green leafy vegetables. I will defiantly be using again. It is a good idea to keep female pups away from their dad (and other males) as soon as possible. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It is impotant to reduce any stress factors including: Guinea Pigs will be less keen on physical contact when pregnant. Although it is not possible in guinea pigs to stop false pregnancy, even if your guinea pigs leave alone, she can experience phantom pregnancies. Make available enough food to eat and water to drink during the whole time of pregnancy. Spaying a guinea pig at an early stage can keep her hormones under control and somehow reduce the chances of stress-based ovulation. For this reason, you need to be prepared for the delivery to occur at any point within the 59 to 72 day range. Guinea pigs can especially sexually mature early for animals. We learned that female guinea pigs will nearly double in size during pregnancy with the baby guinea pigs making up more than half of her weight. The vaginal closure membrane is open at estrus and parturition but sealed during anestrus and pregnancy. After a few weeks, your female guinea pig will gain weight, and the abdomen will get noticeably bigger. If there are any pets in your house whose presence your cavies are not comfortable, then take your cavies away from them. I 1000% recommend home and roost, there hutches are very well made, the wood is thick and there super sturdy when together, I did have a few issues with a missing door and divider and also a few cracked parts however their customer service team are 5 and sorted everything for me the same day and sent new parts out But it is worth stressing that changes in appetite can occur for a wide variety of reasons. It may be possible that your guinea pig is not happy by you cleaning their cage. There are various methods vets use to establish a pregnancy, including: While some mommies-to-be give birth naturally and without any help, pregnancy in guinea pigs can be dangerous, regardless of their weight and their age. 3. The appetite of the pregnant sow is likely to be increased because she is carrying babies in the womb. Phantom pregnancies are a condition where a female guinea pig considers herself as pregnant, but actually, she is not. Therefore, the smaller the litter (one or two pups), the longer is the gestation time. During the middle of her pregnancy, we were able to gently feel the little babies by lightly touching her sides and belly. Etiology: Two forms have been identified, both of which most commonly occur in pregnant or lactating guinea pigs, but can also occur in non-gravid females as well as boars [1]: Fasting form: reduced carbohydrate intake results in systemic mobilization of fat stores. Great content! The female guinea pig pups can be left with their mother for a longer nursing period. If you have not paid enough attention to appetite, kind of stool, the requirement of various vital nutrients needed for pregnancy, then it might result into medical conditions such as low calcium(hypocalcemia), toxemia(poisoning of blood due to the bacterial infection), discharging of body fluids, etc. Can guinea pigs have phantom pregnancies? We learned that it is not necessary to separate your pregnant guinea pig from other females. Even the baby males can impregnate their mum at around three weeks old, so they will also need to be removed from the cage. From everything that we had read about guinea pigs, we knew that it was likely that she was already pregnant since she had been housed with all male guinea pigs. Female guinea pigs begin a new estrous cycle shortly after giving birth. Use for phrases Support a Family Business like Home & Roost! By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. By day 50, her body began to look like a pear. A female guinea pig can give birth to up to 5-6 litter per year. In some cases, you may also be able to feel guinea pig fetuses inside your pets stomach. What you might notice, however, is that your female cavy is eating and drinking a lot more than usual. During this stage, you may also be able to see the pups moving within her belly. Which is why citrus and kiwi fruit can have a role to play. Symptoms of phantom pregnancies are mood swings, Overeating, and nesting. Hours before birth, and if your guinea pig is younger than 7 months old, her pelvis will widen in order to give birth to the babies. Getting stressed can then lead to many problems in our guinea pigs. How can u tell if a guinea pig is pregnant? I especially loved the lollipop when I opened the packaging! The mother has a single pair of mammary glands from which the newborns will nurse until about 3 weeks of age. They will be able to do a proper examination and confirm whether or not there are guinea pig pups in your future. Remember, the male newborn of three weeks or older must be separated from their mother; they would end up risking the new cycle of pregnancy. Guinea pigs phantom pregnancy can last up to 20-30 days, and it can last longer in some cases. They are seriously not fussy ! Some guinea pigs have swirls of long hair while others have a coat of soft, short hair. This, unfortunately, could mean the loss of the mum and her pups. One should spay/neuter their guinea pigs to prevent pregnancy or to deal with any dysfunction of reproductive organs. It is also important to note that guinea pigs reach sexual maturity quickly, with females potentially reaching this point in as little as four weeks, and males typically reaching sexual maturity in eight weeks. and factors such as age or relation are not something they worry about! Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Pregnancy is not so easy for guinea pigs. She, Guinea Pigs Can Get Pregnant Early and Easily. The average guinea pig pregnancy lasts 68 days, with a reported range of 59-72 days. A female guinea pig can fall pregnant immediately after giving birth. a small amount of high quality commercial pellet. A small, clean cage with towels for bedding works well. Keep the pregnant mother in a different cage to ensure her well being and safety. The problem is .. If you have the habit of weighing her daily (maybe youre keeping an eye out for pregnancy), you will notice it early on as just a few grams of weight gain each day. So, I did thorough research, and here is what I have learned. If anything is disturbing them like loud noises, you can take her to a separate room and groom her. Neutering a male is generally easier than spaying a female. Fingers firmly crossed all the guinea army here send healing vibes :smitten: This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. Lack of appetite might give birth to malnourished babies. We have lived here for 30 years now, and this is the first time that I have had a hedgehog in my garden. Spaying or neutering of pet guinea pigs can be done by a veterinarian experienced in dealing with small animals, but the surgery can be expensive and does carry risks. Unless you are advised to do so by a vet, do not make sudden adjustments to the types of food you give your guinea pig. