Sometimes adults will do this with each other too. (2020, May 5). It can be hard to tell when your pregnant guinea pig is going to deliver her babies because unlike dogs and cats, they do not prepare a nest. You need to be able to provide your guinea pigs with regular ample attention all the time. Hey there, I'm Angela. Many time, the pup gets killed accidentally and the mother eats it because she has a survival instinct. Sometimes it happens accidentally. It is essential for guinea pigs to have social contact with other guinea pigs. Do Guinea Pigs Recognize Their Owners? (How to Tell) Any sudden movement or noise can scare them. Now, if you have a dog or even a cat, you are sure it misses you when you have to go to work but do guinea pigs miss their owners? Thats what they do while also making your life a much brighter place. Besides, always separate baby guinea pigs from male guinea pigs. If separated from their parents, they may become anxious and depressed. Begin by holding your guinea pig gently on their back. Female guinea pigs take care of the hardest part as much as possible. Guinea Pigs May Lick as a Sign of Affection or Grooming. Since their gestation lasts just 59-73 days, a female guinea pig is capable in theory of bearing five or even six litters a year. Some have lengthy, silky hair, and others have brief, tough coats. This is necessary to prevent pregnancy. Or house her with a neutered male to prevent future pregnancies. Here you'll find the juicy goods to care for your little friends WITHOUT making your brain short-circuit. Since males can get any female guinea pig pregnant once they reach maturity - including their mothers - they're weaned and taken from their mother at three weeks old. Signs of Guinea pig loneliness, depression, and boredom include hair chewing, hiding, refusing to be handled, and general irritability. Do Guinea Pigs Nurse Their Young? This Is What You Should Know! As mentioned already, increased stress will make it much more likely that your guinea pig will eat her offspring. Almost the only reason why a female guinea pig can kill her babies is that she is so stressed that her mind cannot handle the strain. It was fascinating to watch our new mom clean up after her newborn baby guinea pigs. Keeping your guinea pig healthy and happy is an ongoing process that will require lots of dedication and effort from you. This is where they learn how to bond and behave in a herd. On average, baby guinea pigs come in litters of 2-4, and weigh 70-115g. It will also well as putting her at risk for developing diseases like toxaemia. By doing this you can prevent accidental killings, as well as promptly remove any still born pups from the cage. Guinea Pigs make excellent pets due to their playful, social nature. Here are some of our top baby guinea pig name lists to help you feel inspired! Dont separate them from their mother too soon. Foreign bodies in the eye of a guinea pig result in tearing, and corneal ulcers, which, in some cases, form a translucent film over the eyes. Expect to pay around $10 to $40 on average, though this can vary depending on factors such as age and coloring. The Best Pet Health & Care Advice from Real Vets | PetMD. For example, guinea pigs are born with their eyes open, and their ears which look huge at the moment can already hear. There is a chance that your sow will only partially eat her offspring, particularly if she killed them by accident. Veterinarians and Animal Hospital in Pasadena, MD | Lake Shore Pet Hospital. Guinea pigs are docile small animals. If your sow is in a very small enclosure, this could cause her unnecessary stress. So as long as the enclosure is secure and the bars are tight, you should be fine. Read Also: How Often to Clean Guinea Pig Cage. Make sure your pig has a lot of food. Guinea pigs eat their babies not because they want to kill them for food but for other reasons. Make sure to separate your male guinea pigs from females in their litter too. The larger the litter, the smaller the pups will likely be. Home - Guinea Pigs - Do Guinea Pigs Miss Their Owners? Pettijohn, T. F., Attachment and Separation Distress in the Infant Guinea Pig, Developmental Psychobiology, 1979. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Squeaks and Nibbles is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk, Squeaks and Nibbles is also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. To avoid the risk of your guinea pig, eating her babies, take these safety steps. Guinea pigs can jump over obstacles but these, When they recognize they are in danger, guinea pigs stand in one place for a long time then suddenly run very fast with a darting movement. Do Guinea Pigs Eat Their Babies? Wanna Give Your Piggies the 5 STAR Treatment? That way she doesnt have to deal with the stress of more pregnancies. Cage size Will the baby guinea pigs be able to escape? We read that the bedding needs to be changed daily. The answer to this question is not entirely clear. Other factors that make eating (or killing) the pups less likely include: piggies are natural herbivores and they have good maternal instincts (for rodents, anyway). By the time theyre a month old, baby guinea pigs body shape rather resembles that of a syrian hamster. Do guinea pigs hurt their babies? - Your Wisdom Tips Its better to have a cage that is much larger than a cage that is too small. If you are considering getting a guinea pig, ensure you can provide them with the social interaction they need. The extra calories should be provided until she stops nursing her newborn babies. Theyre filled with Vitamin C and other essential nutrients that guinea pigs need. Guinea pigs weigh between 700 and 1200g. Do Guinea Pigs Miss Their Babies - Midnight Pets Aggression between two newly introduced guinea pigs is very common and If your guinea pig is finding it hard to deal with the change of a new cage mate, try engaging him in more interaction