When the new babies arrive...

[sayandmaymm]

So our Penny is getting mighty big now and we expect she should be having the little ones soon. We've researched about when we should be able to hold the babies but we're getting some really mixed opinions. Could you help us out?

1 source said that if we aren't too close to the mother, we probably shouldn't hold them until a week or so because there was a chance she could reject them. Now that was just one source and we haven't found any other sources to say that this might be true but it's in the back of our heads since we haven't had Penny for too long and she hasn't become too known with us. We're afraid she might find us to be a threat to the little piggies. Is this true or false?

Another source said that we should be able to hold the babies within a day or so and if you don't hold them soon then they won't get to know you and won't be comfortable with you. Now I am very excited for our lovely little piggy to be having babies and I do want to hold them as soon as possible but I think maybe that might be too early for me to hold them...I want to give them time to bond with their mother but I also want to make sure that I have some time to bond with the babies also so they aren't afraid of me when we handle them.

We just want to make sure when we handle these little pups that it isn't too soon or it isn't too late!!

And by the way, we went to the pet store yesterday to tell the people who work there that they need to forewarn their customers when they buy a female guinea pig that was housed with other males, that they might be pregnant. All they told us was that..."well, when you house two sexes together and they aren't spayed or neutered, you should already know that their going to become pregnant." As if we were the stupid ones...and then the had the nerve to tell us that if we don't want the babies, we could give them to the store and they could give us a store credit or something. No thank you, I don't want to endanger my newborn baby piggies!

[Kayleigh]

Pet store staff can be so frustrating sometimes. Sadly its about fhe money not the animals for some stores/staff.

To your question at hand, sows will not reject ther young if you handle them. If a sow is going to reject them because of say ... a problem during birth or she freaks out as some do, she will do this right away, rarely cleaning them up and leaves them to pass on. If any are born doa she may overclean them or eat them to try and dispose of the evidence. Again this is rare but it does happen.

I handle my pups as soon as i find them, from birth if need be. I check they are healthy (eyes, ears, moiuth, feet etc) then pop them back with mum. I dont take them away from mum as such she can always see/hear them. And im quick at getting weights and sexing them. I then leave them to bond with mum for a day but always check on them all. I also gove the sow a quick check to ensure shes ok.

I clean the cage up give extra veg too.

I also talk to them, and watch them alot ... just to make sure everyones eatinc and moving about ok.

After a week i handle them more and more, little at a time. Just so they reconise me.

Good luck with your new narrivals.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using proboards

[masha]

I find pet stores do the best they can- which is not much as they don't have enough personnel who know about exotic pets. Plus remember sometimes breeders screw up and ship males and females together when they should all be females. It happened to me and we ended up with 2 pregnant females, both now passed on- very sad. We did keep the babies because as you said we couldn't bear to put them into the environment where people don't quite know what they are doing. Sadly, some non-specialized rescues sometimes will get guinea pigs and don't know to separate males from females either.

Be that as it may, as soon as the babies are cleaned up by mom, you can handle them. Enjoy!

[Kayleigh]

Mar 7, 2013 16:00:38 GMT masha said:

I find pet stores do the best they can- which is not much as they don't have enough personnel who know about exotic pets. Plus reMember sometimes breeders screw up and ship males and females together when they should all be females. It happened to me and we ended up with 2 pregnant females, both now passed on- very sad. We did keep the babies because as you said we couldn't bear to put them into the environment where people don't quite know what they are doing. Sadly, some non-specialized rescues sometimes will get guinea pigs and don't know to separate males from females either.

Be that as it may, as soon as the babies are cleaned up by mom, you can handle them. Enjoy!

Some pet stores do well, they employ knowledgeable staff etc but sadly this is few and far between. It should be a priority for all pet stores to ensure they have at least 1 member of staff who know what they are talking about. For many pet stores its about selling the products, the animals and getting their target. Simple things should be known, sexing, diet, housing.....

Im all too aware that rescues, breeders, pet stores all have accidents happen. BUT it is more than common sense that a male and female animal will breed over and over unless separated. Its also a very simple task to sex a guinea pig once they are 4 months, so these mistakes should NOT happen.

Kayleigh