Gigantic Girly!

Question
Hi Becky,
I hope you can help me with this question. About two months ago, our female Lulu gave birth (first time) to three brand new little monsters. She was huge at the time of the birth, and since then still hasn't gone back to her original size. At first we thought it was the pregnancy making her so large (stretched tumy etc) but now we're beginning to worry a little. She's eating and drinking fine, going to the toilet as normal although occasionally the pellets come out a little wet. Her stomach isn't hard to the touch, nor is it very soft. 13 days after the birth I se[erated her frmo the father, and 4 weeks after I took out two of the babies who were boys.

We live in Tanzania and so seeing a vet is not an option and special guinea pig food just does not exist here! I normally give her fresh grass, fruit and veggies with ground dried maize husks to eat. Any ideas why she could be so huge? She's perfectly happy, the only thing is that she appears heavy when she moves around.

Any ideas/thoughts would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Katie

Answer
Hi Katie.  Guinea pigs, like many humans, do put on weight during pregnancy through the increase in diet, which won't necessarily go after the birth of the pups.  It could just be this excess fat that's making her a bit chunky looking now.
I would be concerned about the fact that the male was still with her for so long after the birth. The male really needs to be removed from the cage when the female is close to the labour, to give her space and protect the young.  Almost two weeks together is quite a while, and you would need to be 100% sure that the male did not 'try it on again' and impregnate her again.  This could cause some complication with the birth as a guinea pig needs a good break between pregnancies.
If she appears happy enough i wouldn't stress her out with anything right now.  I think you'd probably be able to tell if she is pregnant when you can feel more defined lumps either side of her, as she would have done before.   I wouldn't reduce her diet or anything just now, just to be sure.  It doesn't sound like she is eating anything bad for her anyway and a good supply of grass or hay is imperative for all pigs.
I hope this has eased your concern somewhat!