with you than ever before. Why Do Guinea Pigs Lick You or Other Guinea Pigs? Also, after delivery, the mother guinea pig can eat babies accidentally, while eating the placenta. New guinea pig breeds are formalised by the American Cavy Breeders Association, who also oversee breed standards and competitions in the United States. Can the male guinea pig stay with the mother and babies? How long do guinea pig babies stay with mom? The female pups can be weaned the following week at four weeks of age. The body temperature of a guinea pig is between 101104 F (3840 C), so its ideal ambient air temperature is similar to that of humans, approximately 6575 F (1824 C). In most cases, guinea pigs won't miss you if you decide to leave them in the home instead of taking them with you for camping. Do Guinea Pigs Eat Their Babies if You Touch Them? She checked each one of them and licked them clean immediately following their birth. Even then, they must be handled very gently. First of all, dont be too hard on yourself. If possible, you should be present during the birth to provide support and comfort to the mother. (What You Need To Know), Can Guinea Pigs Eat Clementines? You cannot do any harm by touching your adult guinea pig or its babies. This was the most surprising thing to me! Baby guinea pigs are much smaller than their parents, so they can escape from the cage. Calcium can be found in alfalfa hay or alfalfa-based pellets, timothy hay and oranges. It is rare, but it does happen. Just keep your little friend with other females only. At worst, it can cause her to reject them. How long before you can handle baby guinea pigs? What is a Group of Guinea Pigs Called? This served a purpose in the wild to prevent predators from finding the newborn baby guinea pigs. If you want some more information on guinea pig interactions, check out these posts: The Truth About Single Guinea Pigs (Is It Okay To Just Have One?) You need to make the entire environment guinea pig-friendly. Watch after your guinea pig while she gives birth. Within twenty-four hours they can start to eat grass, produce, hay, and pellet feed just like adults. Many living creatures eat other members of their species when necessary for survival. We will help you to raise your baby guinea pigs to become healthy, happy pets. Although guinea pigs occasionally sneeze, frequent sneezing is a sign of pneumonia, especially in response to climate change. So, its possible for their mother (especially if shes inexperienced with babies) to kill them with too much force. In the next section weve assembled some of the most commonly asked questions our readers have about their baby guinea pigs. Although they are able to conceive year-round, springtime is the peak window for baby guineas appearing on the scene. As herbivores, they dont eat meat at all. You have to remember that these babies are coming out of the womb ready to run around the cage and have fun very quickly. Its just as important that your baby guinea pig also spends most of their time with other guinea pigs. Guinea pigs are cute and quite intelligent pets. Soak guinea pig pellets in water from the first day of life. Newborn Guinea Pigs Pups Care, Feeding, Vaccines, and More - The Big Zoo Keep an eye on their weight, and youll be able to observe them steadily gaining ounces until around their first birthday. This can be startling and upsetting. Diet What should our pregnant guinea pig eat? For the first 2-3 weeks , they will rely on their mother for milk. I didnt know how we would handle it if Theo rejected her babies or even worse ate her young! Firstly, please provide them with plenty of toys and treats to keep them occupied. We were stressed out during this time because we did not want to have another unexpected guinea pig pregnancy. Try brushing your pets coats regularly as this can create soothing and pleasant connecting experiences. On the other hand if youll be helping a sow to raise a litter of pups from birth, theres rather more to think about. Its important to remember that guinea pigs are prey animals and they can get intimidated very easily. The male guinea pig staying with the mother and babies is important because he helps keep them warm and protects them from predators. Do Guinea Pigs Eat Their Babies? What Makes Them Do That And How To Guinea pigs can recognize their owners and other people they know and trust. The good news is that its unlikely for your pregnant pet to eat her offspring. At the end of the day we removed the fleece bedding, washed it and replaced it with a fresh fleece liner. An adult guinea pig will never deliberately harm or eat a newborn guinea pig. A baby guinea pig is called a pup. They are able to express a wide range of emotions using different sounds and gestures. Pups from small litters are usually bigger than pups from large litters. This can hurt their health and well-being. If you are unsure, it is best to consult with a veterinarian to help determine the sex of the pups. I thought they would be born helpless and look like baby rats or hamsters with no fur and their eyes closed. This is especially true for mammalian animals, who often form strong attachments with their young. In almost all species, males are inherently territorial. The Midwest Guinea Pig Habitat is the recommended size (minimum of 8 square feet) and has deep sides around the edges that make it difficult for the baby guinea pigs to crawl out of. If your sow has eaten her own babies, you may want to consider changing her living conditions. Well, your guess is as good as mine guinea pigs sure miss their owners when theyre absent for so long. Clements, M. and Kelly, J. So the remaining milestones left to look for relate to growth, feeding, behavior and sexual maturity. The best thing you can do is provide adequate and proper nutrition to the new guinea pig mother. The first twenty four hours are when the babies are at greatest risk for being eaten, so