Baby Guinea Pig Advice

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RinT

New Born Pup
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Hi everyone! Last Sunday I (finally) bonded my 2 and a half year old (neutered) boar with a 6 week old sow. They are getting along amazingly and I have seen such an improvement in both of their wellbeing. For a bit of backstory, I got my boar (Beemo) 7 months ago from an extremely neglectful situation and spent that whole time getting him healthy again to be neutered and have a friend. Beemo and Poppy (sow) lived size by size for about 2 weeks. I got Poppy when she was 4 weeks old as her mother rejected her at birth and she was hand raised by the breeder. Now, the two of them are getting along so well and Poppy follows him everywhere.

I just had 2 concerns - I bonded them a day early due to getting dates mixed up. Beemo would have been 6 weeks post neuter on Monday 17th October, however I bonded them Sunday 16th October. I don't think there has been any breeding, but could anyone tell me the likelihood of this? Just because I am very concerned about this and I am hoping it is not the case as I would have the sadly surrender the babies to a rescue due to my work, which I wouldn't want to do.

Second - the two of them have their own hide. They live in a 3x6 c&c cage. Beemo's hide is bigger than Poppy's for obvious reasons however Poppy's hide is very well big enough for her. However she seems to just stay in the hide with Beemo? I imagine this is because she is so young and he doesn't seem to mind it at all, they will do everything together and I will always see them sleeping cuddled up too. I just wanted to know is it okay if they share the hide? I imagine once she's older she will go to her own which I will keep in there anyway. Beemo doesn't attack her or anything and will often play with her/groom her, all he really does is rumble if she annoys him too much.

Thank you!
 
It is absolutely fine that they share a hide. She is very young so is desperate for companionship and guidance. They may always like to be together but equally things may change as she gets older and more confident but for now treasure it!

Ive tagged @Wiebke and @VickiA for your first question
 
RinT said:
Hi everyone! Last Sunday I (finally) bonded my 2 and a half year old (neutered) boar with a 6 week old sow. They are getting along amazingly and I have seen such an improvement in both of their wellbeing. For a bit of backstory, I got my boar (Beemo) 7 months ago from an extremely neglectful situation and spent that whole time getting him healthy again to be neutered and have a friend. Beemo and Poppy (sow) lived size by size for about 2 weeks. I got Poppy when she was 4 weeks old as her mother rejected her at birth and she was hand raised by the breeder. Now, the two of them are getting along so well and Poppy follows him everywhere.

I just had 2 concerns - I bonded them a day early due to getting dates mixed up. Beemo would have been 6 weeks post neuter on Monday 17th October, however I bonded them Sunday 16th October. I don't think there has been any breeding, but could anyone tell me the likelihood of this? Just because I am very concerned about this and I am hoping it is not the case as I would have the sadly surrender the babies to a rescue due to my work, which I wouldn't want to do.

Second - the two of them have their own hide. They live in a 3x6 c&c cage. Beemo's hide is bigger than Poppy's for obvious reasons however Poppy's hide is very well big enough for her. However she seems to just stay in the hide with Beemo? I imagine this is because she is so young and he doesn't seem to mind it at all, they will do everything together and I will always see them sleeping cuddled up too. I just wanted to know is it okay if they share the hide? I imagine once she's older she will go to her own which I will keep in there anyway. Beemo doesn't attack her or anything and will often play with her/groom her, all he really does is rumble if she annoys him too much.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Hi

It is not like that post-op boars are able to make babies one day and not the next. It is a probability curve that flattens out until around 6 weeks when the chances of a very late baby are like winning the lottery; semen can stay live for over 3 months as laboratory tests have shown but the chances of babies after 6 weeks are extremely low that they bcome negligeable. In over a decade of the RSPCA, the Blue Cross and most reputable UK rescues practising the 6 weeks post neuter wait, there has never been a pregnancy, despite literally thousands of boars having been neutered in the meantime.
Chances of a birth are already very low after 5 weeks but still significant enough that I had a surprise baby myself (not from one of my own 'husboars', I hasten to add) and I have also to heard of more several verifiable first- and second-hand cases. We did see several births of babies from 4 weeks cut-off boars on here before the RSPCA and the forum settled for a 6 weeks recommendation in the wake of my Tegan's birth in 2011; I estimate the 4 weeks post op risk over 1 in 100 cases.
But you need not worry about a day sooner by 6 weeks; the probability is only minutely higher!

