first litter- six stillbirths

Question
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

I'm sorry for your loss

This unfortunately Can happen and is devastating to the owner and the Mother

At 8 months she is more than capable than giving birth to live babies.

You may try her again
and the chances of it recurring again is very slim.
If it does happen again it is probably the guinea pig itself

Was the guinea pig inbred accidently?

if not, this can happen sometimes in first litters but it can happen later on to.

All the best i would love to hear about her next litter so keep me informed

Good Luck Debbie

Mitchell

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your reply, you have put my mind at rest. How long should we leave it before trying again. I was thinking about three months depending on her condition.
Many thanks for your time.

Debbie

ANSWER: Hi Debbie

Thanks for the reply

I would wait at least 2 months or 3 months, like you said it is depending on her condition

Remember she has to have time to recover from this horrible incident
And she needs to get back to normal again and drop the Pregnancy fat

All the best
From Mitch

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks again, you've been a great help, sorry, just one more question (i think) Do you think it is wise to use the same boar as i have got two sows and two boars, i could therefore use a different boar. on a happier note our other sow has taken safe delivery of two beautiful baby boys all by herself in the middle of the night.
many thanks for your time
Debbie

Answer
Hi Debbie I have enjoyed answering all your questions so if you have any more feel free to ask

I think that you should try another boar because if you use the same boar and there is something wrong with that boar then you can risk the loss of more babies.

And also Congratulations on the 2 new babies would love to no how they are going as time goes on

All the best And good luck with the new babies and the future pregnancy.

Mitchell