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advice on rearing young piggy

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eeyore

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hi i have just been given a baby guinea pig that was found in a ladies garden and need some advice on caring for it.
i have guinea pigs of my own but this little one is tiny and i have just noticed it still has its umbilical cord although it is dried up. i know guineas develop quicker than most babies and can eat little bits of food at a very early age but as this is sooo young and missing out on mums milk will i need to bottle feed it?
i know its late but any advice would be greatly appreciated
 
Right, I'm going to allert more experienced people to this problem but for now, can you mash up some of the pellets you sually feed your piggies, mix with boiling water and pop in with baby, also can you please weight the baby (this gives a better age indication) If you are able, please also make sure a cosey box full of hay (or other yummi things) is left out in the ladies garden, as if baby is with you i doubt mom would have been far away.

*leave to cool before popping in with baby, sorry
 
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thank you for your quick reply i will go weigh him/her now and let the lady know.
 
Not a problem, I will wait around for abit and advise as much as I can. I'm just going to do a little research, but i think goats milk soaked into wholemeal bread is good to offer if you have any of that lying around. (it certainly wont do any harm untill i can find the name of the propper milk substitute)

Also, offering all the things you would offer your piggies normally, so pop some grass in there (not too much cos of upsetting little tums), and some hay and pellets, just incase baby is much older than we think but no veg as that might all be new. :)
 
113g, this could quite easily be a baby only a few days old, however if it was born small it may be a little older. Suzy (our mums and babies expert) should be up in the morning to give more advice about hand feeding baby, and what exactly baby will need. For now, a couple of other things you can do is make sure the water bottle is at baby level, and also pop a water bowl in with baby. how does baby seem? Allert/perky, or quite sleepy?

Another thing to try is to ring your local cavvy savvy vet and see if they have any advice re feeding and toileting the baby. If you arnt quite confident in the vet you use, feel free to post your location or have a look through our recomended vets list.
 
Sorry, i dont feel like I'm being very helpfull, I'm just trying to give you all the advice ive picked up along the way untill someone with more experience in this area comes along!
 
dont be sorry i am greatful for just being able to talk to you :), piggy seems quite lively has been squeaking a little, may be trying to call for mum. i didnt think about toileting do they need help when young like kittens and puppies then?
 
yes i know they need a little help, but I'm not sure exactly how to do it. (i know, how unhelpfull) I believe its done with a damp cloth, rubbing in circles after a feed. But that would require knowing what to feed! :/

The soft pellets are the best bet for tonight, or critical care etc etc. Then suzy and/or others will be about in the morning. I believe kitten milk is used as a substitute but it has to be offered on a spoon, so that baby doesnt breath any in. Hopefully you might catch the mother overnight, so baby can feed from her some more.
 
ok i have toileted puppies and kittens before so will give it a go in case there is anything to come out and have prepared some pellets for piggy and some water.
 
Oh wonderfull :) look at you go! if he is a little older than we are guessing (I'm thinking 1-4 days, but could be anything up to a week really) then he may already be used to solid food and tuck in really fast.
 
I'm sorry I'm going to have to pop off to bed now (gotta be up in a few hours) but i have allerted the more experienced people, and they should be with you in the morning. I will check again tomorrow to make sure, and to see how baby is doing!

Over night the most important thing is to keep baby warm, so inside (if he/she isnt already) and perhaps give baby an old jumper or something to snuggle in too (unless your piggies have fleecey things, in which case any normal piggy fleecey thing will do)

I have my fingers firmly crossed for baby and am hoping mummy can be found. Goodluck!
 
just got back from tesco to get some goats milk, tried piggy earlier with soaked pellets on a spoon and it had a little nibble, have toileted and it did a little poo. will try milk soon. thankyou talk to you in the morning, i proberly wont get much sleep but its worth it. fingers crossed
 
Sorry I am no help at all because I've never had baby guinea pigs but hopefully you can find some good advice.

From a quick browse on this forum I've found a few similar topics to hopefully help.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51927
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=63792


And htough I am not sure if its safe to link off site I think for this subject I can link it just this once.

http://www.petforums.co.uk/small-animal-chat/160726-hand-rearing-1-day-old-guinea-pig.html

Hopefully one of the threads help somewhat. Really wish I knew to personally help.

Good luck and hope it all goes well. :)

Lets hope mummy is found soon too as its definitely the best chance for bubba. A box outside with some veggies in will probably help lure her.
 
The baby should be fine to eat pellets/hay/grass on its own. One of my guinea pigs was taken away immediatley from her mom and was going to be sold as snake food. She is perfectly healthy. Guinea pig babies are born able to eat like an adult pig. They don't need their mom's milk(not ideal though) and can survive. Make sure the baby is able to drink from the water bottle. You may need to show them how because mommy pig would normally show them how. Other then that just make sure you weigh the baby daily.
 
I just skimmed the thread before because I had to get my kids to bed. I just read the whole thing now and [*]dont feed goat/kitten milk[/*]. Guinea pigs are lactose intolerant. They can't digest the milk, same reason why yogurt treats aren't good for them. Just wanted to add that :)
 
Hope this little one is ok. I can't offer any care advice, sorry, but Just wondering if it would be worth you knocking on neighbours doors incase they own mum pig and baby has escaped from its Hutch/cage?
 
You're welcome to give me a ring here at the rescue for advice.

01639 721127

Suzy x
 
Glad to hear toileting etc went well :) I would definatly recomend giving suzy a ring as she has lots of experience at the rescue.
 
sad news little piggy didnt make it through the night. he/she seemed fine dont know what happened just suddenly took a turn for the worse.. sorry didnt reply sooner but it was really upsetting that i couldnt help the sweet little thing.
 
Aww I'm so sorry to hear that. RIP little piggy.
 
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