Newborn behavior and socialization

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I brought home a young female from the petshop, and on Dec.2 around 9 PM she gave birth to a litter of 2 healthy females. I gave them a day or two to get acclimated to living outside their mother's womb before physically interacting with them much.

Since then I have been trying to hold and pet them individually each for about 10 minutes a day. When I do they almost always wheek constantly and seem very anxious.

I was wondering if this is normal for such young babies and if I should be concerned about anything else I might need to know about socializing such young babies.

Thanks so much,

Joel

ANSWER: The most important thing to remember is that cavies are flight animals. The newborns have a built in instinct that tells them to run when anything other than mom comes near them. It's perfectly normal. They depend on mom to tell them when to stay and when to go.

When you hold them they are crying for their mother and yes, they are very anxious and frightened. That's a normal response.

They will continue to try to escape until well after they're weaned, which is about five or six weeks. Leave the babies with the sow until she weans them herself. In fact you don't need to separate them at all unless you need to because of cage space.

What you are experiencing is normal cavy behavior. Nothing to worry about.

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QUESTION: Hi again,

I found one of the babies rumbling today and thought it odd that a female not yet 3 weeks would be trying to establish dominance.

So I took a look at the genitalia of both babies again. It seems my two little girls are two little boys! (I tried to spread open the Y, and only the lower "slit" would give way. I tried this with one of the older girls to be sure and found that the entire Y would spread open.)

Now that I know I have two boys I need to know at what age they should be removed from their mother's cage. They will be 3 weeks old on Friday.

Thanks so much,

Joel

ANSWER: If mother still has one baby to nurse you can pull the boys away at three weeks. If they're precocious enough to start rumblestrutting it's probably a good idea. Leaving the little sow with mom will prevent mastitis from pulling the litter too soon. And congratulations to you for being able to sex the babies. That's one of the most difficult things most people have with young ones, but once you see and recognize what you're looking for you're good to go!

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QUESTION: Thanks for your quick answer! I'm so sorry I wasn't clear the first time. There are two babies. As it turns out both of them are boys. Should I remove the rumblestrutter at 3 weeks and leave the other boy to nurse? Or should I remove them both at 3 weeks? Also, if they both need removed before the mother finishes lactating is there anything I need to do or know to take care of the mother?

Thanks again,

Joel

Answer
You're right, I misread your question. Sorry about that.  It's not likely he's going to breed mom simply because of physical improbability. He's just anatomically not ready yet. Leave him and brother with mom for another week. They develop better and are healthier when kept with the sow as long as you can, and four weeks is fine.