guinea pig and babies

Question
Hi....I have a male and female guinea pig.  This happened by accident, they were sexed wrong.  I had the male neutered 2 weeks ago, and unfortunately he experienced some complications.  Fortunately, he now seems to be doing very well.  During this time the mom had her 2 babies and are doing very well.  We are anxious about reuniting all of them, if in fact that is something that can be done.  Is there a strong liklihood that mom and dad will not get along now or that maybe dad will not take well to the babies.  Do you have any suggestions on how to reacquaint them.  Dad seems really lonely and the whole purpose of getting him neutered was so that he and his female friend could continue to cohabitat.  We were hoping to have been able to reunite them before babies came, but becuase of the complications it did not happen that way.  The babies are now only 5 days old.  I didn't know if waiting to try all this would be better, or if a sooner than later approach would be best.   I am aware of needing to separate babies by sex by 5 weeks of age. I appreciate any information you may have regarding this situation.  I look forward to your response.  Thank you so much.

Answer
I'm very proud you had your male neutered. That is not an expense many want to pay for a "common rodent" as a guinea pig. Getting a male neutered should have no negative effects on his cohabitation with your female guinea pig. Actually, your male should be more docile since he doesn't have testosterone driving him. Dad should be fine around the babies. Under most circumstances a male will not deliberately try to harm his young because it's in every animals genes to reproduce and this would defeat that purpose. It's only natural that he is lonely. Guinea pigs are social creatures and especially since he was already around his female companion, I imagine he's lonely. Make sure to give him plenty of love and attention until he is reunited. I see nothing wrong with trying to reunite them now. I suggest you do it gradually though. Make sure you supervise the interactions at first. Maybe you could start by introducing him to his babies, then put them back and bring out their mother. Or you could put all 3 of them out with him. Observe him though! Do not leave them unattended, as an animal's behavior can be quite unpredictable. If he seems fine around her and the babies, go ahead. Or if you want, you can give the male and female some time together without the babies for a little bit each day until the babies are weaned and seperated. Are you going to be keeping the babies? I was just wondering because when I have a new baby I try to sex it, and I'm pretty confident I'm right, but I did make a mistake however that cost me one of my sow's lives. So because of that. I isolate the babies. I give them their own pen/ cage. By about 3 months you'll know for certain whether it is a male or female. Males have testicles which are quite obvious. I usually seperate my babies from their mother between 3 and 4 weeks. Supposedly, the male babies can get their mother pregnant at three weeks, but this has never happened to me, so I'm unsure if this myth is true. Female babies, if you are certain they are females, can be left with the mother indefinitely. However, under one condition, if your female guinea pig at three weeks, is sick looking, or is not acting right REMOVE THE BABIES IMMEDIATELY. Your sow could be getting sick because she's not getting the nutrients she needs. The babies are sucking her dry. It is fine to wean them at 3 weeks, but I usually do keep them on my sow unless she shows signs of ill health. I hope this helps you, and if you have any more questions please feel free to e-mail me again! I wish you, and your guinea pigs the best of luck. Many years of health and happiness to all of you :)