Guinea pig aborting babies

[teadragon]

There is often no apparent reason for a miscarriage. I wonder if any of those who are complaining about breeding have had a miscarriage themselves only to be told they should not have chilldren because the parental history is not known?

Do you often personify a guinea pig?

You of all people on this forum should know the difference between humans breeding and breeding guinea pigs - in this case, a guinea pig, who has recently had a litter and who has now obviously had a cause to abort her second litter.

 

[pompeywitchy]

Hi, Just took the girls to the vet and they are both fine. The vet said sometimes it happens for no reason or it might have been that one of the babies wasn't devoping properly so she aborted all of them. I see one dead baby in the cage and just grabbed all of the bedding and binned it. I didn't want to see how many more she had lost so got no idea how many there was.
The male I had castrated about 8 mths ago and he is still in with the female I got with him so they have paired off and very happy together.
As for Valentine I might try him in with a baby and see what happens. He does think he's a bit of a hard man and can be stroppy around other piggies. As long as I keep watch I will see how he gets on with a baby boar piggy. A breeder bought him and he was in with some girls for abought 6 mths and nothing happened. I was told she also him from a breeder and he was no good. I also had him in with some girls but nothing happened so I take it he's got the wrong name as he as no lead in he's pencil. He is very handsome, cheeky and chatty. He is also very friendly and loves being handled. Would be nice to find him a friend. As i don't want him to be lonely.
I would like to thank you all for your advice, most of it was usefull. And thankyou for the links that I have kept for future use.
One more thing, I asked the vet about swine flu as I was worried about my pets. He said make sure you wash hands before and after going near the ferrets as they are the only pet that can catch it. Also if I come in contact with swine flu I should wear a mask near the ferrets. Guinea pigs can't catch it.

 

[alcesterpigs]

KBF
All living creatures have the need to reproduce. If this were not the case we would not be here exchanging views about guinea pigs!

 

[alcesterpigs]

Just a thought on timescales. If, give or take, a guinea pig year is equivalent to fourteen human years, would a few months between litters equate to four or five human years?
I have a good idea of the counter-argument but still look forward to the responses!

 

[teadragon]

KBF
ALL living creatures have the need to reproduce. If this were not the case we would not be here exchanging views about guinea pigs!

You're missing the point. I'm not talking about "no guinea pigs should ever breed" and sterilising every pig on the planet, I'm talking about casual breeding of pet guinea pigs with no goal except to produce babies (no goals to better the breed or to meet a specific demand to make the pets better. Without that goal, we'll only be breeding and getting more weak stock). There is no need for every pet owner in the world to freely breed their pets - there is no shortage of guinea pigs or other animals in the world, you just need to be willing to go and find a good source which many people find difficult.

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OP, this (^) is not directed at you, nor is it a judgement of your situation. I am very glad to hear that your vet has given your girls the all-clear.

Boars can be paired with older boys, but you need to be careful. I have three boars who live together uneventfully in a large C&C cage (www.guineapigcages.com) if you have a look through the GL forum you'll be able to find posters who have multiple boars living together; it might help if you read and learn a bit from them (if anything, learn about how much humour you can get from a failed pairing or one which is grumpy). Older to younger pairings tend to go very well, but when the baby hits adolescence you tend to have to give them a bit more room while mini-hormones settle down.

 

[nutmeg]

Hi, One more thing, I asked the vet about swine flu as I was worried about my pets. He said make sure you wash hands before and after going near the ferrets as they are the only pet that can catch it. Also if I come in contact with swine flu I should wear a mask near the ferrets. Guinea pigs can't catch it.

Glad you are thinking about a baby boy, not usually a problem. Thanks for the info about ferrets and swine flu. Very useful. Although I don't have any myself, I know others on here do. xx

 

[pompeywitchy]

I thought I would ask the vet about swine flu as I was worried about my furby family aswell as the human ones. Ferrets can catch colds, flu etc from people but guinea pigs are in the clear ( wonders why they ever used them for research in the first place) My son was in the clear as not got swine flu just a summer cold. My sisters boy as got it but ive not been near him for weeks so my family in the clear at mo.
and as for Buffy having a litter to close to the last one there was a 6mth gap before she was mated again. Vet said that was fine as guinea pigs can fall pregnant within hours of giving birth.

 

[mackpossum]

Glad you got Buffy checked out by the vet.
Sorry to hear she had miscarried, but that's something that happens, unfortunately.
Hope Ruby had a healthy litter soon. And I hope you get one little boy there so you can pair your grumpy old fellow with him.

When our piggy had a litter and we had a boy I paired him with the lonely older male and he got a new lease of life and enjoyed the company. There wasn't any dominance problems.

Thanks for finding out about the swine flu and the piggies.

Good luck with Ruby!

 

[pompeywitchy]

Just to say Ruby as also lost her babies last week. I think it was caused by stress and it wasn't until my mum was here that she commented on it. I have a 6ft fence round my garden and I own 6 dogs. My nextdoor neighbour ( who is my daughter) as got 2 whippets. The whippets keep jumping over the fence and my dogs go mental, barking and howling. We have asked our daughter lost of times to do something but she is not interested. Tomorrow we are going out to buy a 2 ft trellis to put up and with anyluck that will stop them coming over. Told my daughter she as got to pay for it as Ive got a large garden and its going to cost £100.
A friend of mine took in a rescued guinea pig that gave birth to 2 little boy babies. Last week I took Valentine there to see how he gets on with the babies and hes fine. My friend is going to keep the babies so Valentine is going to stay there with her Babies. I go there about 3 times a week so I can see him all the time and he like the rest of her pets is very spoilt.

 

[Wiebke]

I am so sorry; you must be gutted!

I think it was a wise decision to move your guinea pigs to another place, as they are animals of prey and get stressed out too easily by too much constant ruckus! If you have dogs, they need to be well away from them and all the noise.

Make sure that both mums get properly pampered and well fed, as their bodies still have to cope with the burden of a prengnancy, even if there were no babies.

 

[Black Jack]

I thought I would ask the vet about swine flu as I was worried about my furby family aswell as the human ones. Ferrets can catch colds, flu etc from people but guinea pigs are in the clear ( wonders why they ever used them for research in the first place) My son was in the clear as not got swine flu just a summer cold. My sisters boy as got it but ive not been near him for weeks so my family in the clear at mo.
and as for Buffy having a litter to close to the last one there was a 6mth gap before she was mated again. Vet said that was fine as guinea pigs can fall pregnant within hours of giving birth.

FYI: GPs are used in research as they share 97% of the make-up of their DNA with humans DNA - go figure?!

 

[nutmeg]

This must have been awful. I can imagine that this situation would be stressful. Hopefully the mums can recover well, and the barking dogs sorted out. xx