Sexing
Females have an externally opening urethra to the vulva and a Y-shaped vulvar opening:
Who they can be housed with
It is far better to have a few girls together as they love company. We currently have a small herd of 4 girls: Hazel, Little bit, Silver and Star. Sows are generally more accepting, making it possible to have a number of them housed together, although some are known to fight, so it is not possible to house all of them like this. We have another girl, Holly, who doesnt like to leave the other Pigs alone so she is currently trying to be paired up with a rescue Piggy, Stripes. A neutered boar is a great addition. Make sure you wait a month after getting a boar neutered before you put him in with girls to avoid any unwanted pregnancys. I recommend adopting a boar who has been nutered before as we don't promote castration as it's very dangerous and could end up with the loss of the Piggy. As Guinea Pigs are fairly small, their little bodies might not cope with the anaesthetic used during the operation and could result in them never waking up.
Sows have been known to spray boars when the male has tried to mate them whilst the female was not in season. This puts the males off. One of our girls sprays our other girls if they approch her when shes eating or looking for food.
Pregnancy
During labour the sow will sit very squarely, usually in a corner and make a "hiccupping" motion. With a contraction, she will reach under her like she is getting a poop, and pull the baby out. She will then start to clean off the sac from the face. The babies will start to feed from her soon after the birth. She will eat the placenta and any soiled bedding. She does this to remove any trace of the babies to predators. If everything is going well, there is no need to intervene so just sit back and enjoy the miricle of birth.
IF THINGS GO WRONG WITH MUM
Get the sow to an exotics vet immediately if you witness any of the following:
- Sow bleeding excessively (if she is dripping blood) or a lot is covering her bedding.
- Sow squealing loudly with each contraction.
- Sow getting exhausted and giving up.
- No placenta being produced with the babies.
- Sow smelling like nail polish remover. This can occur from 2 weeks before until 2 weeks after the birth.
- Sow straining for more than 10 minutes and not producing a baby could indicate Dystocia - this is when the young are too large to pass through the pelvic canal during the birthing process.
IF THINGS GO WRONG FOR THE BABY
If you are lucky enough to be there during the birth, you can try and save any babies that are in trouble. Make sure you have towels close by just in case.
Mum is supposed to break the baby's sac with her teeth. If she does not, you will need to assist her and remove the sac from the baby's face so that it does not suffocate. Pierce the sac with your nail, open the baby's mouth and blow several breaths in rapid succession into its mouth (gently). Move the legs up and down to try to get the blood flowing around the heart. If the baby gasps you may be able to save it. Keep it warm in your hands and continue to blow down its throat. Dry its body by rubbing gently with a warm towel.
Keep it warm but do not give it anything to drink. Cover it with a towel (leaving the mouth clear) and place it near a source of heat such as a warm water bottle so that it will not catch a chill. When the baby is able to stand on its own you can reintroduce it to its mother. As she hasn't cleaned the baby she won't recognise it. Put it under her body and watch carefully to make sure she will accept it. If she rejects the baby you may try again later. You could try rubbing one of her other babies on it to try to get her to accept it, but if she continues to reject it then you will have to treat it as an orphaned Piggy.
How to feed an Orphaned baby
Remember to always have nuggets available.
The baby will require a feed every 2 - 3 hours for 5 - 7 days, even at night. Mix up some complan and boiled cooled water. Feed the formula using an eye dropper (or spoon) as Syringes are tricky to feed a baby in small enough amounts, so that it doesnt choke. It could get inhaled and drown it. Once the formula is made up squeeze the dropper in the formula to suck up the formula and then hold the dropper near the baby's mouth, he will hopefully start to suckle it. It will only drink a small amount. After it has suckled the milk make sure you have a warm damp cloth close by for you to rub its belly and bottom area. This will stimulate them into pooing, be sure you get all the poop out. It may take a while, stroke its tummy gently with the damp cloth. Do this everytime you have finished feeding it. Make sure you leave some mixed up complan in a small heavy ceramic bowl with torn up brown bread in it so that it can eat some on its own too. Continue this for 3 to 4 weeks. Complan can be found in the diet sections of shops.
