Need info...introducing new guinea pig to pregnant guinea pig???

[DEE0215]

I would greatly appreciate any help/advice I can get on this. I recently bought a young (almost 3 months old) guinea pig. As I suspected, she is pregnant. She is also extremely skittish. She will not let me pick her up yet, but has started letting me occationally pet her. So, I talk to her several times a day. She was in a cage with other guinea pigs, so I wanted to go to a local shelter and adopt another female. What I need to know, is would this be a good thing for her or cause her more stress? I'm not sure how far she is in her pregnancy and I can't try to feel movement since she won't let me pick her up. My vet said she thought she may have felt a couple of them in there during her exam.

I read somewhere that the mother may kill the babies after their birth if there was another female she was unfimiliar with around, but if they were raised together, she would not. Is this true? I haven't been able to find much about introducing guinea pigs under these circumstances. Again, any help would be wonderful. Thank you.

 

[three_piggies]

See guinealynx- https://www.guinealynx.com/breeding.html (I gave you the link for pregnancy).

Um I am not positive but I believe that you are supposed to separate the momma and babies from the other female after she has birth.

 

[RubyPiggie2]

Yes, you can get another girl for her- it might just relieve the stress that she is under, it might not. As long as the girl has been with mum and the babies less than five days, mum will not fight with the other female. They do not need to be seperated, but please make sure you get a female! Good Luck, I hope all goes well!

 

[mncavylover]

Here is some info about the whole process. Navigate by clicking the links on the left of this page: www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm. Hope that helps you!

 

[AngelsCavies]

I had 9 females in there with peanut and they all jumped in and helped peanut cleaning the babies and protecting them. I have never heard that the guinea pigs kill their babies at all. I know that rabbits do.

 

[three_piggies]

Yep rabbits do, my friends rabbit had 5 babies (they bought her from a pet store) and she (momma bunny) threw the babies out of the cage because she didn't want them and 3 of them died (because the cage was up on a table and the impact of the fall was just too much for the little guys). And later on the other 2 died because my friend fed them the wrong formula (she was trying to hand feed them so they would live). Sad...

I wasn't sure if you had to separate the momma and babies from other females after birth, but the breeder I got second pigg from did (getting a pig from a breeder was one of my dumber decisions but I didn't even know about adopting back then), sorry about the wrong info!!!!

 

[DEE0215]

Thanks for all the advice. I want her to have a cage mate, but I don't want to cause her anymore stress. I agree with the breeder comment. The lady I bought her from, has 3 pairs that she lets breed for the heck of it. And unfortunately, she has so many animals, she cannot be hands on with the babies. Therefore, my little one is not used to being handled. She was in a "Large" petstore cage with 3 other piggies. Now, she is in a cage that that is 4ft by 3 ft with a second story that is close to the same size. I could probably fit 6 of her old cages in this one. And it is clean!! Not like her old one that seemed very damp, crowded and filled with of all things cedar chips!

Well, enough complaining. I just hate to see animals not being taken care of properly. With her being so young and pregnant, I definatley don't want to put her in a stressful environment. I appreciate the advice you all have given me. I'm going tonight to find her a female roommate. Thanks again!

 

[mncavylover]

I agree, I also hate cavies being taken care of wrongly. I'm glad that you can take such good care of her!

Cavies do not eat their young, unlike some other rodents.

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

The other sow usually acts as Auntie and helps take care of the babies. I think you may need to quarantine for a few weeks though.

If the other sow is pregnant (which she shouldn't be in this case), she may go into early labor if she helps clean up the babies, eating the after birth and such. That's the only danger.

 

[RubyPiggie2]

You do not need to seperate the females from the preggy mum. They usually won't bug the babe and mum, or will help out. Hardley EVER will they pester them.

 

[RubyPiggie2]

. The lady I bought her from, has 3 pairs that she lets breed for the heck of it. And unfortunately, she has so many animals, she cannot be hands on with the babies. Therefore, my little one is not used to being handled. She was in a "Large" petstore cage with 3 other piggies. Now, she is in a cage that that is 4ft by 3 ft with a second story that is close to the same size. I could probably fit 6 of her old cages in this one. And it is clean!! Not like her old one that seemed very damp, crowded and filled with of all things cedar chips!

