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I don’t know what to do

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Erwin & Baymax said:
Yes it is not clear. Her area is covered by wet, yellow fur. Also she keeps kicking. I assume she’s a girl because she doesn’t have the button or the penis ridge.
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the fur being wet will not change the way the slit looks. Youll just have to move the fur away, and likely get somebody else to help you. Assuming is not good enough you need to be certain before 21 days or 250g.
How old will they be (in days) by Tuesday when you have the vet appointment?
 
Boar-sow-sow to my eyes too but you need gentle hands-on to be sure. They are having a tricky start, poor tiny things, but if you can get two established same-sex pairs that'll be best. Be as gentle with them as you can, and they'll come to trust you.
Bedding might be a bit trial-and-error to see what works out for you in your climate but just make sure that they are not standing on wet newspaper as they can get urine scald on their tender little feet which makes them sore. People do use newspaper but as the others have said you put something like hay on top which keeps their feet away from the pee. And yes, you do get through a lot of bedding!

The great bulk of experience is that piggies can't be toilet trained although some favour certain areas to toilet. They excrete as they walk about and more if they stop to eat - and they have to eat all day long! I say this just because if you want to keep your boars roaming free your room will essentially become one giant enclosure to clean out. Until recently I've not penned piggies in (now two fighters have to be kept apart so we have to pen one pair) but they've had their own area and stuck to it. They didn't choose a massive area, they wanted 'their' bit which they had their hideys, their mats, their food and water bottles etc. so you might find a happy compromise upstairs for the boys. We have a little L-shaped kitchen and they have one side of the 'L'

One rule is firm though - I never let a dog in the house. I can make the rule because it's my house! If you have to live with folks who welcome in mates with their dogs or leave the front door open on hot days it's your job to keep your little guys safe. But you know this already ☺
 
Piggies&buns said:
the fur being wet will not change the way the slit looks. Youll just have to move the fur away, and likely get somebody else to help you. Assuming is not good enough you need to be certain before 21 days or 250g.
How old will they be (in days) by Tuesday when you have the vet appointment?
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Around 20 days old
 
Is it around 20 days old or 20 days old? You need to be precise about their age. There’s no room for maybe or roughly. If you know what date they were born then you should know how old they will be.

So how old will they be?
 
They will be 20days old on the day of the appointment. The next day the sows will be given away hopefully if they are healthy.
 
All my baby guinea pigs have gained weight except for one who has dropped from 160g to 157g. She eats fine though. I’m not sure if this is normal.
 
Is this from yesterday? Keep a close eye on her. @Piggies&buns perhaps she could syringe feed some mushed pellets to her? Or offer her mushed pellets in a bowl? I know it’s not much but she should be gaining.
 
Siikibam said:
Is this from yesterday? Keep a close eye on her. @Piggies&buns perhaps she could syringe feed some mushed pellets to her? Or offer her mushed pellets in a bowl? I know it’s not much but she should be gaining.
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I'm not sure on syringe feeding tiny babies - I think offering mushed pellets from a spoon is ok to do or definitely putting mushed pellets in a bowl in the cage.
Ensure you have big mounds of hay in the cage at all times. The amount of hay in the cage in the earlier picture isn’t enough.
I think losses in the first few days are to be expected but not at their age, you’d expect gains. It’s not much of a loss but they don’t have lots of weight on them so any loss is more significant. If losses continue then you would need to see a vet before Tuesday
 
Piggies&buns said:
I'm not sure on syringe feeding tiny babies - I think offering mushed pellets from a spoon is ok to do or definitely putting mushed pellets in a bowl in the cage.
Ensure you have big mounds of hay in the cage at all times. The amount of hay in the cage in the earlier picture isn’t enough.
I think losses in the first few days are to be expected but not at their age, you’d expect gains. It’s not much of a loss but they don’t have lots of weight on them so any loss is more significant. If losses continue then you would need to see a vet before Tuesday
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👍🏾 That’s why I added putting in a bowl. Offering on a spoon is a good idea as well.
 
Piggies&buns said:
I'm not sure on syringe feeding tiny babies - I think offering mushed pellets from a spoon is ok to do or definitely putting mushed pellets in a bowl in the cage.
Ensure you have big mounds of hay in the cage at all times. The amount of hay in the cage in the earlier picture isn’t enough.
I think losses in the first few days are to be expected but not at their age, you’d expect gains. It’s not much of a loss but they don’t have lots of weight on them so any loss is more significant. If losses continue then you would need to see a vet before Tuesday
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How much hay is needed? I usually buy a 5Kg bag of hay.
 
Erwin & Baymax said:
How much hay is needed? I usually buy a 5Kg bag of hay.
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They need to eat lots of it. You will want to ensure there is fresh clean hay in the cage at all times. Their weight is the only way to gauge they are eating enough though - guinea pigs will gain weight if they eat enough hay, and lose weight if they aren’t eating enough (and at that point you have to step in with support feeding and see a vet as lack of hay intake probably has a medical issue attached to it)
 
Piggies&buns said:
They need to eat lots of it. You will want to ensure there is fresh clean hay in the cage at all times. Their weight is the only way to gauge they are eating enough though - guinea pigs will gain weight if they eat enough hay, and lose weight if they aren’t eating enough (and at that point you have to step in with support feeding and see a vet as lack of hay intake probably has a medical issue attached to it)
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I give them grass and hay. They completely devour the pile of grass I give them. They only eat hay if I don’t give them grass. Well they do eat the hay but not as much when they are given grass.
 
