my piggy had babies!!

Question
I just got my first guinea pig about 2 months ago. She was supposed to be a he and yesterday morning i woke up to three little babies roaming around in her cage. One of them, the one uniqe in color has an eye problem. One of the eyes is open but kind of cloudy and the other is shut and stuff is coming out of it. What should I do? Also, is there any special things I need to do to help the babies and the mom out? Can i pick them up or should I leave them alone? And my mom just got me a guinea pig ball. But I dont know if those things are safe for guinea pigs. could you help me out? Thanks a bunch
                     katie

Answer
Katie --

This kind of stuff happens a lot when you buy your animals at a pet store.  They aren't very good at checking the animal's gender, as a rule.  I would take the baby with the eye problem to the vet, if it doesn't clear itself up.  You can treat the babies as normal guinea pigs, touching them, etc., but I wouldn't handle them as much as you normally would.  Just make sure that the mom is getting plenty of vitamin c (you can buy drops at a pet store to put in the water.)  As for the guinea pig ball, I do not recommend them for guinea pigs.  The ventilation slots they cut in those things are too big for guinea pigs, and they can (very easily) break a toe or leg if one should get caught while they are walking around.

Hope this answers all your questions.  If you have any more, please do not hesitate to ask.  Good luck!

Lorena