Baby Guinea Pigs - Any advice

[slipperandpjsmum]

My foster guinea pig gave birth last night. We have 3 beautiful babies this morning. Does anyone have any advice to ensure both Mum and babies have the best possible care now. We have not touched the babies.

No idea, but congrats to you and your guinea. Bet they're really cute.

I would just leave them in peace and let mum get on with it. I'm sure someone with experience will be along shortly.

You can handle them, don't worry - it won't make her eat them and will help them to be socialised. Put them back if Mum seems at all unhappy, but if she's not bothered it will be fine. Mum should be fine left to her own devices - they're normally good mothers. Check all babies are gaining weight regularly (another good reason to handle them) - if any aren't they may need supplementary feeding (unlikely, but speak to your vet if you're at all worried) and give Mum as much as she wants to eat - make sure she has plenty of veg and don't restrict her dry food intake. Some people recommend giving her a bread and milk mash, but I've never known them to want to eat it.

You need to sex the babies ASAP - any boys could potentially reach sexual maturity at 3 weeks, so will need separating from Mum and sisters at this age. If you don't know how to do it (easy enough in older pigs, but can be tricky in babies as their testicles haven't descended yet) the vet can do it for you. I am assuming mum is not living with an adult male at the mo - if she is remove him immediately as she can get pregnant straight away!

bless, I have 5, 7 week old sows, very sweet.

Lurcherlover - thats brilliant thanks; answered all my questions.

When I split them up is it ok to put them in with fully grown males/females (single sex hutches).

I do have a problem with a couple of the older guineas if I could pick your brains a little more. Two boys who have always lived together, no problems, great friends. Now everytime they see each other they make a clicking noise and fly at each other. One of them is the dad of the new babies. Do you have any hints, help or tips? They have an enormous hutch/run and wanted to get the boys back together and build something similar for the girls but with the current situation I am not sure if thats going to be possible. Thanks

Hmm...I'd be careful putting them in with adults. Adults often bully babies they're not related to - nipping their ears and so on (one of mine had permanently raggy ears because he had lived with his aunty as well as his mum!) Can you keep them separate until they're a bit bigger and more able to look after themselves?

In terms of your boys, in my experience a boy who had become a father could never live amicably with another male again. Boys are always inclined to fight and I doubt your two will ever be happy together. If I were you, I'd get them both neutered - not a big op in boys, and these days anaesthetics for small furries are pretty safe - then when they've recovered, put one in each hutch with a girl or two for company. They should all get on harmoniously then.

Thats great thanks so much. Would you say its ok to put the babies in with the adults when they are 12 weeks? Is it def ok to move the boys away from Mum at 3 weeks, they seem so little!!

How many guineas do you have?

Your plan sounds great - will do that. Thanks once again!!

I think 12 weeks should be fine for moving them in with adults - just monitor the introductions very cautiously and see how you go. Three weeks should be fine for the boys to be separated, provided all have gained enough weight - you could take the whole family for a vet check to reassure you that they're at a stage where they can be safely moved. If they're on the small side they might be able to stay with her for another week or two, so I would get them assessed by the vet before making the move. Have you managed to sex the babes?

I don't have any guineas at the moment, sadly - my last ones died a couple of years ago and I'm having a bit of a break from small animals (having small children instead ) but I had them from being nine years old up to my early twenties. I usually had three or four at a time. Fab little creatures - I love them, and the babies are just so cute! Will be having more one day...

The boys are both booked in to be neutured. Will take the babies and Mum for a check up at the same time. Two girls one boy we think but will get the vet to double check. They are all putting on weight and seem to be very happy running around with Mum - you are right babies are so cute!!