Posted by Sarah, Guinea Pig Supplies Editor | Posted in buying your first guinea pig , food for guinea pigs , guinea pig giving birth video , guinea pig pregnant
One way to tell if your Sow (a female Guinea Pig) is in heat, is that she'll mount they other Guinea Pigs around her, even if they are female! She'll also curve her spine downwards.
When a Sow is Pregnant she be drinking, eating and sleeping a whole lot more than normal. So make sure your children know they have to let her own rest.
A Sow may have a litter of between 1 and 8 puppies. A first time mum usually has around 1 to 3, later litters have up to 6 or 8 sometimes – so make sure you can find a home for them all! Remember they are able to have unprotected sex and become pregnant at aroud 2 weeks old. So separate your Guinea Pigs around then, if not well before.
When a Guinea Pig Sow is about (in the next 2 days) to give birth her pelvis will start to slowly widen, to over 2.5cms when she is in the hours before they are due. To see this yourself have a look at the genitals & you should see this just in front of them.
There are many different opinions on how long until the birth of the little ones. Some 68 days and others say 75 days. Mostly the confusion is because its not known when she unprotected sex in the first place!
Some Sows eat less than she has been just before delivery, but are fine otherwise. She may also have a show of blood, but if it re occurs please see your exotic Vet immeditely and monitor your Guinea Pig continuously.
There's a grunt when she is about to give birth, and she opens her back legs wide. The Sow will pull the pups out by their teeth with her own teeth. There will be a gap of approx 5 minutes between each Guinea Pig. The pups are in a sac which will get broken by the Sow as the teeth go through it and the Sow will eat the afterbirth – which is a normal part of it all.
The whole process will take from 10 minutes to an hour approximately if all goes well. The baby Guinea Pigs are little copies of their mum & dad, and can walk in a few hours. They are also weaned from their mum from 2-4 weeks on to the solid food – at this point they will weigh roughly 150-200gms. They will still have the Sows milk though for up to 4 weeks approx.
Have a look at this video of a Sow giving birth
Have great fun with your Guinea Pigs... Sarah
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The Short-haired Guinea Pig Breeds is the coolest. These kinds of guinea pigs are the most popular in America and are the breeds most commonly sold in shops. These short haired “cavies” come in many different breeds; the most popular among them is the American, which is characterized by a roman nose which is slightly rounded. http://www.expertguineapigcare.com/guinea-pig-breeds
This was very helpful!
My guinea pig seems like she’s very uncomfortable and like she doesn’t know what to do. She keeps moving her position and grunting. Is there something I can do?
am sad I can't seem to see this video. I think my guinea pig is really near giving birth. It's the first time for us as a family to be part off something so special. I noticed today their generals seemed swollen for a while and then by the eve they were fine. Hoping this is normal. I can feel there is a little bump at her side. It is the first time she is giving birth. Any tips. I see her nipples are swolen aswell. I'm excited and nervous for her.are there any other signs. I see she is eating normally, she is lying down allot on one side.
We had no idea how old they had to be to mate them and we ended up mating our 1 year old sow it was only after we knew she was pregnant we found out about the risks when she gave birth my brother and I thought she was dying after about 15 mind both of the babies where out but sadly one was a stillborn and was dead when it came out the second one survived for about a month and a half and probably would have lived a full life if she wasn’t a fatal white and now we have a new pregnant guinea and she is 5 and a half months old wait for her to give birth and super excited this article was very helpful
We had no idea how old they had to be to mate them and we ended up mating our 1 year old sow it was only after we knew she was pregnant we found out about the risks when she gave birth my brother and I thought she was dying after about 15 mind both of the babies where out but sadly one was a stillborn and was dead when it came out the second one survived for about a month and a half and probably would have lived a full life if she wasn’t a fatal white and now we have a new pregnant guinea and she is 5 and a half months old wait for her to give birth and super excited this article was very helpful
Thanks for the advice and video . My female guinea pig is pregnant and she should give birth in a week's time. We excited and your article helped a lot . Thanks
Ummm my guinea pig is barely moving around she is super big and she is purring as well.
i,m worried my baby went in labor this morning, i see blood in her bed but no babies yet. just hope nothing is wrong we have no vet in our town for guniea pi
My guinea pig, Chillie, is going to be a first time mom!!! How can I tell when she is due? Is there anything I can do to prepare for the birth? Also, she lays down on one side all the time. Is this normal??
I have 3 pregnant piggies. Over the past few days I have noticed that they eat and drink less and sleep alot more
Sounds like she’s getting ready to have her babies. That’s what mine did.
Should like she getting ready to have her babies that how long
Guinea pig pregnancy signs