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Pregnant young guinea piggy2007-11-24 22:14:38

hi i have rescued a sow and was told she was about 8 weeks. i have had her for about 3 weeks now, so should make her about 11 maybe 12 weeks.

anyway she is not growing much in size but her belly is balloning, i have 4 other guinea pigs so know what there belly are normaly like.

i am pretty sure she is pregnant!

but is this safe for a poor baby guinea pig to have pups quite so young.

what do you think i should do?

i will prob keep the babys anyway so there is no need to worrie about that.

i am just really worried for my poor piggys well being?

has anyone else had a similar thing happen to them?

and was their piggy alright?

please please help?

Answers:

The gestation period for Guinea Pigs is 62 to 70 days. The greater the number of babies the mother is carrying, the shorter the pregnancy. Most pregnancy are non problematic. Guinea Pigs are more prone to heat related death in the latter stages of pregnancy. They have been known to abort the fetus's if an alarming incident occurs. If you must pick up a GP who is pregnant, be sure and securely support her hind quarters.

No changes are visible in appearance or behavior during the first four weeks. The last two to three weeks, the mother to be will become quite "plump." This is expected as the babies will comprise more than half of her body weight. You can see the movement of and feel the babies during the last two weeks. If you are positive that the Guinea Pig you are caring for is pregnant, you will want to feed her alfalfa hay instead of Timothy to give her a bit more protein and calcium. It has also been observed that fiber may contribute to preventing hair thinning, a common occurrence in late pregnancy, so the hay becomes very important. In addition, she will twice as much vitamin C to prevent toxemia.