Pregnancy Pregnant Guinea pig

[JoCad]

My guinea pig has recently stopped eating her pellets and isn't as interested in her vegetables, is this a sign of illness? She is pregnant I think...

 

[piggydaddy1]

If she has stopped eating that could be a sign of an ailment of some kind since she isn't eating anything. I would keep a close eye on her and possibly get her to a vet for a check up.

 

[JoCad]

She's eating her lettuce!!!!

 

[piggydaddy1]

Well that's defiantly a good sign. I would keep an eye on her for signs of other issues and go from there.

 

[Princess_Piggie]

Any issues with appetite aren't usually related that directly to pregnancy and are more a sign of illness. If her appetite isn't 100% again in the next 24 hours, I'd take her in for a vets visit. Loss of appetite can lead to serious illness if left unchecked too long.

What makes you think she's pregnant?

 

[JoCad]

Well she has gone quite pear shaped, her belly is hard and she seems like she just wants to stay in her house all the time, when I bring her out for floor time, she just finds a dark corner and stays there, I tries putting the water and food on different ends but it doesn't seem to work. I DON'T BREED GUINEA PIGS!!!! She was with a male in a pet store but they convinced me she was too young to have a baby. I am also a bit worried that she is too old to have a baby... The store (I know I should adopt but I checked shelters and there were no piggies) told me she was 4 months old but she hasn't grown so I'm worried she's too old. How can I know if her pelvis is separating?

 

[Princess_Piggie]

It's okay, pet stores are terrible for passing off pregnant sows to new owners.
Is she putting weight on rapidly? You can tell by weighing her every other day on some kitchen scales. Just because a pig is pear shaped, doesn't mean they're pregnant. Both my girls are pear shaped and not pregnant. If she's putting on weight rapidly, chances are she is.
Her pelvic bones would usually separate about a week before birth at most, so they probably won't have separated yet unless she was heavily pregnant when you got her.
The most reliable signs are feeling pups moving, and hearing their teeth gnashing.

@bpatters will be able to give you some more advice on this.

ETA I'm not sure how the picture of my girls got attached! But the lone sow is a google image result of what a quite heavily pregnant sow would look like.

 

[AmberCalzone]

Not eating is not a sign of pregnancy. Toxemia is a possibility if she has stopped eating and drinking, if she's pregnant, I'd bring her to a vet as soon as possible.

She's also not too old to have a baby. After a year their pelvic bones begin to stiffen, which can make passing the babies hard, but a four month old would not have this problem. My girl recently gave birth, and at the time she was four months old (I adopted her pregnant).
But the pet-store was absolutely wrong in telling you she was too young to conceive. Guinea pigs sexually mature extremely early, 3 weeks for males, 4 weeks for females. If she is pregnant please make sure you separated the male babies from mom and sisters at 3 weeks old, or he can impregnate them.

 

[JoCad]

She is eating again today!! She has a huge appetite now!

 

[JoCad]

Not eating is not a sign of pregnancy. Toxemia is a possibility if she has stopped eating and drinking, if she's pregnant, I'd bring her to a vet as soon as possible.

She's also not too old to have a baby. After a year their pelvic bones begin to stiffen, which can make passing the babies hard, but a four month old would not have this problem. My girl recently gave birth, and at the time she was four months old (I adopted her pregnant).
But the pet-store was absolutely wrong in telling you she was too young to conceive. Guinea pigs sexually mature extremely early, 3 weeks for males, 4 weeks for females. If she is pregnant please make sure you separated the male babies from mom and sisters at 3 weeks old, or he can impregnate them.

my worry is that the pet store lied about her age...

 

[Princess_Piggie]

Very glad to hear that she's eating!
Weigh her every other day and keep a written record of her weight gain to try and figure out if she's pregnant.

 

[JoCad]

Very glad to hear that she's eating!

Should I be worried she only wants hay? She will eat half the pellets (I only give her 1/8 a cup anyways) and half the veggies... She only really want hay and water, should I be worried?:sad:

 

[Princess_Piggie]

So long as she's eating hay, technically it's okay. I would supplement with some Vitamin C in the form of Oxbow Daily C tablets if she isn't getting enough veggies in to her though. But if you see any further decrease in appetite, you may want to get her checked by a vet.

 

[JoCad]

She delivered 2 beautiful pups today!! Is there anything I should do, can I hold them? How can I sex them? How can I tell if they're healthy?

 

[JoCad]

I've put them back in the petstore cage because my c and c cage squares are big so they may get their heads stuck in the squares, when can I start handling them?

 

[Soecara]

You can start holding them as soon as they are dry, which they are. http://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm might help you sex them, it gets easier to sex them as they get older. If you have any boys don't forget they need to be taken away from mum at 3 weeks old. I would also recommend you weigh the babies every day to see if they are gaining weight, but expect a small weight drop over the first day or two.

To baby proof a C&C cage you can get extra grids and overlap them so the gaps are half as big, you could extend the coroplast walls higher so the babies can't even get to the grids, or you can cable-tie some chicken wire to the outsides of the girds (but any lose or sharp bits are a hazard).

 

[JoCad]

I don't get coroplast here so I use a shower curtain so technically it's a c and s cage... Thanks! One still has a bit or the umbilical cord, should I do anything about that? Is a 2 by 4 ok for 3 guinea pigs?

 

[Soecara]

A 2x4 is good for three guinea pigs, but a 2x5 is better. You need not worry about this just yet as they are still young, and you could have boys. Once they are three weeks old and you are certain of their sexes you can figure out the caging situation.

 

[Princess_Piggie]

2x4 is the recommended cage size for two, not three (see the 'main' tab at the top).

 

[JoCad]

I just weighed my guinea pigs and I think they are underweight... My 2 newborns are both around 45 grams, It might be a problem with my scale because even the older piggie, my girl weighs only 640 grams, should I be concerned or do you think it's a problem with my scale?