I knew this would happen. Pippa doesn't want to be a mom anymore. Help? :(

[themartyrshark]

I made a topic last night wondering if it was normal for my guinea pig, Pippa, to hate every guinea pig she comes across. Like full on, chase and bite and corner and bully. No matter male, female, young or old.

Well last night I noticed her three pups sleeping outside of their giant hidey house/nesting bo thingy, in a corner, while Pippa was in the house. I thought it was odd. This morning, I came downstairs to find the little ones wheeking for hay, and Pippa in her box, making what seemed like a very annoyed noise.

I put some hay on the rack for them and then made it sound like I was leaving, but held back to watch. The little ones would try to get inside the box to nurse from mom, and Pippa would sit at the entrance and nip at her pups if they tried to enter. They are about 9 days old. I put one pup in the box with Pippa just to make sure, and Pippa refused to nurse him. She will come out to eat, but the minute a little one guys into the hut, she goes in and kicks them out.

I've moved the little ones into a seperate cage for now.
I have no idea what to do with these pups, I'm not a guinea pig breeder, this was an accidental litter.

I also have no idea about Pippa. She is so, so loving to people. But she hates guinea pigs, and my worst fear is that it would transfer to her pups, and it did.
Help?

 

[Abi_nurse]

You will need to hand rear. Try for a start though by placing mum and pups in a round sided thing such as a bucket. Cover them over and leave them all for an hour or so, sometimes this works to bond them back together.

x.

 

[PepperPig]

Oh dear. That sounds really bad. Try to bond them, but if that isn't working at all, then forget trying to get them to live together. I would make sure their separate cages were next to each other so Pippa doesn't forget her she has children, and put them together every day for a little while and see if anything changes.
Also, are her three pups weaned? If not, that could be a huge issue. You might actually have to get a substitute to guinea pig milk, or milk Pippa.
Good luck, and keep us updated!

 

[themartyrshark]

Alright, so I tried putting Pippa in a box with her kids, all of them, and threw a towel over the box. I came down a couple hours later to check on them, and the kids were huddled in a corner and Pippa as far away as possible. I tried introducing her kids back to her one by one, but everytime I checked on them, they were in the same position, and two of them looked a bit scared (bulged eyes) afterwards, so I think Pippa may have been a little nasty to them, too.

They aren't weaned, but they did not nurse from Pippa very frequently. I took them out of Pippa's cage and put them in a seperate small cage we bought from petsmart /years/ ago when we thought it was acceptable to house large guinea pigs in it, but the three little ones are fine in it until they grow. Anyways, I cut up some bread and dipped it in a mix of condensed milk and hot water. I put it on a saucer in their cage and all three of them ate is savagely, so I'm going to assume they liked it. I also /tried/ feeding them some of the milk/water mix with an eye dropper, but they weren't really TOO interested in it. I cut up some veg and gave them some hay. When they had all had their fill, I moved them to Pippa's sisters cage (Onyx) just to see what would happen.

Onyx is a recent mum, her kids all just went to their forever homes. Onyx actually started grooming them, licking them all over, cleaning their bums, and popcorning with them. Now, I'm not sure if it's a good thing to have them in with Onyx, but they are still small and I'd like them to learn from other guinea pigs, and poor Onyx has been on her own since Pippa beat her up really bad.

Two things I'm unsure of would be the pups being with Onyx, and why Pippa is like this. It's almost heartbreaking, I was crying today because I really wish Pippa was more tolerant of other guinea pigs. >.<

Oh, and just a quick question, the condensed milk/bread/hot water thing right? Me and my sister did it when our sow died when we were like 15, but we just made it up on the spot. Is that really safe?

I'm so stressed ;-;

 

[Lil-Ninnibig]

* need to speak to your vet or local guineapigs rescue as condensed milk and water will not have the nutrients a baby pig requires. This should be treat as a matter of urgency lack of nutrients could result in fatalitys. I'm sorry to hear about poppa .. If onyx is mothering then fine I'd leave them with her but she cannot feed them so you will have to hand feed for now a swell as give them veggys and hays, but please I cannot urge you enough speak to your vet about a milk substitute x

 

[Elitah]

I can imagine that must be so sad. We had to take our young ones away from Patch, their mother, after less than four weeks because she was getting irritated and also extremely skinny (she had been quite young when she got pregnant). At that age, it worked well, though.

You should really talk to your vet about a milk substitute. Other than that, maybe leave them with Onyx if she likes them.

 

[Suzygpr]

Please do not feed condensed milk, as advised by another member - this is totally inappropriate as a milk substitute.

As the babies are not feeding well from Pippa, it would be best to leave them in with Onyx. It may be that one or all of the babies are trying to feed too enthusiastically and using their teeth to latch on to the teat. This will cause mum a lot of pain and she will be unwilling to feed them. She may have very little milk and be unable to feed them, it may not be down to her personality at all.

If you are able to find a good quality kibble type guinea pig food rather than the grain type, you can add warm water to it to soften and the babies will be able to eat this far more easily and it will contain the correct level of nutrients they require for healthy growth.

If you cannot find the kibble, please use a kitten substitute milk with oats, made into a milky porridge. If the kitten formula is unavailable you can use evaporated milk (NOT condensed) 50/50 with cooled boiled water. Also ensure that there is water available for them to drink - they should be able to use a water bottle very soon. The babies are able to eat the dry food at this age too, a small amount of veggies and plenty of grass/hay.

HTH

Suzy x