Female cavy

Question
Pat:  first let me thank u for the outstanding job u are providing
for those of us who are experiencing our 1st guinea (like me) who
ended up w/a pregant sow from the pet store.  I'm excited to say the least.  I purchased her the first of January (?) from Petco
and she is now at the stage of baby(s) moving around.  I feel movement on both sides and in the ctr. of bally when lying on my stomach.  I slip my finger under her at the vulva area and there is a small separation.  I am petrified that I could lose her and/or it would break my heart.  Especially her.  I am so attached to her and she is so loving and loves me.  I even put bows in her hair (she is a long haired (3") gray/white.  What kind is she.  Perusian??????  She eats good but is now staying in a box with shavings.....in a 4' rd. pen.  I have 2 other females in a larger 6' rd. pen.  They stay only in these pens; is this ok??????  They get exercise constantly!  When and if a boar is born should I pull him from "Big Mama" so no hanky/panky can take place.

Thanking u in advance for what a great cause u are doing for those of us out there who need "freebie" advice.  You're a sweetheart!

Always,

Marilyn Neff
Sherwood, AR

Answer
Thank you for support. I appreciate your comments.

First let me assure you that if you got your pig from Petco it is not an older pig. The major pet stores like PetSmart and Petco buy from wholesalers and are very demanding about the age of the animals they will purchase. They must be junior (12-24oz) or small Intermediate  (25- 32oz) size or they won't take them. So the majority of their stock were babies when purchased. Many of them won't take even Intermediates uless they're not over 28oz.

Breeders who sell to wholesalers cannot sell them if they are oversized. We try to sell our babies to private parties, but there are times when we simply cannot move them and must sell to the wholesaler before they get too large. So you can be assured that your girl is still young and should not be at high risk for delivery.

Please note that I so not work for any of these petstores or wholesalers, but do know what their standards are. The larger chains like Petco and Petsmart are now very cautious about sexing the pigs that come in. Some stores will only take sows and some only boars. What unfortunately happens though is that sometimes a wholesaler will incorrectly sex the young ones and a pregnancy occurs. So that young pig was pregnant before she ever got to her destination. We can't blame the chain stores for that.

About five years or so ago breeders from around the country campaigned hard to keep these larger chains from taking pigs without providing proper separation in their stores. I have to commend them for listening and doing their best to provide the right housing for the stock they have now. But they unfortunately will get the blame from the customers for an unexpected pregnancy. And truthfully that's not usually their fault.

If you're feeling moving she's very close to delivery. If you feel the spreading of the pelvic bones everyday you will feel when she's open wide enough. You can almost fit your finger between the small bones. Most likely she will deliver when you're not around. They seem to prefer early morning hours, so you may just wake up to some extra little eyes peeking up at you.

It's wise to trim the hair on her backside to facilitate delivery. It will keep her cleaner as well. The pens you have your pigs in are generous in size and will certainly accomodate babies as well. Baby boars do not become fertile as early as the baby sows do. If the father is in the cage he can impregnant the little sows as young as two or three weeks old. So for that reason the dad (which you don't have to worry about) should be removed before delivery.

Baby boars can be left with the rest of the litter until weaning time, four to five weeks. If you have a large litter over three or four and half are boys I'd pull them at three weeks if the mom is looking stressed and down in weight. She will wean the girls completely by four or five weeks.

If for some reason a sow is lost a baby at two weeks can survive. They learn within days how to lick from the water bottle and will try the pellets. They're born with a full set of teeth but of course need mom's milk, especially the colostrum produced the first few days, for immunity and better growth.

I leave mine with their moms until I feel she is done with them, which may be never in the case of the little sows. Baby boars may purr and strut, pretending to be hot stuff at three weeks old. I do pull them away then if that's the case.

As for her breed, you must realize that there are 13 different breeds of guinea pigs. Six of them are longhaired pigs. We can probably rule out the Texel as they have very curly long hair. The others are the Peruvian, Peruvian Satin, Coronet, Silkie, and Silkie Satin.

If you go to the website for the American Cavy Breeders Association (acbaonline) and click on breeds you'll see pictures of the different longhaired pigs. For a brief synopsis of the differences the Peruvian has hair that falls over their face, Coronet has a rosette on top of the head, Silkies have hair that goes backward from the top of the head. The Satins have extremely shiny coats with a marked sheen but otherwise look like their normal coated counterparts.

I hope this helps. Please take some pictures to send when the babies come. And if you can't figure out what her breed is send a picture of her.