clipping and breeding

Question
Hello my guinea pig has long nails and I was on the internet and it said that you can trim thier nails with a nail clipper. How far do you need to trim them?
Also I now have two females and a male I know a fair amount about breeding and all of that type of stuff, but of course this is the first time for me! When you think the female is pregnant when should you separate them? Should you keep  them separated when the babies have arrived?
I've done some research on pregnancy for guinea pigs and it says you should give them bread soaked in milk, (I thought they weren't allowed to have bread!) Would it be a good idea to keep one guinea pig out of the litter and sell the rest? sorry this is so long I just have a lot of questions!
thanks Natalie

Answer
Hello Natalie,

If your piggies have clear nails, you should be able to see the pink quick inside, cut just below that. If they have dark nails just snip off the very tips a couple times a week until they are the length you want and you get a feel for where the quick is. I reccommend dog or cat nail clippers over human clippers. They tend to be easier to use and clip through their thicker nails easier. As for breeding do NOT give them bread or milk, neither is good for them. In fact Guinea Pigs should never be given any dairy (not even those yogurt drops they sell for them). When I was breeding, I only put them together to breed. As soon as breeding took place, they were seperated. If you don't know when they bred, seperate as soon as she starts showing. A month should be plenty of time for them to have bred. I do not suggest breeding at all unless you know the mother's age and both parents background. That way you can prevent genetic disorders. Also mom HAS to have her first litter before she is a year old or her pelvic bones harden and make delivery difficult or, in most cases, impossible.  Yes keep them seperated for several months even after the pups are weaned. Piggies should really not have more than one litter a year because pregnancy takes alot out of them and too many litters is a risk to their health and even their lives. They can get pregnant immediately after giving birth so the male should not be with her when she delivers. And then their regular heat cycles start again. She needs at the very least a month's break after weaning before becoming pregnant again. Guinea Pigs have a long gestation and the babies are very large and developed when born so it's VERY draining on mom and should have a long recovery time. Ideally, they shouldn't have more than one litter a year and 2 litters in their lifetime. As for keeping the babies, that's entirely up to you. You should have planned homes before you breed though or be prepared to keep as many as 8 babies if you can't find homes (though they typically have 1-5, you need to be prepared just in case). I personally have a hard time letting any go which is one of the many reasons I no longer breed. Only 4 ever actually left my home and 2 of those went to a close relative. You are doing good researching first and I encourage you to read everything you can about pregnancy and delivery as well as just everything about Guinea Pigs in general until you know them inside and out before you breed. I also reccommend a bit of genetics study as it will come in handy. Know your piggy breeds and color varieties so you know what not to breed and what to expect when you do. Do not breed roans or dalmatians to other roans or dalmatians or you end up with what are commonly called "lethal whites" and are seriously deformed pups who likely will not survive and will take alot of special care if they do. Always breed roans or dalmatians back to a self variety. Satins typically have a bone disease called osteodystrophy. Longhaired breeds tend to run a higher risk for pregnancy toxemia. I'll send you a few wonderful links dealing with breeding so you know what to be ready for and I encourage you to hunt up more. I'll also send a few simple genetics study links for you to check out. They are pretty easy to understand and will prove very useful. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I'll be happy to help. Good luck!

Breeding:
http://www.guinealynx.info/reproduction.html

http://www.diddly-di.fsnet.co.uk/breeding.htm

http://cavyspirit.com/breeding.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/2517/pregnant.htm

http://www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs/breeding.html

http://www.lienanimal.com/z_guineapreg.pdf

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/pets/guinea-pig-faq/section-8.html

Genetics:
http://pipsqueakcaviary.freeservers.com/custom4.html

http://www.zianet.com/nstcbbt/genetics.html

http://goto.glocalnet.net/mars/gen/genetics.htm

-kkat