Basics

Question
Hi, Thanks for anwsering my questions in such detail. I am not sure to get regular guinea pigs or Baldwin guineapigs, I do like the normals but I've found someone who lives almost a day away that breeds baldwins and is coming into my area next month and could bring me a pair. I was told they would only live 18/24 months thou and that worries me abit but I would rather have the hairless guys.... it'd be easier to sell the babeis later on because they are VERY rarely avalible around here. Do you know anything about baldwin guineas? they are cared for the same way areant they? and behave the same way? are tamed the same way ect?



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Followup To
Question -
Hello Lacey I am thinking of buying a male/female pair of guinea pigs for pets/breeding. I'd like to eventuly have two pairs or a group or three sows and a boar for pets/breeding. I would like to get my first two next month sometime, Both smooth coateds perferbily. I was wondering what would be the very basic things you think I need, I think I'll house them in a storage tub(my friend does) would this be ok? I am not a real rich person and can't afford tons and tons of expensive toys/hides, Is there anything I can use for hides/toys that would lower my starting costs? I do plan to feed quaility foods thou andquailty beddings. How long does it take to tame guiena pigs? they seem so jumpy in the stores until you ctach them. Thanks

Answer -
Hi! Probably the first most important thing to breeding guinea pigs, is do you have homes set up in advance for the babies? I'm telling you now, if you can not find homes in advance do not breed guinea pigs. I know this may not be what you want to hear, but at one time I was over run for with 22 guinea pigs because I didn't plan ahead. It costed me a lot of money, time, food and bedding. Also, if you're doing this to make money, you're going to lose money instead of making it, unless you can sell each baby for a nice price. I'm just giving you a heads up, I'm not telling you not to breed. It's a wonderful experience to watch the babies grow, and fall in love for a little while. The bare neccessities to own a guinea pig is a guinea pig food containing vitamin C (don't do rabbit food, it can kill your guinea pig because it doesn't contain the daily amount of vitamin C a pig needs), a water bottle, food dish, a cage (a lot of things can be used as cages, keep an open mind just as long as it is a smooth surface, meaning no grates where the urine and feces fall through holes in the cage into a tray)timothy hay for daily use, alfalfa for a treat or pregnant/nursing mothers, a salt wheel is not mandatory, but my pigs love them, bedding, fresh fruits and vegetables. It's not required but Wal Mart sells these wonderful fruit n nut cakes. My pigs go wild over them, and they help wear down their teeth. Stuff you don't need: An excercise wheel, an excercise ball, a cage with multiple levels, fancy expensive commercial guinea pig toys. Keep in mind a pig is a low dweller animal meaning normally they don't like to climb. However there are exceptions. Excercise balls are dangerous. I can't tell you how many times my guinea pig got knocked around. I now use the $15 thing for my hamsters. A wheel is dangerous because their feet can get caught in  the grooves. Honestly for toys, your pigs will be happy with a paper bag. Yes, a paper lunch bag will do. A Pringles tube for smaller pigs, newspaper shredded or set up in the cage like a tent, a "holey" dish towel propped up against a corner with a saftey pin, there's plumbing piping you can buy at a hardware store for less than $2. It makes a great tunnel for them to run through. Those commercial toys aren't neccessary. Ever heard of those kids that get an extravagant gift for Christmas in a huge box, then have more fun with the box than the toy itself? That's how guinea pigs are. They don't give a crap about some fancy tunnel. I do reccommend making your cage as colorful as possible as guinea pigs respond well to color and music. To lower costs, I suggest a flea market or a garage sale. You'd be amazed at what you'd find at those places. As for taming a guinea pig, chances are your little piggy will have had a hard life before he or she came to you. You can't possibly realize how stressful it is for 10 little kids pawing at you and screaming. I advise to tame your pig to take a towel or blanket, sit down and feed your pig fresh fruits and vegetables. Cut them in elongated pieces though so they don't nibble your fingers. If  you do this, do not set fresh fruit or veggies in the pig's cage. By hand feeding you are instilling trust, and giving your pig an incentive to be held. Make sure to pet stroke and brush your pig. Yes even short haired smooth varieties should and can be brushed, just be gentle. Music, and soft voices can also win over your pig. I sing to mine and they are as sweet as apple pie. One thing I need to tell you, once you breed your male, he may become more aggressive towards you, and he will constantly have sex on the brain. Especially if he's housed in the same room with your sow(s). If you're not going to breed your sow and boar right away, keep them isolated from each other. Them being around each other will make it harder for you to tame them. I must also suggest that you tame them BEFORE you breed them. A skittish mother and father produces skittish babies. The babies mimic their mother's behavior. Therefore, if she is scared of humans she will teach her babies to be. Just like with humans, your parents influenced how you'd turn out. A few things I need to tell you about breeding...once the boar and sow have mated, and you know she is pregnant, SEPERATE THEM IMMEDIATELY. When your sow gives birth, she will go into heat an hour after giving birth, meaning she can get pregnant again and be nursing babies. This is cruel to the sow. Also, I reccommend, waiting at least 3 months before re-breeding your sow. Another thing, make sure your sow in under a year old before she is bred, but no younger than 6 months. If she has not been bred by a year, she has a very high chance of dying during the pregnancy or giving birth. The male should be at least 5 months old. Your female goes into heat approx. every 18 days. She'll show at about 5 weeks. G.P. gestation is about 2-2 1/2 months (60-75 days) The babies need to kept with their mother for at least 3 weeks. The males need to be seperated around this time, as they can get the mother pregnant. If your sow shows any signs of ill health after 3 weeks, remove ALL babies, and give her TLC. Labor last up to 40 minutes. If it's any longer, the babies are usually dead. If you are fortunate enough to watch the birth, I reccommend against this as it can cause stress to the sow, but if you insist, do NOT help the sow. She knows what she is doing. Do not attempt to pull anything hanging out of your sow's vagina. You can actually rip out her insides if you do this. You may have some still borns. It's very heart-breaking, but remove the dead babies and concentrate on the live ones. As tempting as it may be, do NOT handle the babies for at least 3 days after the mother gives birth. It causes her un-needed stress. Actually, I reccommend almost not handling them at all for the first couple of weeks. They seem to be more docile when you do this, however, you being a first timer, will probably handle them on the first day LOL. I actually on my last sow pregnancy, tried to leave her alone as much as possible with the babies only to make sure they had plenty of food and water and hay. This lets the sow relax, and I must say, they were and one still is my tamest guinea pig ever. The mother got pregnant in the pet store and I didn't have time to handle her a lot before the babies were born. Oh try not to over handle your sow once she is in the late stages of her pregnancy. You can harm her. Actually spreadout the palm of your hand and your fingers and place it under her belly, then lift while your other hand is on her back.  Make sure to check on the food regularly as the babies enjoy climbing in the bowl and urinating and deficating while eating. Let the sow eat her after birth. It produces lactation in the sow giving the babies milk. This is everything I can think of off of the top of my head. If you have any more questions ASK. That's why I'm here :) I need to beg you though, if you are doing this to make a profit, or as an experiment, please don't. I strongly reccommend waiting to breed your pigs for a couple months to see if you even like the idea of taking care of a guinea pig. Most people get sick of the cleaning and feeding in the first month. I'd hate for you to be stuck with a pregnant pig, then her babies. This can be a huge turn off to guinea pigs. A guinea pig can have up to 8 babies, remember. That's a lot of food and bedding. I wish you the best of luck to you and your future pigs. May you all have a lifetime of happiness and love. Thanks :)  

