Can i pick your brains please

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ok so here is an update

My 2 lovely girls Phoebe and Bridget

99% sure now Bridget is a Brian

so what happens now!

I know what i plan to do - i am just looking for suggestions in case i missed an option

also bare in mind i am a sensible, caring and responsible owner (well i think i am)
 
Separate them immediately (which you probably have alredy done), take them to the vet to have your suspicion confirmed and wait for babies... pregnancies last 8-10 weeks, usually longer than shorter. Babies are born with their coat developed and their eyes open; they are by far the cutest of all the rodents! The pregnancy will show itself by iincreased thirst and the need for double the intake of vitamin C, then a marked increase in weight.
There is lots of info in the pregnancy section. If you post there, you'll get all the support you need. You can also find information on here:
http://www.guinealynx.info/reproduction.html

You can either decide to keep the babies, if you've got the space and money, or give the babes away, if you can't. If you try and rehome them through the forum, you may well find a home where you can keep in contact with your babies.

Depending on the number and gender of the babies, you can put one boy with daddy and any number of girls with mummy; or if you've got two boys, keep them together and have daddy neutered by an experienced vet (to avoid problems) and put him back with mummy and any daughters after six weeks. You could try and see whether you can keep all the boys together, but they will need lots of space, and you have to have extra accommodation ready for a possible fall-out. Baby boars need to be separated at three weeks or as soon as they start rumbling and sticking their nose up mummy's bum, as their "ammunition" has just gone life!

I wish you all the best! It must have come as a bit of a shock...
 
oh yes - quite a shock and i feel a bit foolish as it took so long to work out one is a boy but i am a novice and i am learning fast

i have always been an animal lover and always had pets ranging from gerbils to fish to dogs and so on
my wife has been lucky like this too as her dad collected all sorts over the years like pigs, goat, and even a donkey

you have hit the nail on the head - i plan keeping them all and hope i can shere some pics of the progress

seperate now - that was my real question as i read that they should not be seperated as it can cause stress

will keep yu posted - thanks again
 
If you can keep them housed in a way that they can still have contact through the bar or the mesh, that will make it easier on them.

Once you have confirmed the pregnancy, you will have to separate them well before the birth, as daddies generally are a pain in neck and hellbent on getting mummy pregnant again immediately after birth, and they are usually pretty irritated by the all small fry getting in their way, anyway! Not what mummy would like to have around...

If you have Brian neutered, he will have to stay 4-6 weeks apart after the op to make sure that there are no more accidents. Be prepared that the separation will be a pretty heartbreaking affair! But you will have to tough it out, unfortunately.

If you can provide something soft to snuggle into for you boy and girl, that will help. Sarah form Chucklebunies on here makes cheap snuggle bags (I've got some myself) or get a soft cuddle cup from simplyk9.
 
Oh well, it has happened which you cannot change! I would say that around 75% of people who have bought from pet stores have probably had their piggies miss-sexed! Not only that I have seen posts on here from experienced people who have also had a similar problem lol so you are not alone! As by now you should have them seperated, all you can really do is wait and see, if she is pregnant, which if she is you could wait till birth and seperate the babies (once old enough) into their own little pods! I.e. girls with girls and boys with boys (once sexed properly lol), this would then give you less headaches as you will find that a couple of extra little mouths are that much more expensive and the mummy and daddy will have their own little bundles of joy to keep them company! :(|) Do not feel pressured into giving them away or rehoming them as your two sepereated piggies still need some sort of company.

However, I hope that the deed has not been done and you have gotten lucky! :)p but you will still need a companion for each unless you rehome, one of the piggies and get a companion for the other! :)p
 
If it helps your conscience - I started out with two shop bought girls; one was a bit too much female (i.e. pregnant) and the other a bit too little, and it took two trips to the vet to have her gender confirmed, as she was a real in-betweenie - the second after I already had the babies. To say that things were a bit fraught, is a British understatement!

Unfortunately, I was not able to hang onto my two lovely babies, since my mum-in-law had just had a stroke and we were up to Wales all the time, often on virtually no notice at all. Only one cage would fit into our car...

Since then, I've stuck to rescues!

PS: I've posted a thread with pictures from the last three weeks of my sow's pregnancy in that section.
 
