Is my little guinea pig pregnant or not?

Question
Hi! I bought my guinea pig 2 weeks ago. Now she is about 12-14 weeks old. She eats and drinks water a lot. Her tummy became round and big. When i'm touching her tummy i can feel something hard in there and it looks like something is moving there. Is it possible that she is pregnant? And will she be able to give a birth at such a young age?

Thank you


Answer
Hi Karina,

It sounds like your guinea pig is pregnant to me! At 12-14 weeks she is a little young to be a mum, but physically she will be big enough to handle the pregnancy and birth, so don't worry. As it's her first time, and presumably she isn't in a cage with older sows, you will need to keep an eye on her for the first couple of days to make sure she's taking care of her babies properly. Unfortunately, almost every female guinea pig brought from a pet shop will be pregnant, as the people in the shop are often inexperienced with guinea pigs, and may have even been given pregnant guinea pigs to sell!

Do you have just the one guinea pig? If you have more than one, it would be a good idea to check that the other isn't pregnant as well, or even a boy. If you have a male guinea pig living with your pregnant guinea pig, you will need to move him to a separate cage as he will be able to mate with your guinea pig and her female babies as soon as she has given birth! It is not a good idea to let this happen, as sows do not often handle two litters being born is quick succession very well.

The gestation period of guinea pigs is 58-72 days, and if you can feel the babies moving around, she is probably in the later stages of her pregnancy. It will be best not to handle her unncessarily now (just when you clean out her cage) as just like a human, she'll be feeling very uncomfortable. Put some extra hay in your piggy's cage so that she has somewhere comfortable to lay when she has her babies. She will probably have the babies at night, or any other time you're not watching, so be prepared to open the cage any day now and see mum and 1-4 tiny piggies looking up at you! If you are around when your guinea pig gives birth, don't disturb her, but stay within earshot so you can hear if she is struggling, and have your nearest vet's phone number at the ready. As with any animal, birth can be difficult for guinea pigs, but usually the babies are born without any complications, especially if the pregnant sow is happy and healthy.

When the babies are born, they will look just like mini versions of their mum! Not necessarily the same colour, but they are born with hair unlike many other small mammals as in the wild they need to be ready to run from predators from day one! 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 mum 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 once they've been born, but they will also drink their mother's milk until they are around 3 weeks old. Once they are weaned, you will need to move any males to a separate cage 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.

If you have any other questions about the pregnancy, the babies, or guinea pig health/diet in general, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Best wishes,
Jenny.