un-known pregnancy

Question
Hi its Rachael.

About a week ago my guinea pig, Fee-bee had a baby. She is 5 months old. This is very strange as there was no male with her (when she was born there was her brother, Cosmo but they were separated at 4-5 weeks old.)

I do not know what to do nor do I know how it happened.

When should I separate them? How do I tell whether the baby is a boy or a girl? Is it normal for things like this to happen?

My friends, Alyina, Zeena and Martha are clue-less as to what happened.

I am very worried about Fee-bee and we don't know what to do.Please help me and e-mail me back as soon as possible.

Regards:
Rachael and friends.  

Answer
Sorry it's taken me so long to answer. Long story short, a stray cat my boyfriend and I found had a huge nasty infected tumor on her neck. It was a serious operation, that has required us to wait on the cat hand and foot. She has finally pulled through I am happy to say, but still requires constant care.  But anyways, 4-5 weeks was too long for Fee-bee and Cosmo to be together. He got her pregnant I would be guessing. A male should be seperated from a female at 3 weeks exactly. This may seem cruel, but this is the sure way of keeping a male from getting a female pregnant. A male is able to *ahem* get it on at 3 weeks and beyond in most cases. Ideally the male should be seperated at 3 weeks. The females, if you're positive they're females, can be left with the mother indefinitely UNLESS her health begins to deteriorate. I have always found sexing babies difficult. Try and press on the baby's belly right above where its sex organs are. If something pops out, then it's a boy. If nothing happens on the first try, continue pressing gently. If nothing happens, give it a couple of days and try again. After a few times of this, if nothing pops out at all, most likely it's a girl. Sometimes if you try and spread the opening a penis will pop out. Girls usually have a "Y" opening but, I've seen males that look similar. Wait a couple of months, and if it's a boy, testicles will be prominent on him. If bad matters come to worse, seperate the baby at 3 weeks, and give him/her their own cage. It's better to be safe than sorry. Yes it is very normal for a brother to get a sister pregnant. Most pet store guinea pigs are a result of inbreeding which unfortunately leads to a lot of premature deaths in guinea pigs. I'm wishing you a lot of luck. Keep an eye on the mother since she is so young, and if there are any signs of bad health in her, take her to a knowledgable guinea pig vet. I hope this helps you :)