Tonight i ama a happy chappy. Took my girls to the shop where i got them and saw a different attendant and we solved all the problems.
I explained i thought we had a boy tra la tra la , she picked up Bridget ans guess what - he is a boy. Picked up Phoebe and she is a propper girlie girl

so now we know

to their credit - P@H were excellent. Accidents happen and they came up with several solutions

option 1 swap Boy for a girl and they will re house him, then find a good friend for phoebe

option 2 they agreed to contact their vet wit regart to fixing mi boy so we can keep him - explained this can be dangerous

option 3 (and i will bore you no more as this was my choice)
i was looking at option 1 but could not part with Bridge

now this is really sad - i was in tears - i know - bloomin softie grow up

so

they gave me a new cage - a new friend for phoebe and will help out with food for the babies if and when they turn up

this was the best solution all round as i did not want to give up Brige

so all my piggies are home, new cage is made and together with the other so they can all chatter away

and best of all - they are all happy

My little girl is like a dog with two tails as she has another piggie

and the new one is stunning

i know i ramble and i know these are not rescue piggies but one day i will offer a safe and caring home for more piggies that need one

thanks all for your help
 
Good on you!

I hope that Brige is OK. Best wait until after you have sexed the babies before you make any decisions concerning him. You may have to separate your two girls if Phoebe gets grumpy before or during birth and attacks her new friend.

For sexing babies: http://www.guinealynx.info/sexing_pups.html - have LOTS of fun with that...

Lindsecm has made a video of the birth of her three babies from a rescue sow just a few weeks earlier. Pm her and she might give you the details of the site.
 
Bullseye said:
Tonight i ama a happy chappy. Took my girls to the shop where i got them and saw a different attendant and we solved all the problems.
I explained i thought we had a boy tra la tra la , she picked up Bridget ans guess what - he is a boy. Picked up Phoebe and she is a propper girlie girl

so now we know

to their credit - P@H were excellent. Accidents happen and they came up with several solutions

option 1 swap Boy for a girl and they will re house him, then find a good friend for phoebe

option 2 they agreed to contact their vet wit regart to fixing mi boy so we can keep him - explained this can be dangerous

option 3 (and i will bore you no more as this was my choice)
i was looking at option 1 but could not part with Bridge

now this is really sad - i was in tears - i know - bloomin softie grow up

so

they gave me a new cage - a new friend for phoebe and will help out with food for the babies if and when they turn up

this was the best solution all round as i did not want to give up Brige

so all my piggies are home, new cage is made and together with the other so they can all chatter away

and best of all - they are all happy

My little girl is like a dog with two tails as she has another piggie

and the new one is stunning

i know i ramble and i know these are not rescue piggies but one day i will offer a safe and caring home for more piggies that need one

thanks all for your help
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I am soooo glad that you got such a good helping hand from Pets @ Home as there has been a lot of debate on here of late about the company! I feel that some people should read this and hopefully start to feel a little more positive towards them! :)p:)p

All I can say is GOOD RESULT! :(|)

Oh btw which cage did they give you?
 
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any company is only as good as the staff and i think i am lucky as there are many keen guinea pig keepers at the store which is close to my house

i did get a good result today

got the basic cage - Guinea Pig Den its called. the outdoor one

so my girls are in a double decker with ramp down to grass, Brige has a cage to hinself and they can share the run and playhouse - but not together

the girls got on fine and when i get them back they seemed to not get on

i cleaned the hutch and changed bedding so no territory scent and that has worked
both snuggled up for the night

bridge was happy as a pig in poo in the other cage which is right next to the girls
 
Vickyt said:
Good on you!

I hope that Brige is OK. Best wait until after you have sexed the babies before you make any decisions concerning him. You may have to separate your two girls if Phoebe gets grumpy before or during birth and attacks her new friend.

the site.
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Bridge is cool - happy to be home

as for the girls - if Phoebe starts on Sophie - i could pop her in with Bridge

hehehe

only joking
 
Bullseye said:
Bridge is cool - happy to be home

as for the girls - if Phoebe starts on Sophie - i could pop her in with Bridge

hehehe

only joking
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OMG OMG OMG please don't crack those types of jokes lol 8...:(|)8...:(|)

As for the girls bonding they will be ok, you might get some teeth chattering but nothing serious should come of it, just keep them under control :)p
 
well there has been a bit of bum sniffing and a bit of argie bargie but nothing that looks serious. When they bed down for the night, Phoebe take the Pigloo and Sophie curls up outside it
i guess she just has not settled in yet, she is skittish when you go to pick her up - just like Phoebe - but sits beautifully once you have her

so its lots of cuddles for her and the others and our piggie family is just getting bigger and bigger

already planning to have a new hutch as the free one is not as good quality and does not have a run under it for access to grass even thogh they have a seperate run and free range of the kids climbing frame
 
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