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Maisy and her two babies

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jess_2745

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About 2 months ago i rescued a female guinea pig who is now about 3 months old. A couple of weeks ago i realised she was pregnant when i got her, at 1 month old and the babies were most probably inbreeds.

I was worried sick as she was so small and about what the babies would turn out like. I've never had baby guinea pigs before. Well about 5 days ago she gave birth to 2 babies, i think a boy and a girl. The vet told me you can't tell this early and only at around 4 months but i think that's wrong?

The little girl seems to have something wrong with her eye. I think it looks smaller than the other and is quite dull compared to the other eye. No discharge or anything was coming out of it but she does seem to squint a lot.

I took all three to the vets who said they were all a bit under weight due to her being so young so i'm feeding them up. She checked to see if there were any scratches to the surface of the eye which there weren't. And she said they weren't reflecting light that well but could be because they were scared. I was prescriped eye ointment for her.

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice? I find the vets absolutely useless and i don't want to keep wasting my money when it's not an emergency and they keep giving me wrong information.
 
Hi Jess and a huge welcome to the forum from us in OZ xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yes you're spot on, mum needs to be separated from any boy piggies by 3 weeks.......this is what most people will recommend or if you see him trying to mount a bit before this it could be an idea to separate a bit earlier.
I'm sure our experienced people on this will be along shortly, i've never experienced mini's x)x)
GOod luck and i hope the little ones grow up to be nice and chunky for you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Please let us know how things go :):):):)
 
This is just a guess but could the one eye not have developed fully like the other as you said the piggies might be inbred? There is a useful info on www.guinealynx.com Hope this helps.
 
Hiya welcome to the forum

Glynis is right they baby boys need to be away from mum at 3 weeks some have had to come away as early as 2 1/2 weeks.

Can you post some good pictures of the piggies bits as some of our members are very good at sexing young piggies from pictures. See what you can do as i know its hard to get clear pics of young ones.

Would love to see what the little babies look like.

Lindsay x
 
I don't think she is a lethal as she is black and white mainly with a bit of brown. I also checked that she has all her teeth etc which she has. I'm really not sure what to do about her eye at all.

I'll also post some pics of their bits tomorrow so i can check they are a boy and a girl. I haven't got my camera at the minute.
 
Hi Jess and welcome to the forum. I am sure that you will find lots of helpful advice on here ... we are a friendly bunch!

Congratulations on the babies, although it obviously was a surprise to you.
I recently adopted a little blind sow who I called Princess. She came to me at 7 weeks old and 7 weeks later she gave birth to two mini-pigs. Unfortunately, one a little sow, was dead but the little boar was fine. He is called Junior and will stay living with us. I wasn't anticipating having anymore piggies, but we are so attached to him now that we wouldn't part with him.

I am shocked that your vet said they couldn't sex a guinea pig until it was four months old ... I did read that right, didn't I?
Anyway, to try to sex them yourself, hold a baby with its back in the palm of your hand so it is facing you. If it is a boy, it will have a small straight opening (his bottom) and above it a small round bit (housing his penis). If it is a girl, she will just have a Y shape "bit". Difficult to describe, but hope that helps.

As to the question of the pig's sight. Does the eye look opaque/cloudy? Is it smaller that the other eye? Also as Stargrrlclaire asked ... is the piggy white?
 
Yes you did read that right, she did say 4 months. I'm 99% sure it's girl and boy as they have that i and y shape. I'll post some pictures tomorrow to double check as i don't want any more surprises!

Looking at the eye it does look smaller. However, i'm not sure if the actual eyeball is small or if there is too much eyelid. The eye looks quite dull, not as shiny as the other one. I'm not sure if it hasn't improved since using the ointment but it definately isn't right. I think she's squinting more than she was first. I don't mind if she's blind i just don't want it to cause her any discomfort.

She isn't all white either. Mainly black and white with a bit of brown so i don't think she's a lethal.
 
Took them to the vets today and i have a little boy and girl. She looked at her eye and said she is most probably blind, but it's nothing to worry about. Apart from that everything is fine.

In a week the boy will be separated and i need to decide what to do with him. The vet said neutering would be best. She said they only take about 10 to 15 minutes and stitch the muscle so they can't get a hernia.

