Pregnant guinea pig or not

[butterscotch]

Hello, Im new to the forum and nearly most of the forums I have been on not about guinea pig but other stuff in general like cars and I have found them to be a bit 2 faced and really condensending and always so judgemental. I'm hoping this forum is different because I need help.

I went away for 3 weeks roughly from the 27th march to the day before good Friday. I have 5 guinea pigs. I allowed my friend to look after them with stricted instructions on food, water hay etc but didn't think I had to explain why the guinea pigs was separated especially gue to the names but clearly that was my first mastake. So I had 3 boys on one cage and 2 girls in another. Boys are called dodger, Darwin and twirl and my girls are badger and butterscotch. They have names on their cages too. Because we have has lovely weather especially during the time I was a way, she allowed them to stay in a secure run/hutch outside (with my permission over the phone) I come back to find all my guinea pigs was in the same cage and has been since I left!! I was absolutely furious, I mean really furious because my ladies was nearly 8months old!

Now I know what people are going to say and yes I'm aware etc about high risk due to age and need to be seen by the vets etc I get that, I know all the information but just remember this wasn't planned and an honest mistake.

Now my ladies could be anything from nearly 5 weeks to 2 weeks pregnant. If they are nearly 5 weeks then the pups are due around 29th of may, if it's around 2 weeks then ETA is 17th June. I'm planning on taking them to the vets as soon as I see any signs of pregnancy for x-rays and ultrasound etc. They are having daily checks and weekly weighing. I honestly haven't seen any signs of pregnancy at all, not even massive weight gain. They may look plumper but that could be my eyes playing tricks.

I was wondering when should I start seeing obvious signs? They eat normal, don't drink anymore, runs around like babies and jump in the air etc

I'm being very careful picking them up just in case.

[bazookagoof]

Welcome to Wheekers!  

I've never owned any sows; I've always had boars so I have no experience with pregnancy with guinea pigs- so I can't offer any advice- but the staff here is far more experienced than I am, so check back later and one of them will get to you as soon as they can! 

(and don't worry about people being judgmental here- I signed up to ask a question years ago and I've stayed here ever since. It's a small board, but I can't ever recall a time where it was unpleasant to be here.)

[Bean]

Welcome to Wheekers!

I'm really sorry you came back from your holiday to find your pigs had all been put together - I can totally imagine how you must have felt. I really hope your girls have escaped pregnancy, but at 8 months it shouldn't be massively risky for them. Another few months and that's when it starts to get much riskier for a first time pregnancies.

I'm certainly not well up on guinea pig pregnancy, but I think by a month (or just over) into a pregnancy it'd be visible if they were pregnant (guinea pig pregnancies are usually just over two months), so we'll all cross our fingers for you and your girls - if there's no sign of bellies swelling in a couple of weeks, you might have got lucky.

Personally, I wouldn't think I needed to go to the vet with a pregnant guinea pig, unless there were particular health concerns. I'd certainly have the number of a good emergency vet to hand incase it was needed, but the majority of the time, they'll just get on with it well by themselves. They just need a bit more food!

I had a pregnant pig about 20 years ago, a rescue pig who we didn't realise was already pregnant (all the rescues seem to do pregnancy watches these days). She managed just fine. It was definitely more stressful for us!

How did the boys cope being in with girls? I'm kind of amazed if they didn't start fighting - it's so often what sets off all the male dominance behaviours.

Fingers are definitely crossed.

[3piggles]

Hello and welcome. No judgements here. We just want to help if we can. I'm sorry your vacation ended in finding all your pigs together. So much for all the trouble you went to make sure they weren't

That said, this is the Guinea Lynx section on pregnancy: www.guinealynx.info/reproduction.html I hope it helps. If you look at the top right of the page, you'll see the Index, Sitemap, etc. You can select any of those and look for other information.

I really hope nothing happened, but if it did, it's probably worth thinking about what you want to do with the babies. This is the Guinea Lynx section on sexing pigs, so if you get babies, you can tell what you have: www.guinealynx.info/sexing.html. They should be separated by 3 weeks, as the male babies are capable of getting mother and sisters pregnant.


Babies need baby food pellets, which should be available at pet food stores. Mothers can use some alfalfa pellets with their regular pellets. Alfalfa has a lot of sweet energy, so isn't recommended for any but sick or nursing pigs. Then only feed as long as is needed.

Since the boys will be in a separate cage, they don't have to be in a separate room. Some people think there should be a clean break with mom and sisters. Personally, I thing the babies need, or at least like having family close for a bit longer.

I'm also not one to not handle the babies. I think the younger they are when they start being handled, the more likely they are to accept handling better as they grow. I think it's something that should just be part of life for them. I may be in a minority, but it's always worked well for me.

Good luck