You should have a talk with that lady. I think you should go back there and introduce her to the "healthy lifestyles of guinea pigs" and why she should either give them up to the humane society(tough choice, don't know), people, or just plainly TAKE CARE OF THEM!!! I'm so SICK of people like her! She is so IRRESPONSIBLE and needs to be told what to DO. She needs to flipping get her head out of whereever it is and learn a thing or two. 1) NO CEDAR 2)NO BREEDING 3) NO PETSTORE CAGES 4) Give them a better life!
I'm sorry, I had to vent. People like that really make me sick. I definately think, that no matter what you should go back to her and have a LOONG talk, email her, phone her, Mail her, whatever and tell her to get her lazy self up and do something for these pigs.
Thanks for listening to me get mad.
Good Luck,

 

[RubyPiggie2]

The other sow usually acts as Auntie and helps take care of the babies. I think you may need to quarantine for a few weeks though.

Do you mean seperate the mum away from girls for a few weeks? The other girls must be in the cage with mum and babies no later than 5 days, or mum will get very possessive and fight.

 

[Starbucks]

another thing you may want to think about... usually pregnant guinea pigs (expecially later in the the pregnancy) tend to be a little grumpy/nervous because they are just so uncomfortable. i have two girls who wouldnt get along at all when one was pregnant, but after the babies were born and weaned, they were best friends and hit it off from the day they met (when she wasnt pregnant anymore).

just introduce them slowly and watch how they are. you dont want to cause the pregnant guinea pig any unwanted stress while she is pregnant. if it doesnt work out, keep them seperated with a divider but let them still interact through the divider. i would recommend keeping the pregnant piggie seperated until she delivers, only because you can never know for sure how the other pig will react to the babies. and if you are not there when the birth happens, you have no way of stopping the other piggie if she decides to hurt the pups.

 

[DEE0215]

Thanks again for all the advice. You guys have been great. I did talk to the lady when I bought her. She pretty much has the opinion that she has been doing this for 4 years and hasn't had a problem yet. It is sad. And believe me, it gets worse. Some of the things this lady was saying made me so mad that I wanted to turn and leave, but I couldn't leave Peanut (my daughter first called her Brandi, but I think we're now calling her Peanut).

As far as getting another GP, I can't decide. Part of me wants to pick one up since Peanut has never been alone before, but it is the whole stress factor. She won't be 3 months old until the 21st of this month and is probably at least 6 or 7 weeks pregnant. I know her pregnancy is going to be risky and hard on her, so I don't want to add any other stress. On the other hand, I ask myself if she could be loney and want or need another GP around. If I did get another GP while she is still pregnant, it would be very difficult to introduce them on neutral territory when I can't even get her out of the cage. Would cleaning the cage with new bedding on the first floor, have Peanut come down the ramp as I add the new GP be more neutral since her smell wouldn't be on the bedding? Or would she still concider it her's?

I'm so glad I found this forum because you all have been such a great help. It's nice to know I can come here and ask questions from people who have experienced these things first hand or know of someone who has.

 

[roosterboy]

Go ahead and get another girl, but do it soon. Forget about the quarantine, as you are getting from the same known, closed source. The preggy will probably welcome the company and feel safer. Other sows do help out, and will even nurse the pups if they happen to be lactating at the time.

 

[AngelsCavies]

Thats what all of my girls did for Peanut because she has 5 little ones and they all jump in and help her and they start popcorning because they all help including the ones that are just little after 3 months its so cute when they do that.

 

[mncavylover]

You can rearrange everything and change all the bedding, toys, etc. to make it more neutral if you'd like.

I don't think I'd risk foregoing the quarantine, even if it is from the same source. I'd hate to see the pregnant piggy get sick because the other was previously.

 

[Starbucks]

i agree with mncavylover. dont skip the quarantine stage. thats important to both the new piggie and your existing ones. its not worth the risk.

just remember to keep them in seperate rooms when quarantining, and handle the new piggie last.