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?

When they're born, do not touch them. We made that mistake, years ago. The mum ended up eating them all, when we left. It made me feel sick, when I realised what had happened. Wishing you all the best.

I'm going to guess she came from Pets at Home? They have a reputation in the rat community for constantly mis-sexing rats and if you've ever seen a pair of rat balls you know it's hard to mess up.

When mine were pregnant I spent hours holding their bump feeling the babies move 💕

placemaking

Place marking for the photos 🩷

With the 6 litters I had, the most I ever had was 4 in a litter. The smallest litter had 2. I don't think there's really any accurate way of estimating. The fewer babies there are, the bigger they grow in the womb (for this reason it can be risky when they have one baby, as it can be HUGE for them to give birth to!)

This was definitely a guinea pig? I've never ever heard of that happening, as an ex-breeder myself. It is more common with rats, mice, hamsters (species born without fur) but that isn't something that usually happens with guinea pigs.

Space marking too, can't wait to see them 😍

I would try to get a phone call with the vet and ask if they think she needs to be seen. A visit is such a stressful event for a heavily pregnant animal of any kind, I would avoid at all costs if at all possible.

Just marking my place for baby GP photos!

@JDJT Yes this definitely happened with a guinea pig. I was the child. My parents spoke to the pet shop. They explained that we shouldn't have handled the babies. The mum must have felt stressed.

How sad! It is very, very unusual. All mine were handled straight away. Never had any issues. I wonder if, as she was a very new guinea pig and was stressed from being rehomed or something? Or the babies weren't healthy perhaps. It probably was nothing to do with them being touched. I wouldn't trust what a petshop says anyhow!

following for the baby guinea pig news! Good luck op

We had two female GP's when I was about 5 (late 70's) expect one was male. The joke was that then everyone in the street had GP's 😂😂. They are the sweetest animals.

you might have a wait though as they can be pregnant until up to around 70 days so you might have another 2 weeks

So here she is in all her fat glory! I think she actually looks smaller than IRL in these photos though. Day 56 with us now...

Omg 😂😂

She's beautiful

Wish I still had piggies

They bring so much joy

Ah, her babies are going to be so cute! You are so going to keep them….

Ex Guinea /skinny pig breeder here.

She does not need a vets trip. When the babies arrive, leave the two females together with them. They will share the care and separating the girls will only cause trauma. Don't remove any male babies straight away, they need at least 2-3 weeks with the mum to ensure they are fully weaned. Don't worry about supplements up to now, but do start offering the mum a small handful of oats every day and extra varieties fruit and veg. Increase the fresh hay every day too.

Also as she is at the end you may well hear the babies grinding their teeth/chunnering inside her. That's normally within the last 48 hours.

My biggest litter ever was 8 from one female, a dark eyed white self. Lilac tricolours it was 7. And I had a skinny pig that had 2 litters of 5 . Normally it was 2-4.

@dingledangledinkledoo thanks to your post I’ve just googled skinny pig. How did I not know about them?! So, so cute..

To all those reading the thread and wondering whether to get Guinea pigs, they are surprisingly hard work and personally harder than a dog! They also live a long time. So while intensely cute, do think carefully particularly about who will mind them every time you go away for a night or more.

Skinny pigs are amazing! 🥰

And I couldn't agree more, GPs are a huge amount of work and expense and they can live as long as a dog so they're a bit commitment. I think people have this impression that they're like a hamster when it couldn't be further from the truth really. They're more like a tiny dog 😂

And yes, they can't be left alone for a day or more. They need access to hay and food constantly to keep their gut moving. Which is why I have carry cases, spare bedding and cages, snack boxes, blankets etc for sleepovers with pig sitters when I go away. Again, more expense and effort and time...

but they're worth it ❤️

Love guinea pigs. We have two 3 year old guineas who get along well but the tiny ones are so cute. Can't wait to see pics of your babies!

Dear of her! You are going to be the best Piggy Mummy!