My young gp has just had babies

Question
We bought 4 new gps about 6 weeks ago they are all girls, how ever about 3 weeks ago we realised 1 of them was pregnant, as we were told that they were all about 6-8 weeks when we bought them i was concerned that she would be ok having and looking after the babies.  This afternoon i went out to check on her and she has had 2 babies she and them seem fine she has cleaned them and i have seen her eating and them moving, but i am concerned how the other 3 gps will be around the new babies - especially considering their age!.  There is plenty of room for them all to live together we have a large 3 story hutch. How soon can i handle the new gps to find out the sex?

Answer
Hi Sarah,

Congratulations! Aren't the babies just the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Don't worry, they may seem young, but your girl is actually a very good age to have her first litter, and her cagemates will help her to raise the babies (though as there's only two, there shouldn't be any difficulty anyway).

You can touch the babies after 48 hours (before this, you risk their mother rejecting them if they take on your scent) but when you hold them, make sure their mother can still see them. Ideally, get someone to sit next to you and hold the mother whilst you hold the babies. Be careful as they are like human babies; very wriggly and likely to wee on you! Put a little extra food in the hutch - although they will feed from their mother until they are 3 weeks old, they can eat solid food from day one - and make sure the water bottle is low enough for the babies to reach.

You will be able to tell their sex at 2 weeks of age, and you will need to have taken away any males by 4 weeks of age otherwise they will be sexually mature and could get any one of your females pregnant!

Have fun with them and if you have any other questions, just ask.

Jenny.