How do guinea pigs mate

The pair may try to mate throughout this period, but the sow can only get pregnant during a small 24 — 48 hour window per cycle. Check the breeding couple often enough to help ensure their health and happiness and reassure the guinea pigs that you are caring for them. Part 3. Check if the sow is pregnant.

After at least 18 days, check if the sow is pregnant. A pregnant female may exhibits several symptoms of pregnancy including distended abdomen and increased food and water consumption. It may take several heat cycles for the sow to become pregnant. Be patient so that you do not stress your guinea pigs. Care for the sow during the gestation period. You can coax her on to a towel or box for the delivery. The amount of food and water a sow consumes will increase during pregnancy.

Give her more food to help ensure she gets much needed nutrients to support the developing pups. Check for health issues during pregnancy. Pregnancy is very risk for sows because pups are large. Check the sow thoroughly daily by looking for any signs of illness and weighing the sow.

The signs of illness may include crusty eyes, nose, or ears; and a thinning or patchy coat. Check she is eating. An early warning sign of pregnancy toxaemia is lack of appetite. Any pregnant sow that doesn't eat for more than 12 hours should see a veterinarian.

If you notice any problems with your guinea pig, including lack of movement of her unborn pups, consult a vet. Get ready for the birth of the pups. You should be prepared for your sow to give birth at around nine weeks. Expect short labor if there are no complications. It takes guinea pigs minutes to give birth if a sow has no complications. If the labor takes longer than an hour, call your vet or take the sow for medical treatment. Have only one person with her to oversee the birth and do not touch her.

For example, if it takes longer than one hour, there more than 15 minutes between pups, if she exhibits excessive bleeding, or making extreme stress calls. Part 4. Allow the sow to clean her pups. Once your sow has given birth, let her clean the pups on her own. This can help minimize the risk of transmitting bacteria to the new pups or the mother rejecting them. It is also important that the mother massages the area around the lungs to help the pups to breathe.

If the pup is removed from being massaged, it might die. Expect alert and fully functional pups. When pups are born, they should appear fully functional and like miniature adults. They should be kept at the same comfortable temperature as the parents. There may be nothing wrong with this pup however, so hand-feed and continue to place with the mother. Try some one-on-one between the pup and mother. Wait a full day before handling the mother and pups. Guinea pigs are not especially protective or proactive with their young, but give the mother and pups a full day after birth before you handle them.

After this, you can handle them as much as you like. It is encouraged to handle the pups to help socialize them. Continue to provide a rich diet for the mother. Females can reach sexual maturity as early as approximately weeks of age and males as early as approximately weeks of age so the different sexes should be separated before they are able to reproduce with each other.

As with real pigs, female guinea pigs are called sows and males are called boars. Sows can breed at the tender age of five weeks but this is too young. A sow should weigh a minimum of gm, equivalent to about three months of age, before being mated and should preferably be a little older than this.

This can create harmful ammonia buildup in the cage area, especially if there is a lack of proper ventilation in the room, which is dangerous for your guinea pigs.

A pet collar is the most needed accessory when taking your beloved pet outdoors, but searching for a perfect guinea…. The information on this website should not be take as a substitute for professional advice.

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No ratings yet. View on Amazon. Sows that reach adulthood without a prior pregnancy may not be able to deliver their young normally. Cesarean sections are rarely successful in guinea pigs even when performed by a veterinarian who has experience with guinea pigs.

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. Neutering a male is generally easier than spaying a female. However, guinea pigs often do not react well to surgery, anesthesia, or being kept in unfamiliar surroundings. The safest, easiest, and least expensive way to prevent breeding is to house male and female guinea pigs separately.

If you do decide to have your guinea pig spayed or neutered, seek out a veterinarian who has successfully done a large number of these surgeries. After the surgery, keep your pet quiet and separated from other guinea pigs while recovering. A small, clean cage with towels for bedding works well.

The towels should be changed at least twice a day. Check to see that the guinea pig is eating and drinking; extra vitamin C may also be helpful. Male guinea pigs boars usually mature sexually and can mate as young as months of age. Female guinea pigs sows typically mature sexually at 2 months of age 55 to 70 days.