You vet may also be able to hear the piglets' heartbeats in the sow's abdomen. Guinea pigs have a much shorter timeline of pregnancy than humans. However, guinea pigs often do not react well to surgery, anesthesia, or being kept in unfamiliar surroundings. Wait 24 hours after the birth to give additional feeding for one of the pups as it takes this long for some pups to begin feeding at all. Place it in a sheltered part of the hutch, away from draughts. This allows you to gauge what is normal, so that if she becomes unwell and stops eating, or becomes very thirsty, you will pick up clues early on. o [ canine influenza] This article has been viewed 324,740 times. A guinea pig's pregnancy lasts about 9 or 10 weeks. However, do not assume that your guinea pig is pregnant based on just how much she is eating or drinking. Alfalfa hay is great for pregnant, nursing and young guinea pigs but the calcium content is too high for normal guinea pigs as a build-up of calcium can cause bladder stones. Feeling the abdomen needs to be done by a professional because it is easy to mistake the bladder, kidney, or even an enlarged ovary for a foetus. So you should. The optimal maintenance of guinea pig colonies, commercially and in research settings, relies on robust informed breeding programs, however, breeding data on specialized inbred strains are limited. If you are thinking that your few weeks old female guinea pigs cannot be pregnant, youre wrong! If the sow becomes uninterested in food contact your veterinarian immediately. A female may accidentally injure the babies by squashing them and babies are prone to escaping cages, so check up on them regularly. Guinea pigs, even when not pregnant, are vulnerable to mood swings. A pregnant sow will begin to drink and eat more as the pregnancy advances. Use your dominant hand to feel her belly. This causes mineral deficiency. If at any point her weight begins to fall or if she begins to show signs of illness, consult a vet immediately. Dystocia is a birth delivery problem where the unborn babies are not able to exit due because the mother is unable to dilate fully. Do not handle her all the time like before. My guinea pigs continued to grow (4-5 months when I got them early May, so the new ones are 8 months old now) - to like perfectly normal guinea pigs. As a small thank you, wed like to offer you a $30 gift card (valid at GoNift.com). I told my mom and took her to the vet, and they said she was pregnant. This article was very helpful in letting us know what to expect and what to do when our female goes into labor, etc. The pups do not require a heat lamp or heating pad. The period of time between getting pregnant and the birth is called the gestation period. If you've found out that your guinea pig is pregnant, check on it several times a day to monitor its drinking and eating habits so you know what is normal and can react to changes. Wash out the water bottle with a gentle dish soap every few days. If you need to transport your guinea pig, never pick her up by her stomach as it can harm the unborn guinea pigs and the mother herself. Yeah, tests are very very important to take appropriate care of your pregnant guinea pig. That is exactly why you need to cautiously read all the following so that you can make the hard and painful process of pregnancy easier on your guinea pig! How can I tell? Guinea Pig Pregnancy Stages Week By Week - Pregnancy Nicky Dalere (@NickyDalere) August 29, 2016 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js August 29, 2016 at 01:30AM Note that she may chew the cardboard, so have extra boxes or use a wicker or thick-plastic box. Avoid over-feeding "I had a male guinea pig for about a year and a half. Publisher: Pergamon, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/0\/07\/Care-for-a-Pregnant-Guinea-Pig-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/v4-460px-Care-for-a-Pregnant-Guinea-Pig-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/0\/07\/Care-for-a-Pregnant-Guinea-Pig-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/aid711031-v4-728px-Care-for-a-Pregnant-Guinea-Pig-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"