premature guinea pigs..

Question
hi,its my 1st time to have a guinea pig, i had my first pair last April 2011 and my girl Lia had her first born last August 2011, sadly, 2 out of three babies seemed to be premature, they are not fully developed, one survived but after a month the baby passed away. Then Lia got her second pregnancy around December 2011 and just gave birth today Feb. 15, 2012. 2 out of four looks very undeveloped similar to a fetus with Fur, the third one looks fully developed but did not survived.No one was home when she delivered the babies, we made sure that she was separated from all the other guineas and she has vitamin C with lots of fresh water and vegies. Lia and her mate Matthew are healthy that is why im wondering why only one baby survives everytime she gives birth.

Answer
Unhappily there is a high rate of mortality among sows and babies during and after pregnancy. You can do everything RIGHT and the babies or mom will die. The mother has to carry them for a long time and it is hard on her body. Also the babies may look fine but we can't know if there are internal problems. Two weeks ago, one of my favorite piggies delivered one baby. They both died within two days and I was watching them so carefully. It just happens.

My best recommendation is not to breed Lia. If you want to breed, I would go to a breeder and purchase another sow to go with Matthew or just get one of each and try again. Piggies are so overbred that its impossible to tell how genetically strong they are. I'd start again, but always keep in mind that they are part of nature and we have only so much control over what happens to our animals.  Good Luck, Cindy