Seperating babies and need advise ASAP

[lnicholson75]

Tomorrow will be 21 days since baby guinea pigs were born and I have 1 girl and 1 boy. I am going to put the baby male with his father and the baby female will remain with mother. I have been trying to introduce the baby male to his father slowly and every time I do the father goes nuts and makes helicopter noises and tries to hump baby. He has also squirted the baby several times. I have checked many times to make sure that this baby was a boy and also got the opinion of other family members to make sure and it is a boy. Plus we have seen the baby act the same way as the father when he is around the mother and sister. I am terrified that the father will hurt the baby. Is this normal behavior at first? What should I do to make this a smoother process? Tonight I put them in neutral territory (a plastic baby pool) to see what would happen and the father tried to hump the baby every 5 minutes. The baby is so small compared to the father so I am scared that he will get hurt. I decided to get a water sprayer I have and everytime the father got on top of the baby I squirt him with water. He was a little confussed and wondering what was going on but it seemed to help the situation. I wasn't sure if I should stop it or if I should let it happen! I really don't know what I should do! I have to seperate the baby boy tomorrow and I am terrified to leave him alone with his father. I know a lot of you have gone through seperating the baby from momma and I would really appreciate any advice you guys may have.

Another question I have is that every time I take the babies out to play with them or just to get them used to me they wheak really loud. It's ear piercing! They have gotten a little better in the past week but they still don't like being away from mom. Oh and momma piggie is fed up with the babies. She is super cranky with them. Everytime they try to cuddle she scolds them. How can I make it easier for them to be away from momma piggie so they don't wheak like I am trying to kill them?

 

[Duffinvt]

I've heard not to separate unless there is bloodshed. I'd give the baby boy many hiding places, but I think Dad is just trying to show him who is boss. I adopted two babies and they were lonely for their mom at first but I picked them up and fed them lots of good treats like fresh grass and crispy lettuce from the garden. They are pretty tame now. Just give them lots of attention and remember the way to a guinea pig's heart is through its stomach !!

 

[fieryone]

Mounting and rumbling is normal dominance behavior. Dad is just trying to show the baby who's boss. Introduce them in neutral territory and leave them alone. Put in some veggies and/or hay, some hideys, and just let them be unless there is bloodshed. There may be wheeking, chasing, teeth chattering, etc. These are all normal parts of the process of establishing a pecking order. It can be hard for us humans to watch and listen to but to separate them and keep re-introducing them only makes matters worse and lessens the chance of a successful introduction.

Scroll down to the bottom of this page and read the section on introductions. It'll give you an idea of what's normal and when to be on alert or separate Guinea Pigs Social Life

 

[Nicolene]

It's normal, you have to put them together and then LEAVE them together, unless there is bloodshed. Which sounds awful! I know! But I've been through it and it gets better. Don't get involved, and DON'T squirt the dad, you cannot train them, so your just messing with the process.

They will squeek for a while longer, we adopted a baby boy at 20 days and not only did he wheek for days on end, he also tried to suckle our older male. Then he stopped and he would only wheek ear piercingly when we took him away from the older male, but he's fine now.

It just takes time. On a side note, if you are keeping the babies make sure you hold them and handle them a lot. We did this with ours, dispite the wheeking and he now loves being held, rubbed and he don't flinch when I kiss him.

 

[lnicholson75]

I do plan on keeping the babies and I have been handling them constantly despite the wheaking. As I am writing this my kids are playing with the babies and I have a headache from the wheaking. I have been handling them since a few hours after birth so they would get used to us even though it has not worked really well. Thanks for all the advise on seperating my baby boy. Maybe now I can get this to work better. It is really hard to watch but I guess I am going to have to for a few days. I just really hope there is no bloodshed!

 

[lnicholson75]

Ok I officially separated the baby boy (Peanut Butter) from his mom and sister. After a while of his father torturing him he put his foot down and fought back. Call me crazy but now I see Justin (father) running away from baby?? Is it possible for the baby to be the dominant one despite the size difference? I really didn't see that coming! I feel so bad for Peanut Butter because he has been crying for his mom and trying to get out of the cage to go back to mom and sisters cage. I caught him trying to climb the c&c cage. He's making so much noise that I have a migraine. I hope he calms down soon! Oh and now with all the dominance displays in the male cage I hear my female pig (Cutie) making the noise that says she is ready to mate and she keeps swinging her rear all over the place. I guess all this has made her go into heat...my goodness!!! Please tell me this doesn't last too long!