my female is pregnant but i don't know how far along she is

[madhatter]

my female guinea pig is pregnant she has been with her mate for about 2 months and she is now about 5-6 months old. last monday she weighed around 1.7lbs (he weighs around 2lbs he is around 8-9months old) 1) the 1st thing i'd like to know is if i should seperate them around the time of the birth of the baby's and keep em seperate til weening or can i put them back together after a few days? 2) is how far along is she as today i felt 4 moving lumps around the size of a ping-pong ball around her belly and she seems to be finding it harder to move around?

plz help as this is the first time she has become pregnant

[lily 74]

Hi,

If you can feel definate movements, rather than just butterflys then she proberbly has about 2 weeks to go.

Yor sow can get pregnant again almost straight away after giving birth so the male needs to be removed beforehand. To prevent any more pregnancies she would be better paired with another sow or a neutered boar.

The male babies should be separated from mum at 3 weeks old as they can start to breed at that age with thier littermates and the mum:(

[Suzygpr]

Just to let you know - if you haven't read the rules of the forum already - that this is a pro-rescue forum, we do not discuss or encourage intentional breeding. We will give as much help and advice as possible to get your mum through her pregnancy. There are so many guinea pigs in rescue looking for loving homes that more do not need to be added to their numbers.

Do keep us updated as to her progress, we will be as helpful as possible. As already said by lily74, dad will need to be separated from mum before the birth - I would say if you can feel the babies move to do that now. All baby boys will need to be separated from mum at 3 weeks - if you are keeping them they can move in with their dad so he will have company.

Have your vet phone number and emergency number ready so that you don't have to find them in a panic if anything goes wrong with the birth.

There is a lot of good info in these links.

http://www.cavyspirit.com/breeding.htm

http://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm

Suzy

Can one of the moderators move this thread to the Labour & Pregnancy section

[CiaraPatricia]

Yeah the thing with guinea pigs, if you're breeding them, they can't really live together all the time. If she gives birth soon, then he could get her pregnant again straight away, which would be very very unhealthy for her. So really you should separate them now, cos you don't know when she might give birth, it could be very soon if they've been together so long. And she won't be ready to breed again for I'd say at least a good few months, it'll take her up to 2 months to wean the female babies, then she'd need at least 2 more months of rest I'd think. (Hope this isn't against the rules, just want to give them good advice that the female needs to rest.) If you put the male in again straight after she's weaned the babies, well that's too early, because guinea pig pregnancies are very hard on the female and that's too early for any animal to breed again, but especially guinea pigs. I'd think that maybe 2 litters a year would be all a guinea pig could manage to have and stay healthy. Also your guinea pig is still very young to be having babies, so she'll need time to recover after.

I know on this forum we're not meant to discuss breeding, just want you to know how to do it right. :) Maybe check out the guinea lynx website, I think there's good info on pregnancies, and do some research on other sites too, the more research the better.

Good luck with the babies and I hope your piggies will be alright

[madhatter]

i wasn't intending to breed but just to get my male a friend as he had become extremely skittish after having to be removed from my other males as he had a major fight with them. since i got my female he has settled down and is no longer skittish. i only bought her for that reason.

[lauralucy]

how old is the male? you could get him neutered and put with your female will stop any more pregnancies or you could hope the female has a boy and he could go in with dad.

[CiaraPatricia]

Aw poor guy :( You know you can get males neutered, it's quite safe if you go to a vet experienced with neutering guinea pigs. :)

I'd recommend to take him away from the female now, get him neutered as soon as possible, and then when the babies are weaned he can go back in with the female and live happily. :) See, after being neutered they have to spend 4-6 weeks apart from the female until all the sperm die and they are safe to be back in with her. If you think about neutering him, they would live very happily together then.

Or if you have the space, and if there's a boy baby and a girl baby, you could keep the boy with his dad, they'd hopefully get on well and he'd be happy. And keep a girl baby with the mom for company.

I hope everything works out anyway :)

[madhatter]

my male is now around 8 months roughly :)) lol i also have his brothers and if it wernt for the fact he had a major fight with them ,he'd still be in with them

[lauralucy]

its up to you if you want to have him neutered and put him back with the female or wait and put him with his son.

[Kayleigh]

my male is now around 8 months roughly :)) lol i also have his brothers and if it wernt for the fact he had a major fight with them ,he'd still be in with them

When males reach a certain age fights do start to happen, its a natural thing for boars to be territorial, The general rule that is followed is two boars can live happily, three can be a crowd. I only know of a few people who have kept 3 or more boars togeather happily. I would definately recommend getting your boar neutered by an experienced vet to prevent further pregnancies. I hope your sows pregnancy goes smoothly.