first litter- six still births

Question
My guinea pig is 8 months old and she gave birth to her first litter last night. We witnessed the birth. The first pup born was small but fully formed, this was followed by a tiny pup which appeared to be premature. There was then an hour gap before the third pup was born which appeared to be of a normal size. The fourth pup came shortly after but was extremely large. The fifth pup was tiny and almost flat and subsequently a sixth pup was born. This pup was again of normal size. The mother appeared to be doing all the right things ie removing the bags from around the babies and didn't seem in any way distressed giving birth but to no avail as all six were still born. This pregnancy was planned and we were very careful to follow guidelines on diet etc. This has been a heartbreaking experience, please can you offer any explanation for why this has happened. Do you feel it is likely to reoccur if we were to try again in the future? our guinea pig is eating and drinking fine and seems ok in herself if not a little lonely. I thank you in anticipation for your answer.

Answer
Hi Debbie

Firstly I am sorry to hear about your experience.

Breeding is not a big area of expertise for me but I do know that some breeds dont mix well with others and cause an increased level of still born births.

Still borns are also very common anyway. I would suggest trying a different boar if you were to try again.

Sorry thats not much help.

Andy