If you have a pregnant sow (female guinea pig) due to give birth then you are in for a few animated weeks. Ordinarily sows have a litter of between two to four pups. It can be as high as ten pups in some cases. The birth process is very interesting. Most of the time, the mum will take care of the entire process.
It is very foremost that you educate yourself about this subject. Keep in mind that a pregnant sow is always at risk during pregnancy. In fact, about 25% per cent of sows die giving birth to their young. Also, abortions and still births are very common.
It takes about four weeks before the guinea big babies wean from their mother. Before this time, they will feed about every two hours. Baby guinea pigs are born with teeth, nails and fur and usually open their eyes about two hours after being born. From this time send they will be very inquisitive and want to seek the cage or hutch.
About a day later they will want to start eating hay and other foods. It is foremost that you have adequate ready as you could be feeding a estimate of guinea pigs now. The pups Ordinarily weigh about three or four ounces and have a distance of two to three inches. If they weight less than this, then they will usually die. As long as the birth was normal, you can expect your pups to survive.
After the four weeks have passed, the baby guinea pig will come to be independent from their mum and from you. This is the time that you need to move them to their own cage (males isolate from females). during this time period the females will have entered into sexual maturity so they need to isolate from the males for positive reasons. Also, in some cases males can come to be sexual active at 3 weeks old. So if you want to be extra truthful in preventing unwanted pregnancies isolate the males form the females at 3 weeks of age.
If the mum dies during delivery then you need put them with the father. The father will teach them how to eat solid food and keep them clean. If the father is not present, then you will need to do all things yourself. This means you need to feed them with a milk aggregate every two hours. The milk is twenty-five percent evaporated milk and seventy five percent boiled and then cooled water.
You also need to keep them clean by cleaning their rear ends. You can also teach the pups how to eat solid food. Do this patiently by cutting up small pieces of fruit and feeding it to them. They will soon comprehend how to eat and dispell it.
In order to get the pups used to being handled, you should stroke the baby guinea pigs from a young age. Each day you should give more and more affection. When they are small don't deal with them too much as you will frighten them, but keep in taste with them so they know you are friendly.
Baby Guinea PigsGuinea pigs very rarely bite. When they are frightened, they prefer to run and hide, instead of fighting, so children and adults can safely handle them without fear. Still it is all the time a good idea when handling any small pet to wash your hands thoroughly before you pick them up, especially if you have been dealing with food. If your fingers smell like food, then the guinea pigs may mistakenly be biting you.
Baby guinea pigs do have a tendency to nibble on fingers because, just like any young animal, they learn about their environment by exploring it with their mouths. Eventually, they will outgrow this.
On opening you may find a guinea pig that does bite. This is relatively rare, but it does happen sometimes. When it does, you don't need to give up on the guinea pig, he can be helped.
Usually, there are two reasons why an animal bites:
1. They are afraid of you
or
2. They feel they are more dominate than you.
Before you help your guinea pig with its problem, you need to settle which of these is the case for your pet.
A guinea pig who bites out of fear is regularly very timid and may try to avoid you, even in the cage. He may curl up into the corners so that you can't find him. When you touch him, the guinea pig may start shivering or shaking because he is afraid. In these cases, the guinea pig is so scared that he feels he has to fight back in order to defend himself. To stop this behavior, you must start slowly.
Don't pick up the animal, but instead start by reaching into the cage and stroking its head briefly. Then, gently increase your contact with the guinea pig until it feels comfortable with you handling him. It may take awhile and it may require a great deal of patience, but the payoff will be a closer association in the middle of the two of you and a happier guinea pig.
There are also two ways you don't want to handle whether of these situations. First, never make sounds like an injured guinea pig if he bites you. Some citizen foolishly believe that the guinea pig will feel so bad for causing you pain that he'll immediately stop, but that's not how the animal thinks. Instead, they feel more dominate since a whining guinea pig is regularly the weaker one, and your problems will only get worse. Other thing not to do is to yell or hit your guinea pig.
Because biting is a rare possibility, it is regularly good for an adult to handle the animal for the first few days to make sure that this type of behavior isn't going to be a problem.
Guinea Pig Bites - Is Biting A Problem?Many citizen would be quick to call a guinea pig just another "dumb animal" but that's literally not true. Of course, when compared to a human or a dog, guinea pigs aren't going to astound you with their intellect, but they are much more captivating than the mean person gives them prestige for, as any guinea pig owner knows quite well.
For example, if you feed your guinea pig fresh vegetables right out of the refrigerator, it won't take long for him to equate the sound of the refrigerator opportunity and him getting a tasty treat. His squeals and whistles will tell you that he wants what you've got in there.
Obviously, guinea pigs are trainable. They can be taught to walk on a leash (these are available at most pet stores) or to go to the bathroom in a obvious area. Some have even learned to come when their owners call their name! Just like with any other animal, you must be willing to work consistently with your pet and to recompense the desired behavior with treats, usually a beloved food. The guinea pig will then make the mental relationship between the good feeling he gets from the recompense and the behavior you want from him.