Does this sound ok? And do you think it's worth the risk? My only other options are to live alone or with another boar but she said they would probably fight.
 
I wouldn't rush into the neutering option too soon. Think out what your options are first. From previous experience young boars that are interacted from a young age can take to each other. I have had boars separated as they used to fight and get nasty but these were mature boars trying to dominate each other. I haven't got that much experience compared to a lot of others on the forum so I'm sure you'll get some more info soon.
 
Hi again.

So sorry to hear that your little sow may be blind but having said that, my little Princess who is blind, lives a lovely life. She can be quite stroppy when veg is around and she hangs on to it with her feet - very determined not to let it go! :))

She did have a litter at the age of 14 weeks, just 7 weeks after I rescued her but although only one mini-pig survived from her litter of two, she has been fine and looked after her little boar like mad! xx>>> She is still very tiny though and I wonder if she will reach a proper weight ever!

Her son, Junior, is now separated from her and I am considering having him neutered when he is old enough. He is now living again with the neutered boar that was living with Princess and Auntie Panda before Junior came along.

I have had three boars neutered in the past with no problems, but you do need to find a vet experienced with that type of surgery. It is expensive and obviously risky.

Seeing as you have had a boar and sow living together ... there is a possibility of an expected litter already!
 
Hi

Wow do you guys really take your baby boars away from mummy at 2 and a half weeks old? I normally split them up around 6 weeks and never had any inbreed litters in the 20 years of breeding - you live and learn!?

I've had a couple of litters where the babies have had cloudy eyes - it is worrying, sometimes they can have a chill in there eye or the eye lashes are catching there eye (litters haven't been in bred as I know this can be a fault through in breeding). I normally go to the chemist and get golden eye ointment and pop that in twice a day and eventually they are fine. I kept a female - Bella - because as a baby her eyes were terrible and thought it unfair to sell her but she was fine eventually did take quite few weeks - grew up to be a fantastic pig, bred beautiful babies and sadly lost her a couple of weeks ago of old age!

I wish you luck with your new babies! and hope you little females eye make a full recovery!

Fay x
 
Sorry to hear that your piggy has a cloudy eye and is blind. That won't really interfere with a good piggy life.

Yes, separation of the baby boars from the girls at 2 1/2 to 3 weeks is recommended to prevent unexpected litters. Some boars are just more mature sooner rather then later and start mounting the girls in sight!

About neutering the baby boar....if you have a chance to keep another boar with him, I'd rather do that instead of the operation. But sometimes it's hutch/cage restrictions that dictate the neutering procedure because you just don't have the room for more hutches/cages. So whatever you decide for your little boar - hope it works out.
 
I fully agree with mackpossum (Marita) i'd not neuter it would be me choice to home with another little boy for company.
Just my opinion that's all :)
 
This may be a stupid question but what does lethal mean in guinea pig terms? Ive never heard that.
 
In reply to Lucinda i'm in Fowey, near St Austell.

The vet said it's only one eye that's affected and she'll be fine. I've got some eyedrops ad she told me to keep putting them in until i've used most of the tube as it might help improve it.

As for Charlie, he's going to be taken out this Sunday coming. He'll be three weeks and that will stop any more surprise babies!

I really don't know what i'm going to do. I'm going to sleep on it for a while and see what everyone on here suggests to help me make my mind up. I expect i will get another boar in the end lol. Hopefully i will be able to find a rescue boar as i prefer to do this.
 
guinealove07 said:
This may be a stupid question but what does lethal mean in guinea pig terms? Ive never heard that.
Click to expand...
lethals are completely white and have birth defects such as different sized eyes (the smaller eye not working), teeth problems and internal defects. It happens from a dalmation or a roan being breed with another dalmation or roan

so

dalmation*dalmation=lethal
roan*roan=lethal
roan*dalmation=lethal
dalmation*roan=lethal

hope this helps!

if not, search for lethal guinea pig in google and i'm sure there's plenty of info for you
 
Yeah I agree with splitting the males at around 3 weeks. I was advised this once when I had a sow give birth.
 
Hi Jess,

I am in Cornwall too.. I also got a young sow that was pregnant, so know how you feel. I found this site very useful to help me sex the babies (altho all the advice you've had is very good) http://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm.

Hope it helps.. looking forward to seeing pictures of your little heard.

Lisa x
 
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