Answer
I've done a little bit of research on Baldwin guinea pigs. LOL you taught the "expert" about a breed I didn't know. I don't really specialize in breeds. I've only bred your basic guinea pig. The English shorthairs, and the longer haired Abyssians. I'm not big on pure breds. When I firt got my pigs, I wanted them because I had always wanted a pig. Then I did more research and found out about a whole bunch of strange breeds. Baldwins have only came around recently...recently meaning most likely a couple of decades at least. They are still not recognized by the ACBA (American Cavy Breeder's Association). From what I've been reading, there's nothing unusual in taking care of them. They should be just like a normal guinea pig with hair. They behave the same way as a guinea pig with hair, and I'm sure they can be tamed the same way. There doesn't seem to be anything unusual about them except for the fact they're hairless. It is highly reccommended they're housed indoors in winter because of lack of hair, but if it's a warm nice day, feel free to take them outside. They're even able to be kept in the same temperature as a normal pig(our room temperature). The pigs are completely hairless, although when they're born, some have hair, then it falls out after they're weaned. They should be first bred at approx. 4-5 and not over 9 months. As for the person saying the hairless have a short life span, some breeders claim they don't live as long as normal pigs, and are unhealthy. According to www.cavyconcepts.com this is untrue. They live as long as a guinea pig with hair, if taken care of properly. Often breeders have so many pigs, they can't take good care of all of them. If you want hairless pigs, go for it. I prefer the ones with hair, but you're right. You could most likely make a good profit off of them. I'm guessing if you bought these types of pigs they're REALLY expensive, so I'd try to get some sort of warantee just in the event of anything happening (like the pig isn't healthy before you buy it). Breeders are a good source for rare breeds, but sometimes they don't always take the best of care of their pigs. Especially when they have too many. I'm not knocking breeders or anything, I'm just saying. I had trouble taking care of 22 pigs. A breeder has, most likely, a lot more than that. I wish you the best of luck in the purchase of your new pig. I've found 2 sites for you on hairless guinea pigs. They are
: http://209.17.131.1/index.asp?ct=1&ch=1&it=10 and www.cavyconcepts.com
May you find joy in your life with a guinea pig. And if you have any more questions feel free to write me some more. :) Thanks! :)