remain close during this period. (2010, July 22). Pet owners know that keeping a guinea pig as a pet is a wonderful experience. The name pup calls to mind baby dogs, but guinea pigs actually belong to a family of rodent species called cavies. However, if its weak it might put up little resistance and be eaten entirely. (What You Need To Know)Continue. This is a question that has long been debated when it comes to guinea pigs. 5 Common Cat Behaviours And What They Mean. Before making this assumption, consider the following possibilities: Unfortunately, the evidence of your sow eating her babies might be obvious. If it has not happened within the first 24 hours, it is very unlikely she will attempt to do it later on. Most people find that, when it comes to guinea pigs at least, babies are the cutest. See Also: Care Show details You can take some precautions to lower the risk of a guinea pig baby being eaten. Just like with taming older guinea pigs be patient and consistent. Guinea pigs eating babies is a rare but possible occurrence. Its natural for you and me to humanize the behavior of animals. Why Do Guinea Pigs Sometimes Kill Their Young? And the result is that guinea pig babies are born already more mature than many other species. Wed love to hear from you in the comments below. Place one hand under their tummy and one behind their bottom, and hold the little guy close to you. Place the cage in a quiet, draft-free area your home that is out of direct sunlight. When a guinea pig is malnourished, it means that the guinea pig is not getting enough of the vitamins and nutrients that its body needs. As you find a toy for your little fur baby, you might be asking, do guinea pigs like stuffed animals? Female baby guinea pigs on the other hand have a y-shaped genital opening, set much closer to the anus. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com and other affiliate links, at no extra cost to you. There are several major ideas about why would a guinea pig eat the babies: When they are small and weak, its much easier to keep baby guinea pigs away from male guinea pigs. So, consider getting a cage large enough for them to play around. 15 Best Pet Freshwater Fish For Beginners. They might surprise you with how busy and outgoing they are too. This is especially true if pet parents have not given their pregnant sow enough food. Make sure that your guinea pig babies are able to reach the water bottle sipper. Here are some things we had to think about when we found out our guinea pig was pregnant: We adhered to the following recommended feeding guidelines for pregnant guinea pigs: RELATED: CLICK HERE to read about our unexpected guinea pig pregnancy and how to tell if your guinea pig is pregnant. This often happens when owners of female guinea pigs discover an unplanned pregnancy and arent able to care for all the babies. If you look after the guinea pig mother regularly, she will allow you to touch her baby guinea pigs. This is pretty rare. If a stillborn is not removed from the cage promptly, it might be eaten fairly quickly by the mother. Will the baby guinea pigs be able to escape the enclosure? Stress can cause guinea pigs to eat their babies, and stress-induced cannibalism is also very common in guinea pigs, and unfortunately, quite unavoidable at times.Do your best to keep them well fed and give them plenty of rest so they can stay calm. But do all animals miss their babies as much as we do? We noticed our guinea pig babies began to eat mamas food within a few days of birth. Housing your guinea pig is not particularly difficult, as there are a large variety of hutches and cages commercially available. Baby guinea pigs are called pups. But recognising the biological reasons why it occurs makes it easier to avoid. Guinea pigs are less likely to eat their own young than other varieties of rodents because a baby guinea pig reaches maturity quickly. Remember to remove any they leave, as it will spoil quickly. How Few Is Too Few? And make sure that the guinea pig mother is not present. But if you have a tiny little guinea pig with a noteworthy squeak, this name is pretty darn adorable. Guinea pigs need fresh water daily. And of course, when you run a finger over the area, you wont feel a penis! Never again hear the dreaded sounds of your guinea pigs angry squeaks because you forgot to clean out their cage or feed them on timefor the fourth day in a row. This may confirm why male guinea pigs eat baby guinea pigs, Guinea pigs are stressed out during placenta feeding and may eat the babies thinking its the postpartum part, They lack food and energy after their babies are born. There are, Read More 7 Alarming Reasons Why Guinea Pigs DroolContinue, What fruits can guinea pigs eat? Once the mother gives birth to her babies to the nest, she won't be paying much heed to the nest anymore. (What Owners Need To Know)Continue, If you notice drool on your guinea pigs face it can be a sign that somethings wrong. (n.d.). Calcium is very important for baby piggies as they are growing and developing. Likely she has forgotten all about them, and is instead planning to to escape and start her next litter. Guinea pigs are tailless rodents that weigh between 1.5 and 2.5 lbs. If her diet doesnt contain enough vital vitamins and nutrients, she can still be malnourished whilst receiving enough calories to maintain her body weight. She will naturally clean up the area around her: lick the babies clean, bite off the umbilical cord and eat the placenta. After your guinea pig has given birth, shell clean up the evidence left behind to stop predators from tracking down their scent. Hi there! Female guinea pigs (sows) typically mature sexually at 2 months of age (55 to 70 days). I'm here to help you smash the EASY button on pet parenting. In the meantime, if you havent seen enough sweet pictures of baby guinea pigs yet, then why not visit our compilation of favorite guinea pig videos.