Responsible
Breeding
There can be few experiences for any animal lover more joyful
than seeing a new born baby come into the world and watching
it grow to adulthood. However, bringing a new life into
the world means taking on some responsibility for those
babies which anyone intending to breed their pets should
recognise.
We do not recommend that anyone
begins breeding their pets as a source of income... being
a common pet and easy to breed, guinea pig breeding is not
lucrative as a source of supplementary income and will certainly
not make you rich. In fact you may have difficulty in finding
homes for your guinea pig's offspring. Before going ahead
with mating your pets, think very carefully about what you
are going to do with the babies, and whether you have enough
hutches, space and time to look after babies that you are
unable to find homes for
This page is intended only
for those owners who wish to experience the joy and miracle
of birth from their pets, or who find that their new pet is
unexpectedly pregnant (it happens!) and want to know how it
goes.
Females
When breeding guinea pigs the first rule which
must be obeyed isnever to breed from a sow over
10 months of age who has never had a litter before.
To do so allows a very high risk of her suffering difficulties
with the birth, because as a sow grows older her pelvic bones
will become fused together and will be unable to expand easily
and allow the passage of the babies through the birth canal,
resulting in the babies becoming trapped. This is known as
dystocia. Unless a vet is on hand quickly to perform a Caesarean
section, both mother and babies will be lost.
The ideal age
for a sow to be mated for the first time is between the ages
of five and six months. The stretching of the bones and muscles
that takes place in the pelvis is then permanent, and future
litters born later in life are unlikely to result in the sow
experiencing the difficulties in birth described above.
Males
Boars come to maturity even earlier and are able to mate successfully
at just one month old! Therefore it is essential to separate
males from females at an early stage, though it is usual to
wait until the male is at least four months old before using
him for stud purposes.
Sexing It can be quite difficult to accurately tell the sex of
a newborn guinea pig - the tiny genitals of male and female
pigs can look very similar. Wait until they are a week or
two old before making any firm announcements!
The genitalia
of of both males and females have a Y shape - but there is
a small dot in the centre of the Y on the male. With a boar,
very gentle pressure either side of the genital opening will
bring the penis into view.
Boar
Sow
Mating Mating is fairly straightforward - simply place the female
in the male's cage and allow nature to take its course. Provided
that the hutch is large enough - and you are prepared and
able to deal with more than one litter of baby piggies - more
than one sow can be housed with a male. It is preferable to
restrict the breeding period to the warmer months of the year.
Sows come into
season approximately every 16 days for a period of about 12
hours, so leaving a pair together for about five weeks should
allow plenty of time for mating to take place. Once pregnant
(or "in-pig" as it is referred to), the sow will
try to fight off any further amorous attention from the male.
At this point she should be moved to her own hutch to go through
the pregnancy and give birth. It is quite safe to put her
in with other females and for the females to be around at
the time of birth. Quite often the others will help the mother
with the birth, cleaning up the babies and helping them into
the world, acting as caring aunties during their first weeks...
quite beautiful to watch!
The
Pregnancy
The pregnancy will last for 63 to 70 days, during which she
should be given the best and more of all that is nutritious.
Her vitamin C requirement will double, and we therefore recommend
a supplement of this most important vitamin. Parsley is an
excellent herb for mothers to be, extra fresh vegetables,
and alfalfa treats which are high in calcium content will
help build bones. See our Feeding
page for more ideas.
Around 42 days
(six weeks) into the pregnancy you should be able to see and
feel the babies as they move around in the womb. As the day
of birth draws nearer they will become more active. Do not
try squeezing her body to find the babies as you could inflict
a serious injury. Avoid any unnecessary handling during the
last month.
The
Birth After about 70 days the sow will produce her pups (usually
when you're not looking and often at night - so be careful
when opening the hutch door for an inspection around this
time in case any newborn babes come tumbling out onto the
floor!). There is very little blood or mess when guinea pigs
are born... mum and any attendant "aunties" will
do a superb job of cleaning the babies up!
Baby guinea
pigs (called "pups") are miniature adults, fully
developed at birth with strong legs, eyes open and hair. Like
all herd animals they must be ready to move with their families
soon after they are born. Being born in such an advanced stage
of development, the pups will be able to eat solid foods within
a day, but will benefit greatly from their mother's milk.
Mum will suckle her babies for about three weeks, after which
the baby boys will need to be separated from their mother
and sisters as mentioned above. If you place the boys with
their father, first rub them all over with litter from his
cage so that they smell of him rather than of the sow.
Toxemia
A typical litter is made up of three or four pups. If the
litter is much larger you will need to keep a close watch
on the mother for any signs of a condition known as toxemia.
Common symptoms include loss of appetite and twitching, followed
by convulsions. Obese sows are most at risk. You will need
to act quickly and obtain veterinary intervention if the sow's
life is to be saved.
Do not leave
a boar with a sow when she has the babies as he will mate
her as soon as the babies are born... feeding one litter whilst
pregnant with another will be too demanding on the poor female.
Hand
Rearing Babies
One of the hardest jobs is that of hand-rearing an unfortunate
baby guinea pig which have been orphaned or rejected by it's
mother. This isn't always successful but during the past couple
of years we've had a growing success rate with a couple of
hand reared babies. The best method I've found is that described
by Myra Mahoney in "The Really Useful Guinea Pig Guide".
Myra suggests feeding with a teaspoon containing a small piece
of bread soaked in a mixture of one part evaporated milk to
one part cooled boiled water. I've also found that Complan®
nutritional milkshakes work just as well. The baby will suck
the bread and then sip the milk from the spoon.
Some people advocate using
a syringe or dropper to feed babies the milk mixture. However
this can be quite dangerous as in their eagerness the milk
can easily go into the lungs and lead to pneumonia.
Getting the babies to eat
solids presented us with another difficulty on our first attempts
at hand-rearing, as although babies can eat solids from day
one, it seems they need to be taught how. Therefore I now
put orphans in with another sow who will keep them warm and
act as a role model, teaching them to eat. The baby will copy
their foster mother and grow quickly!
For some reason there appears
to be something magical about day number seven... if an orphan
or rejected runt can survive past the seventh day I relax
and become confident that he'll survive and enjoy a long and
healthy life!
Apart from feeding, you'll
have to help the baby with pooping and peeing during the first
two or three days if Mum isn't around to help. After each
feed, gently stimulate the area around the genitals with a
damp cotton bud. Normally it would be Mum licking her babies
in this area that would help them with elimination of waste...
your cotton bud needs to simulate the mother's tongue. After
a few days you should be able to see that they are able to
go toilet without help, and you can leave them to it
Responsible
Breeding
One of the hardest jobs is that of hand-rearing an unfortunate
baby guinea pig which have been orphaned or rejected by it's
mother. This isn't always successful but during the past couple
of years we've had a growing success rate with a couple of
hand reared babies. The best method I've found is that described
by Myra Mahoney in "The Really Useful Guinea Pig Guide".
Myra suggests feeding with a teaspoon containing a small piece
of bread soaked in a mixture of one part evaporated milk to
one part cooled boiled water. I've also found that Complan®
nutritional milkshakes work just as well. The baby will suck
the bread and then sip the milk from the spoon.
"
by David Alderton