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Getting stressed can then lead to many problems in our guinea pigs. Keep in mind that guinea pig neutering is not recommended until around 6 months of age. Pseudopregnancy is the development of signs of pregnancy without the presence of an implanted embryo or fetus. Are Hedgehogs Nocturnal? But how did the black cat get her wicked reputation? The pregnancy period in guinea pigs lasts from about 59 to 72 days, and on average 65 days. Leave the mother with her pups alone for the few days undisturbed. The main ways to prevent pregnancy include guinea pig neutering and separation of male and female guinea pigs. Its a misconception that is developed by the guinea pig, which lasts for approx 20 days. The guinea pig gestation period is 59 to 72 days. If you are able to feel your guinea pigs pelvic bone, you may be able to feel for a separation and this is the main indicator that labour is approaching. Little chocolate Freddo in one box and Harribo in the other for the kids to munch on while daddy built the hutch & run. (Signs Of Puberty & How Long Does It Lasts), Why Is My Guinea Pig Not Moving? But by the time they are ready to give birth, they may have doubled in weight. I have made several purchases and have been extremely pleased with the quality of their products. If your guinea pig allows you to touch her, use your fingers to gently examine her sides and stomach. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Four read more . Better opt for cesarean by a vet to get the pups out. Characteristics and behaviors can vary, ranging from a mild change in behavior to nest buildingthe hallmark maternal sign of impending parturition. You can gently break the amniotic sac open yourself, but this is a delicate process. Still, there is nothing to worry about as she can resolve it on her own. We took her to vet for check up.. For complicated pregnancies, your vet might suggest a caesarean section or medication. JavaScript is disabled. Better yet, why not post a family pic of you and your piggies on our Facebook page for all our readers to enjoy? They belong to the family Cavidae, which contains 14 species of animals commonly known as cavies and Patagonian hares (or maras). This website was inspired by our guinea pig pair, Theo and Remmy, and is our familys journey to becoming the best guinea pig parents. The number of pups a sow is carrying will determine the duration of the pregnancy, For example, a pregnancy with one pup will be 70 days, whereas a pregnancy with six pups will be between 65 and 67 days. If a guinea pig is pregnant, then certainly, the weight of your sow pet is expected to increase day by day. Your comments and feedback make our day, so feel free to share your thoughts with us below. In our case, Theo had been kept together with 4 other males so the likelihood of her being pregnant was very high. With the advancement in pregnancy, a guinea pig may begin to eat and drink more. Consider the following principles before breeding your guinea pigs: Sources: Breeding and Reproduction of Guinea Pigs, Guinea-Pig Uterus During Pregnancy, Food restriction alters pregnancy-associated changes in IGF and IGFBP in the guinea pig, Early pregnancy in guinea pigs, Breeding from your guinea pig. Probably the most telling sign of pregnancy in your female guinea pig is being in close contact with an unneutered male recently. In the minutes immediately before your guinea pig gives birth, you may notice a crying sound, but other indicators are difficult to find. They will nurse from their mother but are able to nibble at solid food (such as moistened pellets) within 2 days. #1 I think it's called Phantom pregnancy. However, they both can achieve fertility earlier than the mentioned period. As the pregnancy progresses, you may find that your guinea pig becomes less mobile. Females can have estrous or fertile periods at any time of the year, but they are most common in the spring. Try to apply a trial and error approach, which helps to remove anxiety and makes your guinea pig calm. Various ages, male, females pregnant females available FROM 10, prices as listed below may consider a discount if . Now that weve answered some basic guinea pig pregnancy questions, were going to go through the signs of pregnancy in guinea pigs. : Sorry I can't help you but not experieced anything like that. Pre-mature birth will need to be followed by a period of artificial incubation. Vitamin C rich foods like kale, broccoli. A pregnant guinea pig will also show aggression towards other guinea pigs. . Another tell-tale sign could be that the expecting mum starts to favour fruits and vegetables with a high vitamin C content. Moreover, it is important that your guinea pig has a varied diet, which should consist of: It is generally accepted that pregnancy should result in a tripling of daily vitamin C intake. A guinea pigs gestation period is around 3 months. According to studies, approx 20% of pregnant guinea pigs pass away during birth. So better not rush, and get your pet checked by a vet for certainty. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Guinea pigs are highly sexually active, even from a young age, so they are likely to breed when they are around males. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Just became parents? Avoid standard delivery by them if above 10 months and bred for the first time since birth. After some days, your cavies will realize that she is not pregnant, and everything will come back to normal. You will need to stay alert to the fact that your guinea pig could go into labour at any point, so try to be extra vigilant. Once the young ones start eating solid food, the sow will teach them to urinate and poop via licking their bottom part very often. After the delivery of the litter, the weight of your pet is going to be halved of their healthy weight. Pregnant guinea pigs will need to increase their calorie intake by 25-50%, as well as their nutrient intake. This worked well for our guinea pigs. You can try the trial-and-error approach to remove anxiety triggers so that you can make her feel more relaxed. When female guinea pigs go into Labour pain and if it takes them longer than 15-20 minutes, then undoubtedly they require medical help and should be given as soon as possible. Why Is My Guinea Pig Always Hungry? There can be some reason behind this: Does she live alone: If your guinea pig leaves alone, then she can have stress which may cause ovulation. The legacy of this great resource continues as the Merck Veterinary Manual in the US and Canada and the MSD Vet Manual outside of North America. Get the pups out or not there are any pets in your whose! May be possible that your guinea pig is pregnant they worry about as can! 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