guinea pig new borns

Question
My guinea pig pootle has just given birth however 4 of the 5 babies still have there eyes tightly shut with very tiny slits could this be a congenital condition and what is their prognosis?

Answer
Hi Joanne,

Congratulations on your new babies!

I don't know about the slitty eyes; they could simply be take a while to wake up to the world, or something could be wrong with them. Do they seem healthy in every other way?

Here is some info about caring for babies and Pootle in general:

Avoid touching the babies for the first few days (although this will be tempting, as they are very cute) as if you pass your scent onto them, their mother may reject them, and hand-rearing a guinea pig is not easy! You can and should watch them, though. Make sure she isn't too rough when she is cleaning them, and check that all babies get a more or less equal share of her milk. A female guinea pig has only 2 nipples, so if she has 3 or more babies, they will have to take turns to suckle!

The babies can eat solid food from day one so start putting extra veggies in the cage, but they will also drink their mother's milk until they are around 3 weeks old. They will drink the water too, so make sure the bottle is low enough for them to reach. Don't put a small plate in; things will just get get messy!

Once they are weaned from their mother's milk, you will need to move any males to a separate cage. Make sure you do this by the time they are 4 weeks old, as at 4 weeks they reach sexual maturity and will be able to get their mother and sisters pregnant! It can be tricky to tell the gender of baby guinea pigs, but by the age of 2 weeks you will be able to tell for sure. If you cannot keep all the babies and need to rehome some, make sure they go in same-sex pairs, and do not give them away or sell them until they are 6 weeks of age.

Was your guinea pig pregnant when you bought her? If the father (or any other male guinea pig) is living in her cage you will need to put him into another cage. Adult males are too rough and bouncy to be trusted around small babies, and he will also try to re-impregnate the mother, and to mate with the female babies. Even if you want your female to have more babies, now is not a good time; as sows do not often successfully carry through one pregnancy straight after another.

If you have any other questions about any of your piggies, just get in touch :o)

Best wishes,
Jenny.