Bonding To bond or not?

[PenelopePoodle]

I have so many questions! I've been lurking on this forum for a long time. I have 3 piggies. Two girls that are well bonded. Two weeks ago I agreed to take a third girl. I knew this pig had a litter around Christmas and the family wanted to keep the dad and one male baby. They gave away 2 female babies. I had planned to quarantine her and then try to bond her with my girls. After talking to the previous owner again yesterday, she mentioned that Mom is probably back bred. I'm so mad. I flat out asked her when I got the pig. She said she wanted to find mom a good home and didn't think I would take her if I knew she was pregnant.


So two weeks is over tomorrow. Do I continue with bonding as planned? Or keep her separate for a few more weeks and see if she's pregnant? She has conversations with my
girls across the house. I know she's lonely. Should I start feeding her alfalfa? She would be due end of February? I had her vet checked when I got her. Vet said she looks great.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[LucidCavies]

Is you vet cavy savvy? would you trust their opinion? After two weeks wouldn't you be seeing signs of pregnancy already?

 

[barbaramudge]

I've never had a pregnant pig and I'm sure someone will be along to correct me if I'm wrong but here's my thoughts....

3 week quarantine is recommended so I would wait the full 3 weeks. As for pregnant pigs, from everything I've read and everything I've seen here I know that other females make great aunties. The only thing I'm not sure of is because of it being a new intro. I don't remember reading that pregnancy is a reason to not do intros but I'm sure a more experienced member will be able to answer that part.

 

[PenelopePoodle]

The only "sign" is she's getting to be more plump. She was a bit thin when I got her, so I assumed she was just fattening up a wee bit. Shes "less than a year old" according to the previous owner. My girls are nine months and they are the same size as her. She's probably about 4 weeks pregnant from what I could gather. (Maybe 5?) It is the only vet in my city who sees exotics. He's trustable, but way over priced!

Where did I get 2 week quarantine? Guess we wait another week. Then wait to introduce after the possibility of pups? I don't want to stress her out. She just seems so lonely.

 

[AmberCalzone]

I think I'd go ahead and introduce once the three weeks is up, personally. I think it'll be easier to introduce 1 new pig to your already bonded pair, then to have to introduce mom + pups to your bonded pair. If mom is successfully introduced and then has her pups with the other females, your other girls will make great aunts and nannies towards the little ones.

If she delivered at Christmas she'd be just about 4 weeks along, if she got pregnant right away again. They start visibly showing their pregnancy at about 5 weeks. Besides that, guinea pigs are pregnant for 10 weeks, and 6 weeks is a long time for your new girl to be all alone. It is possible that the loneliness may be more stressful than that of an introduction, and some introductions go remarkably smooth too.

I think I'd personally give it a go. I don't know if that's the best course of action or the most recommended plan, it's just what I think I'd do personally.

 

[bpatters]

You can introduce her to the others whenever you want unless she's massively pregnant. (See https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...inea-pig-is-pregnant-And-how-far-along-is-she) Since she came from a home, you can ask if those pigs have had any recent illnesses or parasites, and then make a decision whether or not to go ahead and put them together or wait the full three weeks.

http://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html is a great article on introductions.

 

[PeanutnCookie]

Is you vet cavy savvy? would you trust their opinion? After two weeks wouldn't you be seeing signs of pregnancy already?

Normally the earliest sign of pregnancy is at four weeks. I couldn't tell with mine until probably five and a half weeks.

I would go ahead and introduce them. After three weeks of quarantine she still has a few weeks to go if she's pregnant. the other pigs will help her with the babies, if the intros go well, that is. You don't have to use alfalfa. You can use parsley, which has calcium, too. You could give her some alfalfa, though just in case.

 

[PenelopePoodle]

I think I will introduce them this weekend. I know she's lonely. The home she came from took care of her, they were just ignorant. She's healthy. I was planning to do an intro tomorrow since I will be home from work and can observe them. Thank you for the great link about intros!

Since she's so young and possibly bred again, does she need more than just extra calcium? Vitamin C? My piggies get plenty of fresh veggies with lots of diversity. I just want to make sure to meet her needs. I feed oxbow pellets and oxbow Timothy hay. Daily veggies are green leaf lettuce and bell pepper. They also get carrots, parsley, cilantro, broccoli, cucumber, or whatever veggies I have on hand. Plus a tiny nibble of fruit twice a week.

 

[PenelopePoodle]

Bonding has begun! All three girls spent about four hours in the bathroom this morning. There was a bit of chasing and chattering, but it went really well. I rebuilt their cage while they played. Now they are all in the main cage eating and hanging out. I'm glad I decided to introduce them.

Now for more research on pregnancy! If she is expecting, that means lots of changes for my piggies! They are pets in my classroom. I guess there will be no more school visits for this year. My class will be so sad. They LOVE our pigs!