Shit... 99% sure Guinea Pig is pregnant

[InAPickle12345]

Bit of a disaster... I lost one of my two lovely girls at the start of December. We were devastated, they were like two peas in a pod. I had a post on here at the time.

After just over a week I figured I needed to get another Guinea pig to keep my remaining one happy. Bought from a pet store as we don't have any rescues.... and I'm 99% sure the baby is pregnant 😡

Can't get her in to see the Vet until Tuesday morning.

She's had no vet care during pregnancy, haven't been feeding her any supplements. She was 8 weeks when she came to us, so young to be having babies. We've had her 55 days.

What the hell do I do now?

@TriceratopsRocks I never thought about turning the fleeces actually, I have a main, thick, absorbent fleece on the bottom and then layer smaller fleeces in the eating and sleeping areas which I change out most days.

I'm 100% convinced that my pigs poop and pee waaay more than normal GPs though, it's pretty astounding the amount of waste they create! I would never be able to clean the cage weekly, they would honestly stink the house out. I think the wood shavings/hemp/aubiose must be more absorbent and better at masking smells.

Bloody brilliant idea with the mattress protectors! Thank you, o have some old ones in the hot press I never use! But now I will! 🙌🏻

And yes, the bloody hay still gets everywhere! Bought a fancy shark hoover for myself last year and it's already ruined 🙄

Love Guinea Pigs. Shameless placemarking

I never knew they were a thing either! But they are! I'm so happy I have a great vet that doesn't just think I'm mad and write off small animals with problems. We did some research and found a 3D printing template that I could have produced here if the time came.

Here's a lil pic of what we had in mind!

Invested.

Omg the piggy wheelchair is the cutest!

I've been plotting getting some rabbits and have been busy designing a palatial home for them, but this thread is making me wonder whether I might prefer guinea pigs instead. I'd never considered them before. Food for thought....

And hurry up Mummy Pig.

I've tried to avoid the unashamed flagging for updates but I am now weirdly invested in the maternal status of this guinea pig....

Would love to see some more piggies while we wait 😂

@TriceratopsRocks I never thought about turning the fleeces actually, I have a main, thick, absorbent fleece on the bottom and then layer smaller fleeces in the eating and sleeping areas which I change out most days.

@InAPickle12345 Yes turning the fleeces does help. Our hutch is a big base (that originally started life as an Ikea wardrobe!) Designing and making the hutch was a project for DD and I. It sits on a table at eye level when we are sitting on the sofa, and has a plexiglass front so we can see in and they can see out. Then we have drainpipe runs up to an upper level that has always been a permanent hayloft. The bottom of the hutch had 3 rectangular padded fleeces which I made. One day I turned them, the next day I washed them. Only we worked out that the piggies made them dirtier, faster, when we changed them all at once (I guess they wanted to get them smelling of guinea pig again asap!). So then I worked out a sort of staggered arrangement where I would only ever replace 2 fleeces at a time so they still had guinea pig smell in there after a clean out. The 3rd fleece was rotated/washed one day out of sync with the other two. I think it helped, but I really can't be sure! Soooo much washing though, however you do it. But we really were able to move from daily fleece shenanigens to weekly aubiose/hay bedding. The aubiose does wonders at soaking up pee and smells.

Covering the mattress protectors with fleece was a bit of a challenge for my sewing machine, but it managed :)

And one of our piggies looks very much like the one in your wheelchair picture :)

I changed phone recently and everything is backed up elsewhere so don't have as many pics as I normally would but here's a couple of my lovely older girl to tide you over til our babies arrive 🥰

Also eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Tiny Pigs 🥰

Is the little pregnant pig fully grown? She looks so much smaller than the other one, unless it’s the angle

Following!

@TriceratopsRocks oh my god, I'm in awe of your DIY skills!!! That sounds amazing! Sounds very similar to my set up here in terms of layout but I have the C+C grids and plexiglass.

And now that you mention about them liking the smells, that makes total sense, maybe I should stagger the washing of the pee pads and see if the cages dirties as quickly? Are guinea pigs into marking their territory I wonder?

The beautiful girl I lost last year used to get soooo excited when she I cleaned the cage, popcorned every single time she got back into a clean cage... and promptly went to pee in 'her' corner. (God I miss that girl so much 😢)

Ahh, I think those pigs are called teddy Guinea pigs are they? Their coat is beautiful!

Nope, not fully grown at all. Mum to be is only a baby herself, 8 weeks old when she came to us already pregnant 😡

To be fair though, my other one is a serious chonk (you'll see why in my previous posts) so anything next to her will look miniature 😂 Weighed at the vets this week and she's about 1300g 🙈

Mine was always a dog house, never had a home without a dog in it. But I lost my 'soul dog' 6 years ago and couldn't bring myself to adopt another (I'm honestly still heartbroken and lonesome after her) but the house didn't feel like a home without animals so I settled on GPs.

Got the GPs for my son really but, while he loves them, they are now very much MY girls! 😂 I've been so surprised at how much I love them. If handled properly and given enough time and attention they will be the most loving, affectionate, inquisitive and cheeky little pets. My girls would literally jump into my hands wanting cuddles, they give little kisses on my nose and lips, snuggle up and fall asleep on my shoulder, or sometime just my face 😂... I couldn't recommend them as a pet more tbh, they're fantastic.

Let us know if you decide to take the plunge 🐹 ❤️

Another one shamelessly place marking!

Definitely think you should keep them. I always think that it gets easier per animal the more you have 🤣😂😂

So while we wait for adorable babies, here are some other cuties...

Oh.My.Goodness... Oh.My.Goodness...Oh.My.Flipping.Goodness!!!! 🙈

Your pigs are absolutely devine, just so gorgeous! Thank you so much for sharing, they have just made my evening! X How old are they? Both girls? And your cage set up is beautiful. They must be such happy little pigs ❤️
Are they Abyssinians?

Note to all the other GP owners here: please feel free to share your pics while we wait! I would love to see them 🥰

They say this about babies too but we all know in our hearts that's not really true! 🤣🥰

You actually have 3 @TriceratopsRocks do you?

Ahh I'm so excited to see baby piggies!!! Hoping everything goes smoothly for your gorgeous girls and that auntie pig is excited for her new besties.

Another one excited about baby Guinea Pig photos!

Baby guinea pigs are lovely - fully functioning mini adults racing about shouting their heads off 🤗

My late piggies. I miss them💔

Ooh please send photos of the cage in full view