Guinea pigs can have a second litter as long as they are otherwise healthy - obviously you need a male as well!

Hi,
I got a girl guinea pig today and I asked the pet store to see if they knew how old she was and they told me they do not know and she looks pretty small and I got her to have and to breed so I don't know what to do because I don't know how old she is. So I was wondering if you would know how old she is if you saw a picture.And i also wanted to know if another female can be there when she gives birth.

Caroline Massias

Unfortunately I could not really tell you how old your guinea pig is from a photo. If you wish to breed guinea pigs then I would advise that you get a good book to read first because Guinea pigs can not be bred from if they are too old because their pelvis becomes too narrow so must have their first litter relatively early in life. It is best to separate the mother for the birth or their may be problems between the other adults and the babies. I would advise that you get more information before embarking on this because although guinea pigs are not too difficult to breed from there are some very important details to get right.

Hi, my GP just recently became fatter and we can feel the babies kicking and moving around. How much longer until she has the babies

It is hard to say without knowing when she was mated but if you can feel them moving then it will likely be less than 2 weeks

Hello
I bought to guinea pigs a few weeks both girls, and this morning i know have two babies. I think that they are both girls and perhaps she became pregnant before i bought her because of the length of time they have been together. I have removed the other guinea pig from the cage and just left mother and babies together. How long do they have to be apart because i'm worried about the other GP being alone for to long.

Guinea pig babies are born able to survive on their own from day 1. Guinea pig males become sexually active at around 3 weeks old and females slightly later so be aware of this with the young or you will have even more! You may find since the females have been together so long there is no need to separate them but you should give them plenty of room so they can get away from each other if needed. At the worst if they do not get on then separate them by some wire mess half way across their hutch so they can still see each other. Although the babies are independent it is better to leave them with mum for a week so that they are eating well and do not need any milk. Guinea pigs are social animals so I suspect keeping them all together will not be a problem.

hi
my guinea pig rose has just had one cute black baby and shes looks like she is giving birth to more but its been longer than 15 minutes may be more and she keeps making this strange noices that sounds like she might be in pain.
shes laying down in the corner of the cage like she was giving birth to the first baby.
do you think she is still giving birth and how long would it take if she is.
also could i do anything to help her?

please get back to me asap

thank you xxx

Unfortunately this site is not designed for emergency advice. If you have an emergency you should see a vet. I assume you have done so.

Hi got three guinea pigs which were supposed to be females. They are only 3 1/2 months now and today surprise! one has had x3 babies! Babies are well, super alert and mobile and hopefully mum is ok despite being so young, can't tell. We have moved the mum and babies to a different hutch indoors after reading we have to separate her from male, BUT we can't tell which one of the other two is the male. We have only got two hutches for the time being so left the other two together until we know what to do. It seemed cruel to separate them, after all probably the other female may be pregnant by now too...? Unless of course there was only one female in the first place...
What's best to do?
Once we know who is the male, can we put the other female back with the mum and her babies?
Can males be neutered so young?
Finally, once we manage to know (guess more likely) what sex the babies are, and after the 3-4 weeks with mum, can we put any baby males with dad to give him company?
Thanks

Guinea pigs are social animals and get on well in social groups. They reach sexual maturity after only a few weeks from birth so you need to get them sexed quickly to avoid a breeding colony! One way to introduce guinea pigs to each other is to divide the hutch in half with chicken wire for a week so that they can see and smell each other before putting them all in together. As far as sexing them goes look at mum's rear end - any guinea pig you have that looks the same is female - the others are male.

Hello, my guinea pig just gave birth to 3 healthy babies this morning and I wanted to know how long should they be left alone before being held?

Give them a few days to settle in but after that because they are born precocious you should be able to handle them but let them have plenty of time to themselves, don't go getting the whole neighbourhood round to play with them!

My one female gave birth to three healthy babies this afternoon.
I have removed the dad (I had him neutered after I found out he wasn't a female as I thought - after mom became pregnant). He seems a little stressed.
I also have another female. Can I leave her in the cage with mom and babies or will she harm them?
When can I put the dad back in?

my gp jst had 2 babays over night and i wont to know whn i cn see if they are males or females?

