Special Needs The bars on my guinea pig's cage are 1 inch apart. Is that small enough for babies?

[LittlePiggie]

So I am currently preparing for baby guinea pigs, because I have a pregnant guinea pig on my hands . I assure you I DID NOT breed her. I'm taking very good care of her as well as some extra baby spinach for her.

My question is: Are cage bars 1 inch apart too big for baby guinea pigs?

:eye-poppiCan they squeeze through?:eye-poppi
I have had mice before, and they squeezed through half a centimeter! I'm really nervous about this situation, and I would really like to hear a good answer from you guys .

Please, I really need to know because she could give birth any day now!!!

 

[CavyMama]

It's important to baby-proof your cage for the babies. Babies are small and can squeeze through or get their heads stuck between the bars.

You can double up on grids, piggybacking so the spaces between the bars are halved. OR make the coroplast higher so they cannot put their heads over.

Also, I'm not sure how much you've done to prepare for the babies but they (and preggers mom) need alfalfa hay. It's higher in calcium. Babies need it up to 6 mths old as a supplement to the regular timothy hay.

 

[bpatters]

Alfalfa pellets will do as well for the mama and babies as alfalfa hay, and they're much easier to find. Pigs of all ages do well with grass hay.

You can put cardboard around the edges of the cage until the babies come and you see whether or not the holes are large enough for them to escape. Mine bars are about 7/8 of an inch apart, and did fine for mine when I got them, but they're weren't total newborns.

 

[LittlePiggie]

Thanks for the advice, I'm getting alfalfa hay tommorow, as planned along with some grids (hopefully they are still in stock).