Pregnancy Pregnancy Questions

[nebulous]

So I had originally gotten two guinea pigs that were both advertised as females when I had gotten them from the pet store. I didn’t realize one was a boy until the actual female popped out 5 pups yesterday night.

I currently have the male and female separated, and I’m making sure none of them get rejected. So far, everyone is healthy including Mom. I don’t know if I can afford 7 piggies at 18 years old. What do I do?

 

[bpatters]

Oops. You've learned the hard way to never let two guinea pigs be put together without turning them over and making sure they're both the same sex.

And the bad news is that if the male was in the cage when the pups were born, she's undoubtedly already pregnant again. Sows can get pregnant within minutes of giving birth. So whatever else happens, she needs very high quality pellets and hay, as well as vitamin C supplements.

The next thing you need to worry about is separating the male and female pups at 21 days of age. You can find information on this site about sexing them, but the key thing to know is that males have a bone in the penis, and if you turn them over and rub your index finger right above the genitals, you should be able to feel it. No bone, no penis.

I would look for a guinea pig rescue somewhere around you and see if they'll take some or all of the pups when they're weaned.

 

[nebulous]

Oops. You've learned the hard way to never let two guinea pigs be put together without turning them over and making sure they're both the same sex.

And the bad news is that if the male was in the cage when the pups were born, she's undoubtedly already pregnant again. Sows can get pregnant within minutes of giving birth. So whatever else happens, she needs very high quality pellets and hay, as well as vitamin C supplements.

The next thing you need to worry about is separating the male and female pups at 21 days of age. You can find information on this site about sexing them, but the key thing to know is that males have a bone in the penis, and if you turn them over and rub your index finger right above the genitals, you should be able to feel it. No bone, no penis.

I would look for a guinea pig rescue somewhere around you and see if they'll take some or all of the pups when they're weaned.

Luckily I took the male out after she finished the delivery and kept them apart, but yeah. I’m making sure that I keep track of the days to separate them. Something else I wanted to ask is if I should do anything else to make sure the sow is okay. I have an attachment to her and I just want to at least have some hope that she’ll be okay.

 

[bpatters]

She should be okay. Is she eating and drinking normally? Pooping ok?

If she turns out to be pregnant, the time to worry will be during and after that pregnancy and delivery. The developing pups will sap the minerals from her body at a time when she hasn't had time to recover from the first litter.

 

[nebulous]

She should be okay. Is she eating and drinking normally? Pooping ok?

If she turns out to be pregnant, the time to worry will be during and after that pregnancy and delivery. The developing pups will sap the minerals from her body at a time when she hasn't had time to recover from the first litter.

Luckily she is eating and drinking normally. She's also pooping alright.
This is post-pregnancy and she already gave birth to five pups. She looks alright and is moving just fine. She spends an equal amount of time nursing and eating/drinking, which is good because she's sustaining herself and getting the nutrients and whatnot to produce milk for the pups.