If you do plan on having your guinea pig on the floor a lot, then it may be a good idea to start litter training them early. You don't want to set your expectations too high for this endeavor, however. Guinea pigs will still go to the bathroom throughout their cage and will occasionally have accidents on the floor, but litter training them considerably reduces the liklihood that this will happen.
The easiest way to do this is to set aside part of their cage as a bathroom. A small litter pan (available at most pet stores) can be located in one of the corners of the cage. In order to entice your guinea pig to use it as a bathroom, you should add in some of their waste to the litter when you clean out the cage. You should keep doing this each time you change the bedding in the cage.
When you let your guinea pig out on the floor, you should also place their litter pan on the ground with them. Most of the time they will use the pan to go to the bathroom. Even if your guinea pig does have an accident, it will most likely be poop, not urine, you'll have to clean up and that is much, much easier to take care of.
You can also train your guinea pig to walk on a leash in a similar way. First, you must get him or her used to wearing the leash. Put it on them while you are petting them or hand-feeding them fresh vegetables so that they'll associate the enjoyable activity with having the leash on. Once your guinea pig feels comfortable with the leash, you can begin walking with him. Start off with small distances in the house, then moderately move outside. Just be rigorous not to pull or yank on the leash too hard, since guinea pigs are more fragile than dogs.
Guinea Pigs Training Guide - The BasicsMiss and Brownie the guineapigs Video Clips. Duration : 1.23 Mins.Finding if a guinea pig is a female or a male (also called sexing the guinea pigs) is quite easy and it can be done regardless of the age of the guinea pig. You need to carefully pick up the guinea pig and peruse its genital area. If you notice a puckered seeing spot just above the genital area, it's a good possibility that you're keeping a male, but you need to be positive.
Next, press moderately just above the genital area. If the guinea pig is a male, his penis should come out. If the guinea pig is young, you can also peruse the area colse to the animal's rectum. A donut-shape also signifies a male because this is where the guinea pig's testicles are located.
While sexing a guinea pig may not sound pleasant and may sound like a downright invasion of the animal's privacy, you should always check instead of relying on the guidance of a pet shop worker. Many, many families have been told by the sweet and cordial young people selling these creatures at the local pet store that their new guinea pigs are the same sex only to find out two months later that they've just been blessed with grand pigs (or great grand pigs, depending on who takes care of the animals).
If you don't feel comfortable with the process, do yourself and your house a favor and either don't buy a guinea pig from a pet store or only buy one guinea pig. If you go to a reputable and experienced guinea pig breeder, he or she will be able to tell you with reliance what gender your new guinea pig is.
Ok, now as promised, there are a few differences between male and female guinea pigs that may prompt you to choose one gender over another, although for the most part the positives and negatives basically equilibrium out.
Male guinea pigs are usually somewhat larger than the females, but the discrepancy is not overwhelming. More importantly, the males tend to be much more active than the females, and it may take them longer to calm down with children.
Female guinea pigs, on the other hand, are usually much calmer than the males and are sometimes easier for children to handle. However, if you purchase a female from a pet store or an unreliable breeder, you may end up bringing home more than you bargained for since she could already be pregnant. Whole though, both male and female guinea pigs make exquisite additions to roughly any family.
Guinea Pigs Gender - Is It A Boy Or A Girl?guinea pig breathing problem HELP please? Tube. Duration : 0.83 Mins.Guinea pigs don't regularly fight because they're very social. If they do, you may whether have to isolate them temporarily or permanently. Fighting regularly happens during introductions but I've seen many instances of already bonded pigs fighting fiercely. However, don't mistake kindly sparring for a real fight. With guineas, it isn't a fight unless there's whether blood being drawn or there's some serious biting between them.
There are distinct things that guinea pigs do that seem like fighting but aren't. These could later lead to a serious bout but they are no ifs ands or buts just both pigs trying to design who the boss is around the cage. These things consist of inoffensive bites, grappling (they try to get on top of each other sometimes), snarling etc.
Don't be fooled, though, because these situations could go both ways: whether one pig concedes defeat and they both live peacefully thereafter; or they can't reach a compromise, so they begin to seriously duel. This is why you need to watch them closely to see if they start fighting.
Fights are often bloody brawls and it's best to isolate the pigs before this happens. If you can't, then isolate them as soon as they star fighting. Never assume that guinea pigs will stop fighting by themselves; a serious fight can even lead to a death.
Also, be rigorous that you don't get bitten yourself. Guinea pigs are regularly very excited when they're fighting and won't hesitate to bite your hand if you're trying to isolate them in the heat of the moment. What I do when I explore pigs fighting is I slap or slightly rattle the cage. Once they're distracted from the fight, I pull one of the pigs out, keeping my hand wrapped in a cloth just to be on the safe side.
So, once you find that two pigs aren't getting along, what you should do is put them both in distinct cages or install a wall in the same cage between the two. If you're putting them in distinct cages, you should put the two cages together so that the pigs can see each other but can't make corporal contact.
Keep them this way for a while and after a few days, you will need to reintroduce them. This time, what you're going to do is bathe them both separately to remove scents and then scrub both their cages clean for the same reason. Now try putting them both in one cage. In most cases, they will forget their bad blood and begin to get along. If not, the only selection left is to permanently isolate them.
