Help! Ginger is male!

L

lexyimrie

New Born Pup
Joined
Sep 11, 2022
Messages
3
Reaction score
1
Points
40
Location
Scotland
Hi,
We bought our two female piggies from the pet shop 4 weeks ago. They were apparently about 7 weeks old.
A friend was round a couple of days ago and informed us that one of the pigs is actually male!
I see that the forum doesn't allow discussion about breeding. It might be too late now to avoid " breeding", but I am not sure how to go forward! I don't want to separate them as they shouldn't be kept alone, and I don't want to get 2 more pigs. And my kids certainly wouldn't want to re-home either. I presume I should get " Ginger" neutered. Will they then probably be ok to live together? And if Cinnamon is already pregnant, I will get another cage- seems you move him out asap after the birth( but can read up more on that!)
I wonder how likely it is that she is already pregnant at around 11 weeks...
Sorry for so many questions! Thanks
 
:wel:

I’m sorry to hear this.
This is an accident, not intentional breeding so we will help you.

Please check their sexes yourself to confirm.

You absolutely must separate them today.
Put him in a separate and secure cage and leave the cages side by side. This will allow them to interact through the bars, this is perfectly acceptable and is not the same thing as living alone, but he cannot remain in the cage with her now you know they are mixed sex. Each cage needs to be a minimum of 120x60cm.
Given you’ve been sold a mixed sex pair, the pet shop should help you out with the associated costs.

Waiting to move him out until after birth will be too late. Sows come into season again within hours of giving birth so if she gives birth in the middle of the night or when you aren’t there and the boar is still in the cage with her then she could become pregnant again straight away.

New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights

Sows become fertile between 4 and 6 weeks of age, so at 11 weeks and having been with him for during this time then it is highly likely she is pregnant .

You can get your boar neutered when he is old enough. Boars can be neutered once the testicles descend from around 16 weeks of age. He then needs to be kept away from her in a separate cage for a further six weeks after neutering as during those first six weeks post neuter he will still be fertile. So you will have at least 11 weeks of them living side by side. She will have had the pups and you will have been able to plan what you will do with them going forward before he is able to go back in with her.
Equally, should you wish to keep the pups, the sexes of the pups and cage sizes will also be a factor in determining living arrangements.

The guide below will help with all the information you need regarding the pregnancy.

I have also tagged @VickiA @Wiebke as pregnancy experts to help you but also to move your post to the correct section of the forum so you can receive ongoing support.

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...on-collection-incl-help-with-any-dads.191229/

Cage Size Guide
 
Last edited:
Sorry you find yourself in this situation.
You are not the only person on the forum to have been sold missexed piggies.
Hope all goes well with pregnancy - assuming you have a pregnant sow.
There will be lots of support here for you.
 
Is your friend a reliable piggy-sexer? Did they actually extrude that penis?!? Or just have a bit of a poke...
 
You have already had some great advice above, and sadly you need to remove the male as soon as possible.

I would approach the pet shop, explain that they have sold you mis-sexed piggies and they should offer to help out with the cost of a new cage as well as possibly having your boy neutered when he is old enough.

However before you go down this route you might want to wait until after the pups have arrived, as if there are one (or more) females it may be easier to keep all the girls.
It's difficult when you are already attatched though, so for now I would just spserate the male and hold off making any big decisions until the pups arrive and you know what you are dealing with.

In the meantime it would be worth looking into local rescues (it depends a bit where you are in Scotland) to help you find great homes for any babies that you can't keep.
Please do rehome these through a rescue as opposed to just handing them back to the pet shop.
 
Sorry you got caught like this! As others have said, the best thing is to separate the pigs and keep them in separate, side-by-side cages where they can still interact. It's important to remove dad before birth because guinea pigs can breed again back-to-back if dad remains there... meaning if you girl gave birth overnight with dad present she could be pregnant again by the time you found them in the morning! It is possible to neuter your male, but they still need to be separate for 6 weeks to avoid pregnancy again. Or you may want to see if your female is pregnant and the sex of any babies before you make any decisions. Again, so sorry your pet store let you down here, it happens way too often!
 
Thanks for all the help and advice. Well, if she is pregnant, I will find nice homes for the pups and we have booked an appointment with the vets to double check that Ginger is male and get him neutered when possible and to see if Cinnamon is actually showing signs of being pregnant. I wonder if it is vital to separate them immediately? If they are rarely pregnant before 4 weeks and are 11 weeks now, we hopefully have another week or so before she might give birth...?
 
lexyimrie said:
Thanks for all the help and advice. Well, if she is pregnant, I will find nice homes for the pups and we have booked an appointment with the vets to double check that Ginger is male and get him neutered when possible and to see if Cinnamon is actually showing signs of being pregnant. I wonder if it is vital to separate them immediately? If they are rarely pregnant before 4 weeks and are 11 weeks now, we hopefully have another week or so before she might give birth...?
Click to expand...

We would strongly urge you to separate them now. I see what you are saying, but they cannot remain together so there is little point in prolonging the inevitable.
If by some miracle she hasn't already fallen pregnant, then by leaving them together you will be guaranteeing she will be.

She could be somewhere between 5 and 7 weeks pregnant (assuming she had her first season 4-6 weeks of age) and a pregnancy is 10 weeks. The outward signs dont show until the last third of pregnancy and a vet may be able to carry out a scan in the last third of the 10 weeks.

It would be best if you could enlist the help of a rescue centre to find homes for the pups to ensure they are suitable, knowledgeable and that the piggies are properly bonded. If you are going to rehome them yourself, you must make sure they go in same sex pairs, or that any new home has another older same sex piggy already resident and that they are knowledgeable on how to bond piggies. Its recommend to only allow them to go to new homes when they are around 8 weeks of age. However, any baby boars must be separated from their mother (and can go in the cage with dad in the intervening time between separation and rehoming) when they weigh either 250g or 21 days of age (whichever comes first) so they dont get their mother pregnant.
 
please, please separate now, a back to back pregnancy can be very dangerous for the sow. Sorry you have been sold mix sexed piggie. It happened to me many, many years ago. Contact the pet store so you can discuss the help you need (I.e. cage for your boar)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top