guineapig

Question
QUESTION: what do I do if the mom guinea pig(teddy bear)wontfeed the baby(bella)

ANSWER: The information you've given me isn't a lot but I will do my best to try to help you.  There are a couple of key questions:  1. Is this a newborn?  2. How old is the baby?

If this is a newborn and the sow has just given birth she will not nurse the baby until she has completely emptied her uterus of all the remaining babies or afterbirths. I've had sows that went 12 hours without nursing her pups, and the pups did not suffer. Once she has emptied out all the contents of what we call products of conception her body will produce the hormones necessary to bring her milk down. Then the babies are allowed to nurse.

If this baby is older than a couple of weeks it may be eating on its own. Sometimes a sow will develop mastitis, an infection in the breasts, and it's too painful to nurse her babies. This usually happens only when pups have been separated too early and the mother was not able to empty her milk supply.

If this is a freshly born newborn I would recommend you don't intervene. Allow her to do what she knows to do. Trying to force feed a newborn usually ends up in the death of the baby, as they aspirate the feeding into the lungs.

I don't know if this will help you, but if you could give me a bit more information I may be able to help with more detail.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: the baby was born yestetday morning. And is it possebly for a mom to be afraid of her newborn?

Answer
No, mom is not afraid of her newborn. If she's not nursing the baby there is something wrong. She may have a retained placenta, that's an afterbirth that hasn't passed. If you know anyone that has a guinea pig with a litter see if you can find someone to foster this baby.

Check the mom to see if she has any discharge. She shouldn't have any after this long, but if she does that means she's still got something in there. If she doesn't pass it she will become toxic and die. You're at a critical point right now to save the baby.

If you are positive that baby isn't eating, and if mom is staying away from it you may have to try to feed it. But whatever you do, DO NOT get a syringe and push fluid into the baby's mouth. You can use some baby formula, a sow based type. Use an eyedropper, or if you can get a syringe this is what you do:

Draw up a little of the formula. This is important: DROP a drop of it near the baby's mouth. You can let it dribble down the side of the mouth, but avoid getting it in the nose. Hopefully the pup will lick it. You'll have to have patience to do this, but once he learns that is food he may start lapping it up.

The problem is that a baby guinea pig nurses about every hour, around the clock.  If you are able to find someone in the family to help you do this you may be able to save him. After about four days you can put some formula in the mother's drinking bottle. They will drink from a water bottle when less than a week old, but usually see the mother doing it and copy her.

You can't leave formula in the bottle for more than a couple of hours. You don't want it to sour. The baby will also need a water bottle as well.

Good luck to you. Please keep me posted on how things are going. Your best bet is to find a sow with a litter to foster this baby. If they have a litter less than a week old they will usually take on an orphaned baby.