guniea pig breeding/housing

Question
I have a cage that is 36x18 inches. will this be enough room space to house one male, one female (later on) and possibly one of their babies? Is it possible? this was the largest cage i could find in the stores.
i just got a male for about 1 week (i can only see it once a week b/c it is at my father's house) do you think it is still possible that i can develop a good relationship with it? or is it that the guniea pig won't remember me. i can't take the guniea pig home becuase i already have a hamster and i can't abandon the hamster for hte guniea pig (that'll be favortism). well anyway, can you also tell me about how to safely mate guniea pigs without hurtign either one. As i said, i already have a male and i'm waiting for my friend's guniea pigs to give birth to a female. can you give my any tips on breeding and the questions i asked above. thanks a lot.

Answer
Amy --

Good questions, I'm glad you are concerned for the welfare of your animals.  In theory, that cage is large enough for three grown animals, although just barely.  Each adult guinea pig needs at least 1 1/2 sq. ft. of cage space as a minimum.  You will need to be careful when dealing with the guinea pig if you only see it once a week -- guinea pigs need lots of attention and care, so please be sure that you are giving all the attention you can.  As for your question about mating, you need to make sure that both animals are old enough -- with males that shouldn't be a problem, as long as they are weaned, they are probably old enough.  With females, however, you should make sure that the animal is at least 4 months old before you introduce the male.  If a sow is too young, that can cause delivery complications.  As for the actual breeding itself, you just put the two in the same cage for about three-four weeks and leave them be.  Nature will take care of the rest.

Hope this answers all your questions.  If you have any further questions or if you need clarification of anything that I have said, please feel free to contact me again.
Thanks, and good luck!

Lorena