Heidi
you should be able to leave the other female in but you will have to see how it goes. Keep dad out as he will mate with mum and they should not be mated on the post-pregnancy heat. Separate him from the others with wire mesh so he can still see and smell them

Kimberley

You can tell the males and females apart straight away if you know what to look for. It is difficult to describe so look for a picture on the net or in the library

Hello! I have a few questions that I'm really curious about. How do I know if the sow and boar mated already? If they already mated what should i do? Should I seperate them and wait for the babies to be born or let the father be with the mother until the babies are born? I just got Marshmallow (sow, 1 month old) and Almond (boar, 1 month old) last week and Marshmallow was shedding behind her right ear, some said she has fungus, but I checked the area around her ears but didn't find any red skin or yellow stuff in her ears.I also want to know that will the mother kill her babies if i hold them? If I let the male babies be with their father will the father will attack them?

Hi! I'm really curious about when my guinea pigs mate do i need to separate them right away or leave them together until the mother is pregnant and born the babies? Can you give me tips to tame both of my 1 month old gp's, and fruits and veggies i can give them? I just got them last week so I'm still learning about them. By the way, my female sheds behind her right ear. I called the breeder but they said that she might have fungus, so i checked for any red skin or yellow liquid in her ear and i was so relieved that i didn't find any of that. I still don't know for sure and lately I'm kind of scared, because i can get infected. And please give me some advice and tips and anything helpful to know about gp's, thanks!

As far as telling whether the gps have mated I suppose you need to wait and see. The male will have reached puberty at 1 month but the female if you are lucky will not because they reach puberty a little later than the males. Get the male castrated if you do not want babies. Female gps do not eat their young like rats and mice do if the young are handled but you should certainly give them a week to be with mum on their own. Gps are best handled early once they are acclimatised to mum, or they become nervous around people. Do not leave the male with the female once the babies are born because the female comes into heat after giving birth and could get pregnant again and it is best not to mate them on this heat.

Hi I had 7 male GPs but one was female she had 3 healthy babies there 2 weeks old now
we think there's 2 female 1 male
could the male go back in with the 6 others?
If so what age?
Thanks

The male can go back with the others once he is holding his own and eating well. It is probably a good idea to separate them by wire mesh for a week so they can see and smell each other before actually coming into direct contact.

you need to get breed crum and i now that becaue it happened to my guinea pig

hello , my geunia pig had babies on the 18th . they are all girls and are still with their mother . would it be okay to put the whole family together or would the father attack the babies ?

If you look above you will see the answers have been addressed recently.

Hi! So in August my guinea pig, Shyla, had three babies. On the third day of their lives she killed all of them. She is pregnant again, and any day now she should be giving birth(she's huge! I think she might have four) What do I do? Do I need to separate her from the babies immediately? Don't they need milk?
My second guinea pig, Peep, just had three babies yesterday(November 20, 2011) I don't know if I should separate her from the babies or not, I don't want her to kill them
Do you know why Shyla might have killed her babies? Do you think she might do it again?
And what about Peep?
Do the baby guinea pigs NEED milk from their mom? What's the difference between letting them drink milk for another three weeks or just keeping them away? Please, please help!
Thank you,
Julia

Guinea pigs, unlike other small mammals do not usually attack their young. You can separate the babies from the mother at birth and feed them a dog/cat milk replacer soaked into bread but they are usually better with their mum. Make sure the other guinea pigs are not in with mum as this could explain her killing them. Guinea pigs are able to eat solids as soon as they are born but would do better getting milk from mum as well. You could give them set feeding times which you supervise and separate them the rest of the time but separate them from mum with wire mesh so she can still see and smell them or she will not let them feed.

My guinea pig had babies about 3 weeks ago, i have the m and f seperated, except for today. If they mated today while i was gone what are the chances of her being pregnant again?? I know their fertile every 16 days and immediatly after birth, but do you think shes safe?? How long are they fertile after birth?? .. I hope she wasnt fertile i dont want to diminish her health or risk her life by impregnating her only 3 weeks after birth


Thanks so much!

Hi,
My guinea pig had four babies a little while ago and abandoned one of them straight away, she literally just gave birth to it and left it there while she cleaned the hutch and the other three babies so I took it out of the hutch and cleaned the baby and then put the baby into the hutch - I watched them for a little while but the mother doesn't really seem interested in any of them? Anything I can do to help? or will she pick it up eventually?

Hello my guinea pig is pregnant im pretty sure. how long should the male babies be with the mother?

My GP just gave birth this morning she had four beautiful babies one was not in the house with the other 3 but was walking
around the cage mama went in to feed the other 3 and left that one out so I picked it up gently and put it in the house
with the other 3 will mama be ok with that I was worrried the baby was getting around very good there are 2 that are on the
Small side and I am concerened should I be? Mama also lost most of her hair on one side of her body and looks rather thin
but is eating and drinking well should I be concerned about the hair and weight loss?