A new guinea pig.

[lacross]

Hi,

We just bought a baby female guinea pig (Penny) for our 1 and a half year old, Jake. We introduced them yesterday - they fell in love straight away, but now he's not interested in us anymore. He doesn't squeak when we open the fridge or give him hay, and doesn't seem as interested in cuddles. He's too interested in his new girlfriend. She only enjoys cuddles if he's on my lap with him - she doesn't like being by herself. We have twice the guinea pigs and half the love! Now that we have 2 guinea pigs will Jake love us less? Will they want less attention?

Lucy

 

[Spishkey]

is jake castrated? it is not a good idea to keep a boy and girl together unless he's been 'done',the girl will get pregnant andyou'll be stuck with babies. beforeyou know it you'll be overrun with piggies
in connection with his behaviour....he'll be far more interested in his new 'friend' (piggies are social animals and love company) but will soon settle back to his old self and be wanting cuddles from you.
but please, get jake castrated for the sake of pennys health

 

[lacross]

We had him castrated 3 weeks ago especially for the occasion, he recovered really well. No babies for him! We quarantined her for a week too. I think we followed all the instructions we had pretty carefully.

Will he ever get to the stage where he stops vibrating at her or will that be something he does for ever?

 

[lauralucy]

i think you should leave at least 4 weeks but to be safe 6 weeks before introducing the female just to be safe.

i have a boy in with my girls and he vibrates at them not sure why exactly but he's always done it. i think he's trying to remind them he's there and he's the boss (even though i dont think he is) either that or he wants some mallethead

hope that helps a little

 

[nutmeg]

A boar needs to be kept separate for 6 weeks. They are usually 'firing blanks' from about 5 weeks, so 6 is generally thought to be safe. If they have been/are together from just 3 weeks after his op, there is a real chance Penny is now pregnant. Just in case, by some miracle she isn't, I would separate them now until the 6 week mark. Time will tell if she is pregnant. Let's hope she isn't.
With regard to the rumbling, yes it will stop, it is all part of the getting to know each other process and sorting out who is going to be boss. With my pair it is the girl (of course, lol.)
Good luck with them. x

 

[lacross]

That's kind of scary! The vet that did the operation told us that he would be fine to have a girlfriend after 2 weeks - we left it for 3 to be safe! I don't trust him. We had 2 male guinea pigs, they were both neutered together (they HATED each other so we had to seperate them but they were lonely so we wanted them to have girlfriends) but Elwood died 7 days later

If Penny is pregnant, how could we tell? If we put them back together at 6 weeks and she, would Jake hurt the babies? I thought we'd been so careful!

 

[Wiebke]

That's kind of scary! The vet that did the operation told us that he would be fine to have a girlfriend after 2 weeks - we left it for 3 to be safe! I don't trust him. We had 2 male guinea pigs, they were both neutered together (they HATED each other so we had to seperate them but they were lonely so we wanted them to have girlfriends) but Elwood died 7 days later

If Penny is pregnant, how could we tell? If we put them back together at 6 weeks and she, would Jake hurt the babies? I thought we'd been so careful!

I am so sorry that your vet hasn't given you proper advice and that you lost one of your boys after the op; that must have been very gutting. I guess that he is not very piggy savvy. Our advice must come as a real shock for you!

How long has Peggy been with Jake? Girls come into season every 15-17 days and will mate only at the end of that. Depending on haow long they have been together, you may be safe. However, some girls will come into season spontaneously when they meet a boar for the first time.

The best thing you can do is keep your two side by side so they can stay in contact with each other and become friends through the bars. A girl who is not in season won't be all that interested in a boar. Give them time to build up a bond; they will, be reassured!

A pregnancy takes about 10 weeks, but you will see the first signs only after about 5-6 weeks. Increased thirst and an increasing weight gain are usually the first signs. It would be good if you would weigh both piggies weekly, anyway. Also have a good look at Peggy's nipples now. If she is pregnant, they will start to elongate and swell up at some point (you can even take a picture now as reference). Later you can feel hard ball foring when you hold your hand under her belly. Please - NEVER squeeze!

Please start giving double the amount of vitamin C in veg form and extra alfalfa hay on top of the normal hay for calcium at about halfway through a pregnancy. Do NOT feed extra portions - big pups can cause real trouble to mum!

The ideal diet is plenty of hay (up to 80% of the daily food intake), 50g of mixed veg per piggy per day and a topped up bowl of pellets until the age of 6-9 months old, afterwards slowly reduce to 1 or even 1/2 handful per piggy per day.

You can leave Jake in with Peggy after his current wait until about the last two weeks if she turns out to be pregnant. Sows come into season within hours of giving birth and a randy boar with a one track mind chasing mummy all over the place is not what you want around newborn pups (neutered or not; the instinct and behaviour is the same!).

Guinea pigs don't have family bonds like we do. Jake (or any of his sons) will not recognise the pups as "his" and will be perfectly ready to mate with any daughter/sister of his as soon as she comes into season. You will need to separate any baby boars at three weeks old from their mum and sisters to prevent the next generation of accidents. If you have only one, you can put him in with Jake at first.

Best of luck, and I hope that you have caught them in time!

PS: When I was young, we were not given any advice at all by our vet and put our freshly neutered boar straight back with his girl - we were VERY lucky: nothing happened. You have to brace yourself for the real chance of a pregnancy, but not for the inevitability of one.

Here is more info on pregnancy:
http://www.guinealynx.info/reproduction.html, also see links labor and faq
Weighing piggies:
http://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html