pregnant guinea

Question
HI
HOW CAN YOU TELL FOR SURE IF GUINEA PIG IS PREGNANT OR NOT. SHE BEEN WITH A MALE PIGGY FOR 5 WEEKS AND OUT SINCE 4 WEEKS  BUT I CANT FEEL ANY BABIES.  HOW DO I KNOW IF SHE'S PREGANT OR NOT.

THANK YOU
NANCY

Answer
If she was with the boar for 5 weeks she is probably pregnant. Since they don't come into heat with any real regularity it's difficult to tell when she actually conceived. Usually you don't feel movement until they're about two weeks or so from delivery.

I usually leave the sows and the boar together until I can tell for sure that the ladies are indeed pregnant. Unfortunately guinea pigs aren't as easy to breed as rabbits. Rabbits are 'spontaneous ovulators' meaning that as soon as the back end of the doe is near the front end of the buck she ovulates and will become pregnant instantly.  Not so with cavies.

The gestation is ten weeks, so the only thing you can do at this point is just wait and see. They don't always show right away. But odds are that being with the boar for 5 weeks should have done the job.

Now comes the hard part, you have to be patient and wait. I wish I could give you some sure way to tell, but there isn't.