Guinea pig is pregnant

Question

izzy  

izzy   i think my Guinea pig is pregnant and i have no idea how old she is i have had her 6 months but she had a previous owner and i don't know how long they had her  i had gotten her a companion and was told it was a female and it was a male i called my vet and she said that she still should be able to deliver but i am still worried so my question how old do you think my guinea pig is?

Answer
Unfortunately I can't tell you how old she is.  She's obviously an adult pig, but that only means she's reached full size. But before you stress about whether or not she's able to deliver let me try to reassure you just a bit.

Typically we use 1 year of age as the general goal when it comes to breeding a pig for the first time. That means we prefer them to become pregnant by the time they've reached their first birthday.  That's just a generalization and doesn't mean that any harm will come to her if she's bred after that time.

You will hear or read that people say, "The pelvic bones fuse after a year old if they haven't already been bred."  That's not true.  The pelvic bones don't touch one another. They are separated by a small space, just as human females pelvic bones are. During delivery those bones begin to spread apart because of the ligaments that are attached to the bone and the muscles. This is so the babies can pass through that otherwise narrow opening.

As the sow ages those ligaments will begin to lose their elasticity if she has not had a litter. We don't really know at what age this happens, so to be on the safe side we try to have the sow bred by the first birthday. However, there are some pigs that are over two and still able to deliver a first litter.

At this point there is nothing you can do. If she's pregnant you cannot change that. So don't fret and worry about something that may not happen at all. In all probability she will have her litter without difficulty.

Most sows become infertile by four years of age, so you know that she's younger than that. Chances are good she isn't over two years old. So just sit back and keep your camera ready. If babies are coming she will handle it. The normal gestation is 70 days.  You can usually feel movement about 2 1/2 weeks prior to delivery. So right now it's just a waiting game.  Please keep me posted as to how things go.