Baby Guinea Pigs and Age

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I've recently purchased two female Guineas from that Fish place that pet place (yesterday). The girl at the pet store swore to me that they were about six weeks old. Now, I also own a male (housed separately) and he's about 9 weeks old. He's much much larger than these little girls. I found that I can hold them in one hand and they fit perfectly. So, I visited the breeder of my male pig and he showed me some of his babies and was appalled when he found out that they had sold them to me and the store told me they were six weeks old. He said they are probably no more than two weeks, and I believe him. Some of his new borns out of a litter of 4 to five are about equal in size of these little babies. So, I called the pet store and explained the situation, they're not eating much (they've chewed on some romaine lettuce) but haven't really drank or eaten anything else. I've offered them chopped carrots, leafs of romaine lettuce, guinea pellets, and orchard hay. Like I said, they've eaten only a bit of lettuce and I'm fairly sure it's only the one little female. It appears as if the other is not eating, and she's much thinner than the other girl. Anyway, the manager of That Fish Place that Pet Place spoke to me and told me that they always get their pigs off of this breeder and they're always this big (not true, I was in two weeks ago and there were ones that appeared to be only a little bit smaller than my male). She dropped off five females and ten males. I'm thinking this "breeder" maybe got a little overpopulated and dropped these poor babies off helpless? Unfortunately, I am a student so I cannot feed them as often as they need be from what I've read from books. I've thought about taking them back, because I know the girls in the section would feed them by hand - but they do not want to give me my money back. Only store credits, and I really do not wish to support the place as I'm quite disgusted with them to be honest.

Any suggestions, or ideas of about how old they are? When I go to take them back (if I do) I'm going to bring my male to try to prove to these people that their "breeder" is possibly lying to them as I got my male around seven weeks and he was probably twice the size of these little girls, easily. Any other suggestions? I'm mainly concerned in getting this "breeder" of theirs out of that pet store, and out of business. >.> What's she's doing IMO is despicable.

Thank you!
 
Have you got some pics of them so we can see exactly how big they are?
 
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these r 4weeks old if that helps any snowdrop had 5 babies
 
they might not be eating yet as the surroundings are new and they are quite shy little things, i've heard many people say that they don't think their new guineas are eating, maybe they'll eat when your not looking, not an expert on sizes so someone else will give a guess at their ages.
they are gorgeous by the way, i wouldn't take them back if i were you,they have a great mum now, they don't want to go back to that petshop when they have you. they shouldn't need hand feeding, baby boars can be seperated from mum at 3 weeks, so i'm guessing they will be fine x good luck
 
i'd guess that they look about the same age, so a little young for the pet shop to sell, but they will be fine i'm sure x
 
Yeah they look about the same age as Kath's pigs. They shouldn't have been sold and they probably aren't eating because it's all new to them. Just offer some veggies, keep trying. If it gets really bad I'm sure you can syringe feed but I don't think it will come to that.

Good luck and they really are sweet!

Louise
:)
 
sunshineandtwinkle (louise) u give some fantastic advice keep up the good work i just love this site :smitten: :smitten:
 
I'm not really up on ages and sizes of guinea pigs to be honest but we bought Bob when he was 8 weeks old (or so the petshop told us anyway) and your piggies look just smaller than he was.

Bob too wouldn't really eat when we first got him and then when he did have some cabbage it upset his tum and I thought oh no! But once he got used to his new surroundings and I fed him little pieces at a time he eventually got there.
Now he's putting on 50g a week and getting big :)

Just keep trying with them and they will be fine. I'd not take them back cause I'd have fears about how they would be looked after.

Fay
 
Hi Kath!

Aww thanks! I'm new to Guinea Pigs (only got Sunshine in June) but having heard everyones advice here I've took it on board, this place is good. I post on a couple of GP forums and they are all great!

Have a good day!

Louise
:)
 
After reading all of that (thanks guys!) I just have a few questions...

If they are only a few weeks old, is there any chance that they'll develope problems when they get older because of not getting what they should've from mom? If so what kind of problems?

Also, I've read that syringe feeding could be deadly for baby piggies because if you push too hard the food could go down their throats. Is that true?