Babies at that young age are desperate to belong and desperate for protection and comfort from an elder. What I would recommend is to have any housing and tunnely with at least two exits, so if the baby is chucked out of the house at any point, it is not a problem. In my own experience, boars with 'wifelet' mates often enjoy a very close life-long bond although the baby will start to sleep more on her own as she is growing up and becoming less needy.
You may find this article series here highly interesting, which I have written about how guinea pigs develop over the course of a life time. The third article covers the period between weaning and teenage.
Here is the link: Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs
 
RinT said:
Hi everyone! Last Sunday I (finally) bonded my 2 and a half year old (neutered) boar with a 6 week old sow. They are getting along amazingly and I have seen such an improvement in both of their wellbeing. For a bit of backstory, I got my boar (Beemo) 7 months ago from an extremely neglectful situation and spent that whole time getting him healthy again to be neutered and have a friend. Beemo and Poppy (sow) lived size by size for about 2 weeks. I got Poppy when she was 4 weeks old as her mother rejected her at birth and she was hand raised by the breeder. Now, the two of them are getting along so well and Poppy follows him everywhere.

I just had 2 concerns - I bonded them a day early due to getting dates mixed up. Beemo would have been 6 weeks post neuter on Monday 17th October, however I bonded them Sunday 16th October. I don't think there has been any breeding, but could anyone tell me the likelihood of this? Just because I am very concerned about this and I am hoping it is not the case as I would have the sadly surrender the babies to a rescue due to my work, which I wouldn't want to do.

Second - the two of them have their own hide. They live in a 3x6 c&c cage. Beemo's hide is bigger than Poppy's for obvious reasons however Poppy's hide is very well big enough for her. However she seems to just stay in the hide with Beemo? I imagine this is because she is so young and he doesn't seem to mind it at all, they will do everything together and I will always see them sleeping cuddled up too. I just wanted to know is it okay if they share the hide? I imagine once she's older she will go to her own which I will keep in there anyway. Beemo doesn't attack her or anything and will often play with her/groom her, all he really does is rumble if she annoys him too much.

Thank you!
Click to expand...
What a beautiful bond they have x
 
Piggies&buns said:
It is absolutely fine that they share a hide. She is very young so is desperate for companionship and guidance. They may always like to be together but equally things may change as she gets older and more confident but for now treasure it!

Ive tagged @Wiebke and @VickiA for your first question
Click to expand...
I 100% will! Thank you!
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

It is not like that post-op boars are able to make babies one day and not the next. It is a probability curve that flattens out until around 6 weeks when the chances of a very late baby are like winning the lottery; semen can stay live for over 3 months as laboratory tests have shown but the chances of babies after 6 weeks are extremely low that they bcome negligeable. In over a decade of the RSPCA, the Blue Cross and most reputable UK rescues practising the 6 weeks post neuter wait, there has never been a pregnancy, despite literally thousands of boars having been neutered in the meantime.
Chances of a birth are already very low after 5 weeks but still significant enough that I had a surprise baby myself (not from one of my own 'husboars', I hasten to add) and I have also to heard of more several verifiable first- and second-hand cases. We did see several births of babies from 4 weeks cut-off boars on here before the RSPCA and the forum settled for a 6 weeks recommendation in the wake of my Tegan's birth in 2011; I estimate that risk over 1 in 100 cases. You need not worry about a day sooner; the probability is only minutely higher!

Babies at that young age are desperate to belong and desperate for protection and comfort from an elder. What I would recommend is to have any housing and tunnely with at least two exits, so if the baby is chucked out of the house at any point, it is not a problem. In my own experience, boars with 'wifelet' mates often enjoy a very close life-long bond although the baby will start to sleep more on her own as she is growing up and becoming less needy.
You may find this article series here highly interesting, which I have written about how guinea pigs develop over the course of a life time. The third article covers the period between weaning and teenage.
Here is the link: Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the advice I appreciate it a lot :)
 
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