What to Do If Your Guinea Pigs Are FightingOne of the guinea pig's traits that honestly sets it apart from other small pets is its way of communicating with you and with other animals. Cavies have an array of corporal and verbal communication methods that make it easier for you, as the owner, to get inside their head, see what their thinking, and provide them with what they need.
Because their methods of verbal communication are the most unique, we'll start by discussing those.
Many first-time guinea pig owners have often heard rumbling or clacking sounds arrival from their tiny creature's cage but never honestly suspected that those noises were arrival from their pet, but they are. In fact, a group of rowdy guinea pigs can get real noisy, real fast.
Guinea pigs have a set of colse to 7 dissimilar sounds (some have subtle variations as well) that were originally used to delineate with their herd in the wild. Each sound has a distinct meaning and is often reinforced with acceptable body language.
Let's look at some of those meanings.
1. Low rattling sound - This deep, constant sound signals to the guinea pigs of the opposite sex that he or she is in the mood. Also, if you have two or more female guinea pigs, you may hear this noise when the dominant cavy greets the others.
2. Rumbling sound - This sound is a signal that your guinea pig doesn't like something. If you are petting him, then that means it doesn't feel comfortable with how you are touching him. If he is alone in his cage, it might mean that there's a loud sound he doesn't like.
3. Squeals/Whistles - Normally, this sound is never used with other guinea pigs. The animal has advanced it for one purpose: to ask humans for food.
4. Clacking teeth - If you have several guinea pigs in a cage together, you will definitely want to listen for this sound which is a warning and a signal of aggression.
5. Shreiks - Guinea pigs make this sound when they feel afraid, lonely, or in pain. If your pet makes it, then you need to shape out why and conclude the situation so your guinea pig can return to being happy.
6. Grunts/Squeaks/Chirps - you will, hopefully, come to be all too customary with these noises since the guinea pig uses them to let you know he's happy and comfortable. It's also the basic sound used between guinea pigs as they delineate with one another.
7. Purrs - These soft sounds may remind you of a cat as it rubs on your leg, and both the cat's and the guinea pig's sound means pretty much the same thing: they like anyone you are doing a lot!
Many pet owners want to know the secret of getting their guinea pigs to purr, but there honestly is no secret that they can find in a book. Each guinea pig is different, and each likes to be held and petted in dissimilar ways. If you want to make your guinea pig happy, the best thing to do is to experiment and to listen to what he tells you. He'll let you know what he likes and what he doesn't like; you just have to pay attention.
Just as their verbal messages can help you expound their feelings, so can guinea pigs' body language.
One of the most tasteless things you may see your guinea pig do is to jump right up into the area or to make several successive jumps in a row. This behavior is referred to as "popcorning" since the guinea pig resembles the popcorn kernals popping colse to while they are being cooked. This tells you that they are in a great mood and that they are very happy.
Guinea pigs also like to stretch their bodies. This also is a sign of being content. However, if they are only stretching their head that means they are very alert and are paying attentiveness to what is going on colse to them very carefully.
When you hear that teeth clacking or rumbling sound, it's a good bet that you will whether see your guinea pigs showing their teeth or standing up on their stiff back legs. Both of these are signs of aggression and could signal an impending fight.
Keeping a watchful eye and ear on your guinea pigs can help you provide them with everything they need to be truly happy and safe.
Guinea Pigs Body Language and Sounds - How to present With Your Guinea Pig?Ingyvox Tube. Duration : 0.67 Mins.As baby guinea pigs are very tiny it a good idea to take extra precautions to help ensure their security in their cage. consider their tiny heads could come to be stuck in the middle of the bars and possibility of strangulation. A way of preventing this is to line the cage walls with coroplast or cardboard from the floor level up to approximately one foot. If you are using a cage made from a grid, you could duplicate the walls and in in the middle of place coroplast or cardboard to create a "wall". When the babies are four to six months old, you can take off the layer as they will have grown sufficient to not get stuck.
When the babies are born and the mother has had a opening to clean them and time to bond, it is fairly safe to touch the babies. Your scent on the babies shouldn't cause the mother to abandon her pups. This would be a good time to start monitoring their weight. By tracking and monitoring their weight gives you an comprehension to their health. If the baby isn't growing at the same rate as the others you will see this in the weight and can intervene to support and provide health care.
Sometimes a pups growth is slower as they are not receiving sufficient of their mothers milk. You can intervene and place the pup alone with it's mother for feeding. If their weight continues to fluctuate, for whether the babies or the mother, it's best to sense your Veterinarian right away.
Provide a alfalfa rich (with sufficient levels of Vitamin C) in a pellet form as they are useful to the babies growing requirements and very helpful for a pregnant guinea pig. As guinea pigs are plant based eaters avoid food sources that consist of animal products, sugars, seeds/nuts and fats. Also provide a fresh clean water source and timothy hay.
Baby Guinea Pigs CareElectronic Poster: Series -- Animal Expert Tube. Duration : 2.27 Mins.
