Babies having time with Dad?

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BlackandGinge

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Hi my guinea pig gave birth to 4 babies exactly 2 weeks ago and I was looking for a bit of advice on introductions between the father and the babies.

How do you introduce them?
Would you put them all in the father's cage?
All of them or one or two at a time?
How long for?
Will the mum get scared about her babies being away?
Is it beneficial for the babies and Dad to have the introduction? If it's going to cause problems or it doesn't make any difference than I might reconsider doing it altogether.

Also I will be bonding one of the baby boys with Dad when baby turns 3 weeks old. Is it exactly the same process as bonding a fully grown male pig?

Thanks in advance for the tips,

Char x
 
Just to add, please don’t put any baby girls in with dad as he is able to get them pregnant if he isn’t neutered or gone through the 6 week post op wait. Any baby girls won’t warrant being put with dad and they should stay with mum
 
BlackandGinge said:
Hi my guinea pig gave birth to 4 babies exactly 2 weeks ago and I was looking for a bit of advice on introductions between the father and the babies.

How do you introduce them?
Would you put them all in the father's cage?
All of them or one or two at a time?
How long for?
Will the mum get scared about her babies being away?
Is it beneficial for the babies and Dad to have the introduction? If it's going to cause problems or it doesn't make any difference than I might reconsider doing it altogether.

Also I will be bonding one of the baby boys with Dad when baby turns 3 weeks old. Is it exactly the same process as bonding a fully grown male pig?

Thanks in advance for the tips,

Char x
Click to expand...

Hi!

Please sex all your babies now. Dad can live next door to his family, provided he cannot get into the cage. Seeing his babies grow up will enhance acceptance. He can have short meetings with any sons outside the cage in a neutral area (please accept that guinea pigs are territorial), just as long as the mother is not getting upset about them missing (about 5-15 minutes max.) in the run up. Dad can initially live with all baby sons so you can choose the one he gets on with best in order to end up with the most stable boar bond possible that has the greatest chance to get through teenage.

If you end up with 3 boar babies, please keep the other two boys together; if it is an even number of baby boys, then keep dad with a pair and have the odd one out of the trio neutered once teenage sets in and you see how the dynamics develop; this should give you a stable boar pair and a neutered 'husboar' (either dad or a son) who can go on to live with mother and any daughters after a 6 weeks post-neutering safety wait as the semen in the tubes is not removed, only the testicles. If you end up with 4 girls, then the best option would be again to have dad neutered so he can live with mum and any daughters once he is safe to.

I hope that this will help you?
 
Claire W said:
Just to add, please don’t put any baby girls in with dad as he is able to get them pregnant if he isn’t neutered or gone through the 6 week post op wait. Any baby girls won’t warrant being put with dad and they should stay with mum
Click to expand...

Okay thank you! This has really helped. I won't be introducing the daughters. He has one son. So I will be bonding him with Dad this week. 🤞🤞
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Please sex all your babies now. Dad can live next door to his family, provided he cannot get into the cage. Seeing his babies grow up will enhance acceptance. He can have short meetings with any sons outside the cage in a neutral area (please accept that guinea pigs are territorial), just as long as the mother is not getting upset about them missing (about 5-15 minutes max.) in the run up. Dad can initially live with all baby sons so you can choose the one he gets on with best in order to end up with the most stable boar bond possible that has the greatest chance to get through teenage.

If you end up with 3 boar babies, please keep the other two boys together; if it is an even number of baby boys, then keep dad with a pair and have the odd one out of the trio neutered once teenage sets in and you see how the dynamics develop; this should give you a stable boar pair and a neutered 'husboar' (either dad or a son) who can go on to live with mother and any daughters after a 6 weeks post-neutering safety wait as the semen in the tubes is not removed, only the testicles. If you end up with 4 girls, then the best option would be again to have dad neutered so he can live with mum and any daughters once he is safe to.

I hope that this will help you?
Click to expand...

Wow thank you so much for the detailed response, Wiebke. You are so amazing and knowledgeable.

I have 3 girls and 1 boy. So I will be bonding the boy with Dad this week. Hoping it all goes well. 🤞🤞

The 3 girls I'm planning on keeping with Mum so I will end up with a quartet of sows. Is this a good combination? Any thing to look out for behaviour wise?

Thanks so much again xx
 
BlackandGinge said:
Wow thank you so much for the detailed response, Wiebke. You are so amazing and knowledgeable.

I have 3 girls and 1 boy. So I will be bonding the boy with Dad this week. Hoping it all goes well. 🤞🤞

The 3 girls I'm planning on keeping with Mum so I will end up with a quartet of sows. Is this a good combination? Any thing to look out for behaviour wise?

Thanks so much again xx
Click to expand...

That is a very useful situation.

You have to brace for a potentially quite a bit of emphatic dominance from the mother and between the girls as they establish a working group hierarchy between themselves at weaning time when the babies become full members of the group and lose their special protected status as nursing babies.
Here is more on sow dominance and behaviour: Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

Please keep the boars out of direct sight and reach of female pheromones, especially during teenage, ideally at a little distance or on a higher level/above the sows.
They can still stay on in the same room, as boars that grow up around sows and sow pheromones will produce more of a calming hormone and will generally react less to the excess - but as I know from my own boars only pairs in the piggy room, a strong season can still mean a temporary boar separation or even a fall-out. Introducing sows into a boars-only zone is the big problem that can really put the cat amongst the pigeons, pheromone-wise.
Here is more information on boars and our bonding guide, which contains a baby boar bonding chapter with an intro video.
Please take the time to read all these guide links so you can understand better what is going on:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

You may also find this link here interesting and helpful:
Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs
 
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