Also, they've nibbled down about half a leaf of romaine lettuce, but I'm pretty sure it was only Cally eating. Don't be fooled, behind those lumps of fur I can feel their ribs pretty easily. Is that normal in guineas this little?

And Kath, thanks for the comparison pictures! Mine look just a little bit smaller than that in real, so I'm guessing around three weeks.

I find it kind of odd that the breeder would bring in babies that were only 3 weeks or so, when I asked the worker and she said they had to be at least six or seven for them to be brought in. They were brought in with a little set of five females if that helps any. There were also about 10 males of equal size to these females that their breeder brought in at the same time.

-Ashley
 
Hiya,

I found this info on Guinea Lynx. :)

Hope it helps,

Louise

Young Pups
Some pups lose their mother to pregnancy related complications. Other pups do not thrive. Weigh your pups promptly after they are born and daily for at least a week to make sure they are getting the food they need. JHand notes that in 5 different litters, the pups all lost a small amount of weight for the first 2 days and then showed a gain on the 3rd. She emphasized observing how the pup is acting and being very careful with syringe feeding the pups as they can aspirate food. If one pup seems to be losing significantly more weight for the first 2 days than the other pups, be sure to hand feed. I noticed that when they started gaining weight, it would be 1/8 of an oz a day for maybe the 1st week, then it would up to 1/4 oz a day, after about 3 weeks, it would go up to like a 1/2 oz a day. This was basic averages. A couple pups failed to gain at the rate JHand observed but eventually began gaining. Check JHands chart to get an idea of what kind of weight gain you can expect in pups. Salana found that a later failure to gain weight at the same rate as littermates can be a sign of tooth problems: she noticed that in the second week her pup Einstein wasn't gaining as fast as her other pup. An examination revealed Einstein's tooth problems.

Tips for the weak and the young:
What to Feed: Critical Care (or a pellet mash if CC is not available) works best for babies. Try adding a bit of cooked pumpkin (or butternut squash baby food) to the primary food, either Critical Care or crushed pellets. Feed small amounts frequently during the day (the more frequent the better, perhaps every 1-2 hours, at least every 3 hours). At first you may only be able to feed 1 or 2 cc of pellet mash every hour or so. Carefully syringing water (or unsweetened pedialyte) can help keep the pup hydrated.
No Milk Products: Milk products and milk replacer products are not appropriate for guinea pigs (milk). None are formulated to replace a mother cavy's milk. Cavies are quite mature when born (long gestation), so that while a guinea pig will benefit from its mother's milk, milk is not necessary to thrive and survive.
Technique: Some pups will eat from a spoon. Others need more aggressive hand feeding. Feed carefully to avoid aspiration (getting fluids into the lungs vs. the stomach -- may cause pneumonia).
Encourage Eating Standard Foods: Make sure pellets, hay, water, leafy green vegetables, and grass are always available so the cavy can begin eating on its own as soon as possible.
Elimination Tips: You will need to help orphans to pass waste during the first week or so of life. Normally a mother will do this by cleaning the pup's genitals. Wiping the genitals after feeding will help to stimulate elimination. Try a warm, wet washcloth, stroking several times.
Foster Mothers: A foster mother will often accept pups. Pairing a mother with few pups with one that has many gives the pups from the larger litter a better chance at survival.
Time Alone: Some runts can benefit from extra time with their mother. Remove the competing pups periodically for 15 minutes or so to give the runt more opportunity to feed. See also Mette the Vette's article on Weak Babies.
 
I had a similar thought to you when I got Timmy, he seemed very very small for a 6 week old pup. I worried as well because he wasnt eating, but I chopped various mixed veggies quite small and put them in at night as well as his pellets and hay of course. He didnt seem to eat during the day but when I checked in the morning he had definately eaten some (though not all) and I knew this as there were mini poops near the food bowl. So make sure they have fresh food to eat at night time when its quiet as they will be nervous and not want to come out to eat during the day.
Timmy is a fine big boy and 6 months old now :)
 
I too got a new sow recently and was told she was 6 weeks old. She was so scrawny and fit quite easily into my palm. I was worried about her not eating etc. but after 2/3 days I think she realised it was time to fend for herself and now eats away happily.
 
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