dead litter

Question
I am a typical animal lover with two guinea pigs. My first child picked out a male guinea pig for his birthday. Two months later my second child wanted a pig and we thought it would be good company for the first, so back off to the pet store for another male (to eliminate breeding) Come to find out our first male was actually a female and pregnant a few months later. By the time we figured out she was too big to just be "fat" she gave birth to 3 beautiful healthy babies. Off to the internet to read up on these new additions to our family. Upon reading several complications they can endure, I was really glad nature had worked out find. I seperated the male (possibly late) not knowing he would try to get her pregnant within the first hours after birth. And 'Rocky' was a great mommy to her babies. At about three to four weeks as I started to notice the babies climbing in the food bowl I checked the babies and seperated the males. Just in the last few weeks we really started noticing her getting really big again, and this last week I was sure she was pregnant again as she could barely fit in her house. I was very concerned with this now that I know the risks to pregnat sows, and I thought I had taken all measures to keep this from happening again. Not expecting her litter due quite yet, I checked on her yesterday afternoon to find she had given birth to at least three or four babies, none of which were moving (she had'nt even cleaned them) She was laying outside of her house quite noticeably smaller. Not wanting the children to see, I waited a few hours until they went to bed before I removed the babies. I was shocked to find seven babies all together, all dead, all looked very normal and looked to be full term, ( they werent cleaned so their hair was matted) I really am curious about what went wrong going over in my head several reasons. Did I possibly leave a male in with her thinking it was a female? Her first litter was two males who were seperated with the father and one female which I kept with mom. Did the father have a chance to impregnate the mother too quickly after the last birth? What is normal gestation? The father was seperated the second day after the birth and her first litter is at least eight weeks old. Is their a problem with Rocky that could have resulted in the death of the litter? I had noticed days to her delivery that she was losing hair around her neck. And her coat wasnt looking as smooth and shiny lately. I give them extra Vit C, and baths every few weeks, the only change I have made in their care is I recently changed to a cedar chip bedding to save on cost, sice I had to purchase extra cages and food. Please help with any info. I can understand how she might have gotten pregnant again, but I dont understand how all the babies died when she carried a healthy litter before and cared for her young as she should have. I want to make sure this does not happen again.

Answer
Hi Brandi

I'm sorry to hear about that terrible news
Unfortunately you did make a accidental mistake
You left the father in with the mother for to long after the babies were born
Straight after the babies are born the father can get the mother pregnant again
One problem could have been that the babies were stillborn or she had gave birth to them prematurely
Because if they are born prematurely then that increases the chances of the babies being dead
Maybe the mother thought that if the first few babies died then she might as well just walk away from them
Also carrying such a large littler can cause problems as not all the babies get enough food

The normal gestation is 9-10 weeks
so it could not have been the babies
The hair loss could have been a mange which could have affected her while she was pregnant which could have resulted in the death of all 7 babies

I don't think it was the father but their is always that chance
Good luck and i am very sorry about the loss
Unfortunately i have lost a mother while she was giving birth a couple of days ago now i must look after 3 babies which already 1 has died
Hope the info has helped
Mitchell