tell anything by the pic but in the video "his" belly definitely looks round!
Have you looked at the sexing pics here? I found them very helpful when I sexed 3 guinea pigs.
Sexing Guinea Pigs: How to Sex a Guinea Pig

 

[Camerafreak]

I have looked at that site before when I went to get him and it was clear to me that he was a male. You didn't even have to push on his stomach to show his penis. Now when I tip him over and even push on his stomach you can't see a penis. I am crazy confused about all this honestly. He doesn't look like a fat guinea pig he actually looks like its all in his hips to me. I don't trust my regular old vet that my mom takes my dog to anymore so I plan on researching for some cavy savy vets today. I am sorry about the crappy video and picture, my girlfriends camera sucks at focusing lol.

 

[Onetwo]

Boy that is confusing. Are you sure you saw a penis? Because some females have a little flap of skin that hangs out. (see middle pics on this link...)

Sexing Guinea Pigs: How to Sex a Guinea Pig

 

[Camerafreak]

Now those pictures just confuse me even more. I'll be taking pictures of his..her... I don't know what to call him anymore, private area tonight. I'll be sure to get good pictures this time around. Hopefully someone can help me out. If not the closest cavy savy vet is 46 minutes away and its been snowing so much that the interstate is closed down. One more question though. Are there any other ways to tell if he is a girl or a boy? His nipples stand out a lot more than Archies. I honestly had no idea that boy guinea pigs had nipples until I SEARCHED for them on Archie after seeing them on Charlie.

 

[Camerafreak]

Charlie is in fact a female and also pregnant. Today before I went off to run errands for the pigs I held Charlie just to be sure that he was ok. I felt little kicks inside of her stomach. At first I thought that maybe it was her heart beat or her breathing. It wasn't either of those two I felt mulitple strong kicks that proved me wrong. So as far as I know kicking is a sign that she will be giving birth soon.

 

[Camerafreak]

Since Charlie IS pregnant...

I just found out today that little Charlie is pregnant so I do have a few questions. The babies are already kicking and as far as I know that means that she could give birth any day now(this scares me).

1.) Will changing around her cage and seperating her from my male cause her stress at this change? I need to change around their cages so that we don't have this incident again and I don't want such a big change to effect her in any way.

2.) Are the babies going to have anything wrong with them since I have been watching her calcium intake (because they both had really bad calcium spots on their fleece) so I didn't give her the amount a pregnant guinea pig would need.

3.) How much longer will it be since I just started feeling the babies today?

4.) What do I do if she has any complications during labor? The interstate is closed down because of the snow and the closest cavy savy vet is 46 minutes away on the interstate. Could I just go to the animal hospital?

I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on Charlie and her babies.

 

[wickedrodent]

Re: Since Charlie IS pregnant...

Separating her from the male should be your priority. This should be done ASAP. If she does give birth, you'll risk her getting pregnant again if they're still together.

 

[KiwiCavyAdorer]

Re: Since Charlie IS pregnant...

can you maybe section off a part of the cage so they can see each other?
while you think of and organise an alternative? I'd imagine that removing the boar from all sight would stress Charlie unnecessarily based on your descriptions of their attachment to each other.

If they are so attached it might be worth having your boar neutered instead of separating them permanently. It would also give you a breathing space between the birth and the weaning. And a permanent breathing space in their future.

I really wish you good luck all round but especially for the birth!

 

[blackarrow]

Re: Since Charlie IS pregnant...

Whether or not it would stress her to change her living situation is trivial compared to the amount it would stress her if she delivers and is immediately back-bred. Your other questions, you're just going to have to wait and see, but getting her cage set up for delivery is job #1 right now. Good luck.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Your threads were merged to keep the whole story together. Please update this thread as necessary and not create more threads about Charlie's pregnancy. Thanks.

 

[Camerafreak]

I just seperated them completely. Archie is in a 2x4 on the top of Charlies 2x5 with an extra few grids between the two cages so I can get into Charlies cage. If that makes any sense. I didn't want to just seperate the cage in half because then they would only have a 2x2.5 cage seeing as I cant fit anymore grids anywhere in my room and my parents wont let me put them in any other room. One good thing is the cage is already baby proofed from when I first got Charlie. I'm sorry Ly&Pigs I wasn't sure if I should post this here because it wasn't a "possibly pregnant" anymore. I'll be sure to keep updating here.

 

[KiwiCavyAdorer]

Superb news CameraFreak!! Well done! sounds like you have worked out a pretty nice set up now; and a good few issues out of your way. With less to worry over I wish you a successful birth. Hope you manage to catch it on camera - Good luck!

 

[Camerafreak]

I'd like to let everyone know that I've decided to get Archie neutered while we wait for the babies. This way they wont have to live without eachother :cheerful:. I'll be calling the animal hospital place tomorrow to set up an appointment. I'd like to add that Charlies tummy just keeps getting more and more plump. Also Archie loves DESTROYING his cage trying to fine Charlie. So far hes already dumped his pellet dish twice and keeps trying to climb out of the cage.

 

[Beverly Thacker]

Good luck and safe birthy for Charli.

Keep going with the photo's!! I have all sows so no babies for us!

 

[Deb's4Pigs]

Glad you were able to figure the cage situation out.lol Good luck with the pregnancy and the babies.

 

[Camerafreak]

Thank you guys for all your posts! As of today Charlie has been very lazy and wont even take time to get up when I come to her cage, when usually she is very skittish. Her babies are kicking but its only about a kick a minute when we usually feel lots of strong kicks almost like thunder. When I checked her today her vulva was slightly swollen so I don't know if that matters to anything with her pregnancy. I have a picture from the 28th:

and one from today:

Theres really not a noticeable difference in them but I thought I'd share. Still wishing the day would come that we will get to meet her babies!
Also Archies neuturing is on the 23rd of this month. Just keeping everyone as updated as I can.

 

[KiwiCavyAdorer]

Hi CameraFreak thanks for the updates! its really nice to follow through...

You deciding on neutering Archie is a big decision but a very responsible one long term. Its quite a long time to wait for nearly three weeks - watch out for when Charlie births - Archie may have figured a way to get to her by then... but you seem to be very vigilent and are well aware of his desperation to get to her. Hope he doesn't destroy too much in the meantime!

Have you any idea of time frame for the birth ? in her top photo one rosette is flat and one is tilted down and in the bottom one Both rosettes are lying flat - she sure has expanded some! you must be So Excited!

 

[krystalmoore86]

I recently had an adopted pig which ended up being pregnant when I got her. I started to feel the baby for sure moving about 10 days before she gave birth. That was only one baby in there. Yours probably has about 10 to 15 days from when you felt the babies move.

 

[kathlaaron]

Just wanted to send you and Charlie warm wishes and prayers for a healthy birth !! I can't wait to see pictures ! Poor Archie ( I love his name !) I can't help but feel bad for him ! I am so glad that you will be searching for a competent exotics vet for Archie's neuter surgery ! On guinealynx they have a really great list of questions/answers to ask the vet about, to ensure she/he is a competent vet for Archie. Good luck piggie pal friend !!