Help, I think my pig is pregnant!

JX4 · Post » Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:16 pm

CONGRATULATIONS! Babies are so exciting!

You will see their personalities begin to emerge almost immediately. Just a warning, though, we thought we were pretty sure about the sexes of our babies (we had 7!) shortly after they were born, but we were wrong on over half of them. Of course our male (father) had ambiguous genitalia and passed that trait onto several of his offspring. He looked like a girl up until his testicles descended and by then it was too late -- he had already impregnated our other two who really were girls. (He had the X-shape and everything.) One of his sons had the same trait, and the only reason we realized he was a boy was when the exotics vet extruded his penis at 21 days. (I took them in at 21 days to make triple sure we were sexing them properly. It's a really good thing I did!)

At least two of the girls looked like they had penis bulbs too, and they even fooled our exotics vet at first. He kept trying to extrude non-existent penises on one of them especially and kept feeling for non-existent testicles. But even though she did not have the X shape and still carried what looked exactly like a penis bulb for almost a year, she is definitely a girl. (All our "babies" are over 2 years old now. We re-homed the two boy pups and kept the four girls ones. We now have seven pigs total when you count the three parents. The father is now neutered, of course!)

Babies that feel secure (are around adult pigs) will do all sorts of crazy things like climb on top of tunnels and try to jump 3 feet somewhere, so be careful to not allow them to do that. They will try to leap out of your hands. At least ours did.

But carefully handling the babies every day from Day 1 is good -- they won't know any other reality and will be much easier to pick up and hold as adults. Some of ours don't particularly like being picked up, but they don't freak out about it.

Have fun with your babies. They really are loads of fun!

RaminxRamin · Post » Tue Jul 11, 2017 6:25 pm

I'm not sure if I said so, but if you wish to use any pictures I post you may. :) I'm so glad that Pash and the pups are alright! Thank you guys for helping us through her pregnancy and birth!

RaminxRamin · Post » Tue Jul 11, 2017 6:29 pm

Here is a better photo of Unity's underside.

Post » Tue Jul 11, 2017 11:14 pm

Thanks for the okay on the pics. I do not have time now but will add some if I remember later.

Kimera · Post » Wed Jul 12, 2017 4:04 am

You have at least a month to find out the sex of the babies. It will be easier to do when they are bigger and more developed.
Anyway, congratulations! Baby cavies are adorable and very lively. Yo will soon see, why guinea pig's jumps are called "popcorning" :).

Post » Wed Jul 12, 2017 7:50 am

We recommend separating the sexes at 3 weeks (21 days) to ensure there are no pregnancies.

Talishan · Post » Wed Jul 12, 2017 6:02 pm

If you have not already done so BABYPROOF THE CAGE. RIGHT NOW.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/g ... ofing.html

Give both Pashmina and the pups an alfalfa-based pellet, and high-calcium greens, for right now. Ordinarily you want not to overdo calcium to prevent stone formation, but right now all of them need the extra calcium.

Keep us posted!!

CheddarMom · Post » Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:59 am

Congratulations!

I'm happy everything went well for the momma and babies! They are looking adorable and healthy.

RaminxRamin · Post » Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:54 pm

Update: The babies' weights are starting to gain weight again, and have matched or surpassed their birth weights. Pashmina on the other hand... Yesterday her weight was up from when she gave birth but today when I weighed her she had lost two ounces. I'm worried and am thinking I should get her to a vet.

Talishan · Post » Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:30 pm

How is her behavior? Eating, drinking, urinating, defecating? How is she acting?

RaminxRamin · Post » Sat Jul 15, 2017 2:06 pm

She's acting totally normal, still eating and drinking just fine. She's not acting any different than usual except for the rapid weight loss. Every time I weigh her she weighs less than before.

She was 522g (18.41oz) before the pregnancy, 712g (25.12oz) when she gave birth, she gained weight the next day that I weighed her to 762g (26.88oz), and today is down to 622g (21.94oz).

I wasn't able to get her to my vet, they were closed. But I'm going to try again Monday.

Kimera · Post » Sat Jul 15, 2017 4:35 pm

Producing milk puts great strain on the mother. Perhaps her loss of weight is the result of babies taking so much nutrients from her? It is hard to put on weight and nurse babies at the same time.