Guinea Pig Weaning

Question
I have a brown and white female peruvian that is a about  5 months or so and these are her first litter. She has three babies that are 2 weeks old.
I have a female black abysinnian that is bit younger,
I think she is about
4 months old, this is her first lot also,
that has just given birth to 2 babies. The peruvian is doing pretty good but she is looking a little tired. The babies weigh 90 grams, 100 grams and 110 grams. They are eating by themselves a lot and have seen them drinking out of the waterbottle too. I just wanted to know when I could wean them off her to allow her to recover. They live in an outside cage that gives them access to grass. I am feeding them lucerne pellets and fresh veggies. The other two babies and the mother are doing really well aand they weigh 100 grams. When could I wean them too? Also I have a problem with all the babies turning out like the father's color, he is a brindal english crested. He is the best father and loves the babies. He is the quietest guinea pig. I was thinking of putting him with the abysinnian and buying a colored boy for the peruvian. I have a big cage so I want to halve it to allow the males to be separate with their pairs. Any other information about breeding and weaning would be good too. Thanks


Answer
Hi Kayla,

Please don't try to wean the babies off their mother's milk. She will do this when the time is right - when they are between two and three weeks old. So it will be soon! As you have noticed, they can eat solid food and drink water from the day they are born, but they still need the nutrients of the milk while they are tiny. If the two mothers live together, they will help each other with the babies and raise them as one big gang, taking it in turns to rest - but don't put them together if they do not usually share a cage, as they may hurt each other or the babies.

I am afraid I don't know much about show breeding, as those of my guinea pigs who had litters had unplanned pregnancies! If the male is a purebred, though, his colouring is likely to always be dominant.

Hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions.

Jenny.