Erwin & Baymax said:
I give them grass and hay. They completely devour the pile of grass I give them. They only eat hay if I don’t give them grass. Well they do eat the hay but not as much when they are given grass.
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Grass is fine. They must still always have hay though even when given grass, particularly as they get bigger, because it’s unlikely you would be able to pick them enough grass to satisfy their constant need to eat fibre.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
 
A 5kg bag wouldn’t last one month for four piggies I don’t think. I’ve got four and 8kg used to last maybe a month or a bit less. You need to take out any wet hay every day and top it up throughout the day.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Grass is fine. They must still always have hay though even when given grass, particularly as they get bigger, because it’s unlikely you would be able to pick them enough grass to satisfy their constant need to eat fibre.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
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Can I put hay in one corner instead of the whole cage so they hay doesn’t get wet?
 
Do two piles. They like to lie in it as well as eating it. You can try timothy hay. Perhaps do a mix of the two. Did you bond dad and son?

Hourly isn’t necessary. But do too it up throughout the day.
 
Yes I did. The father kept purring I'm not sure what that indicates. They didn’t really get close to each other, just kept feasting on their hay.
 
Erwin & Baymax said:
The hay gets replaced every day, every morning. Should I start replacing the hay hourly?
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you need to give them hay more than once per day. Mine get their hay topped up four times a day.

when youve got two boars together, you need to make sure hay is in many places around their enclosure so prevent problems between them. Boars will not necessarily share so you need to have multiple of every item

Purring is rumblestrutting and is totally normal. You must have seen that before given you previously had a boar pair

how long were they in the bonding pen? Are they now in a separate enclosure away from the sows?
 
I hope you kept them together. As said that’s normal. Did you read the bonding guide and the guide on boars? I’m 100% sure they were linked to in earlier posts.
 
Piggies&buns said:
you need to give them hay more than once per day. Mine get their hay topped up four times a day.

when youve got two boars together, you need to make sure hay is in many places around their enclosure so prevent problems between them. Boars will not necessarily share so you need to have multiple of every item

Purring is rumblestrutting and is totally normal. You must have seen that before given you previously had a boar pair

how long were they in the bonding pen? Are they now in a separate enclosure away from the sows?
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I will give the piggies hay 3-4 times a day. I use to change the cage 2 times a day and use to give them a lot more hay but the boys got uninterested in the hay after a while so I reduced it.

They were in the kitchen for 25 minutes and the father pig didn’t seem very interest in the pup. The sows are now living on their own without their big brother.
 
Siikibam said:
I hope you kept them together. As said that’s normal. Did you read the bonding guide and the guide on boars? I’m 100% sure they were linked to in earlier posts.
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I read some of it while watching a video on it. I seem to have lost the link. I left the 2 boars alone for 5minutes while letting them bond in the kitchen and they were fine. Other than the father purring and wondering around the pup. The pup was trying to follow the father and smell his bum or something like that.
 
being uninterested in hay isn't a thing for normal healthy piggies. They will pick through it and only pick out the pieces they want to eat, so you then need to give them more. . they won't eat every single strand all the time, they forage and only eat the bits they want, so you give them some more. dont reduce the amount you give them.

5 minutes is not bonding. the boars needed to be in a bonding pen for several hours to go through the stages of bonding before being moved to a thoroughly cleaned out and neutralised enclosure for them to live in. it then takes a further two weeks of being together to fully form a relationship and hierarchy. you need to make sure all hides have two exits and that there is at least one hide per boar. you will need multiple of all other items - bottles etc. scattering feeding is advisable for teen boars as it prevents food hogging and ensure you have more than two hay piles. you need to respect their hierarchy and handle the dominant boar first. as mentioned yesterday, you then need to plan for what to do is their relationship fails when the baby hits his teens
 
The boars were left in there for 25minutes I just didn’t watch them for 5 minutes to do something. Do I have to do multiple sessions of bonding?

They like the hay but over a couple hours they will be uninterested. I will start increasing the amount of hay given and I will take pictures tomorrow to see if it’s enough since I’m not really sure what is enough.
 
Piggies&buns said:
being uninterested in hay isn't a thing for normal healthy piggies. They will pick through it and only pick out the pieces they want to eat, so you then need to give them more. . they won't eat every single strand all the time, they forage and only eat the bits they want, so you give them some more. dont reduce the amount you give them.

5 minutes is not bonding. the boars needed to be in a bonding pen for several hours to go through the stages of bonding before being moved to a thoroughly cleaned out and neutralised enclosure for them to live in. it then takes a further two weeks of being together to fully form a relationship and hierarchy. you need to make sure all hides have two exits and that there is at least one hide per boar. you will need multiple of all other items - bottles etc. scattering feeding is advisable for teen boars as it prevents food hogging and ensure you have more than two hay piles. you need to respect their hierarchy and handle the dominant boar first. as mentioned yesterday, you then need to plan for what to do is their relationship fails when the baby hits his teens
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Can I put multiple amounts of hay stations (hay piles) in corners of the kitchen. I only have little tunnels as hides for them at the moment since I bought wooden ones on eBay that are coming, since my daddy pig broke his cardboard one. Can I use a bowl instead of bottle since there is nowhere to hang the bottle.

If the bonding fails I’m planning on neutralising the daddy pig and keeping one of the girls.
 
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