Mistaken Female?

elda14

New Born Pup
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Hey! I bought what should've been a female guinea pig 3 months ago to give me other female guinea pig a friend after her half sister sadly passed away to cancer.
They've been very happy together and the new pig has a lot of personality.

I recently noticed that sometimes when I put them in the same blanket, it smells quickly like a stronger pee than usual. When I looked at the new pig, it doesn't quite look like the other girl's private area. I'm not sure if I was given the wrong gender despite me saying I wanted a female and that they looked for the ones they had clearly marked. Any help to sex would be great.

You can find the images below on that site:

 
Hello and welcome to the forum, I'm sorry your post got missed yesterday. I'm not going to hazard a guess as I've only ever dealt with boys. Someone more experienced will be along soon.
 
Hey! I bought what should've been a female guinea pig 3 months ago to give me other female guinea pig a friend after her half sister sadly passed away to cancer.
They've been very happy together and the new pig has a lot of personality.

I recently noticed that sometimes when I put them in the same blanket, it smells quickly like a stronger pee than usual. When I looked at the new pig, it doesn't quite look like the other girl's private area. I'm not sure if I was given the wrong gender despite me saying I wanted a female and that they looked for the ones they had clearly marked. Any help to sex would be great.

You can find the images below on that site:


Hi and welcome

Yes, that is very obviously a boar. :(

Here are our reference pictures with tips for checking further secondary areas:

I would strongly recommend that you also post a picture of both the outside and the inside of the slit of your other piggy for a proper gender confirmation.

Please separate asap and put your sow on a 10 weeks pregnancy watch. Infertility can happen but you can never count on it; she could be already several weeks pregnant. Sows only show during roughly the last third of a ca. 10 weeks pregnancy and sometimes not at all with single a pup.
You are welcome to open an ongoing support thread in our unplanned pregnancies support section in this case for any questions and concerns for as long needed.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/forums/unplanned-pregnancy-and-babies-support-corner.11/
 
Hi and welcome

Yes, that is very obviously a boar. :(

Here are our reference pictures with tips for checking further secondary areas:

I would strongly recommend that you also post a picture of both the outside and the inside of the slit of your other piggy for a proper gender confirmation.

Please separate asap and put your sow on a 10 weeks pregnancy watch. Infertility can happen but you can never count on it; she could be already several weeks pregnant. Sows only show during roughly the last third of a ca. 10 weeks pregnancy and sometimes not at all with single a pup.
You are welcome to open an ongoing support thread in our unplanned pregnancies support section in this case for any questions and concerns for as long needed.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/forums/unplanned-pregnancy-and-babies-support-corner.11/
Thank you for the detailed reply!
The guinea pig I knew was female I know very obviously is one as I've had her for over 2 years and she had another girl sibling.
Ive separated them now, but they are both clawing at the solid barrier, so to me it seems at the moment obvious that they might sense something I dont. Ill pay attention to my female the next weeks as you adviced to see if she is pregnant.

I'm wondering how neutering the male will be like? Is there any big risks involved in this? Should I try and get it done as soon as possible? If I neuter him, would it be okay that they are together again or do they need to be away from each other many days after that process? If it turns out she is pregnant, I will open a thread on the other site you mentioned.

Any tips is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
 
Thank you for the detailed reply!
The guinea pig I knew was female I know very obviously is one as I've had her for over 2 years and she had another girl sibling.
Ive separated them now, but they are both clawing at the solid barrier, so to me it seems at the moment obvious that they might sense something I dont. Ill pay attention to my female the next weeks as you adviced to see if she is pregnant.

I'm wondering how neutering the male will be like? Is there any big risks involved in this? Should I try and get it done as soon as possible? If I neuter him, would it be okay that they are together again or do they need to be away from each other many days after that process? If it turns out she is pregnant, I will open a thread on the other site you mentioned.

Any tips is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

Hi

Of course your two want to be back together and you will have to sit out 2-3 tough days, unfortunately. Since sows come into season again within hours of giving birth it is just simply too risky to leave them together. We do deal with enough back-to-back pregnancies to know that this does indeed happen and how tough it is on the mum (including increased an increased birthing complications/fatality risk).

If at all possible, please ensure that the can still interact through a cable-tied metal grid divider or cage bars but that your boy cannot climb and jump over or wiggle through in any way. You need to ideally cover the top on the boy's side. The ongoing stimulation from companionship is crucial; it is just that they should not be able to mate - which act takes in reality just seconds and happens too quickly for you to intervene, even if you happen to be around at the right time, which is by no means a given.

Here is the access link to our full pregnancy/birth/mother&baby care information pack, which covers the whole period in practical step-by-step detail with some additional helpful information. Coming up to twenty years of collective practical forum cases as well as personal experiences have gone into our various guides, which are being revised, updated and added to from time to time. Unlike books, our guides format allow us this flexibility.
You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read as you go along if you are actually dealing with a pregnancy.



As to your boy, you can consider neutering if you have access to a good vet or see whether sitting out the pregnancy watch and rather pair him up with a son of his if your girl turns out pregnant and has male babies. I would in any case not panic and take the time to think things through and do your research.
Here are the links relevant for what to consider in that respect:

You are welcome to discuss anything with us over the coming weeks and for as long as you need support but we would appreciate if you took the time to read our information links first because you will find that they will answer lots of questions of yours but may generate others. We will offer support during the whole time. Our special section monitors apart from me are experienced rescue people/fosterers.
 
You mention a solid barrier, they really need to still be able to interact with each other. I'm not sure about the neutering risks, I think it depends on various things like the experience of the vet and the general health of the boar. Of course, any anaesthetic involves some risk. It is a 6 week post neuter wait before the boar is definitely infertile.
 
Hi

Of course your two want to be back together and you will have to sit out 2-3 tough days, unfortunately. Since sows come into season again within hours of giving birth it is just simply too risky to leave them together. We do deal with enough back-to-back pregnancies to know that this does indeed happen and how tough it is on the mum (including increased an increased birthing complications/fatality risk).

If at all possible, please ensure that the can still interact through a cable-tied metal grid divider or cage bars but that your boy cannot climb and jump over or wiggle through in any way. You need to ideally cover the top on the boy's side. The ongoing stimulation from companionship is crucial; it is just that they should not be able to mate - which act takes in reality just seconds and happens too quickly for you to intervene, even if you happen to be around at the right time, which is by no means a given.

Here is the access link to our full pregnancy/birth/mother&baby care information pack, which covers the whole period in practical step-by-step detail with some additional helpful information. Coming up to twenty years of collective practical forum cases as well as personal experiences have gone into our various guides, which are being revised, updated and added to from time to time. Unlike books, our guides format allow us this flexibility.
You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read as you go along if you are actually dealing with a pregnancy.



As to your boy, you can consider neutering if you have access to a good vet or see whether sitting out the pregnancy watch and rather pair him up with a son of his if your girl turns out pregnant and has male babies. I would in any case not panic and take the time to think things through and do your research.
Here are the links relevant for what to consider in that respect:

You are welcome to discuss anything with us over the coming weeks and for as long as you need support but we would appreciate if you took the time to read our information links first because you will find that they will answer lots of questions of yours but may generate others. We will offer support during the whole time. Our special section monitors apart from me are experienced rescue people/fosterers.
Thank you, I'm reading through all of this!
I live at home with my parents, and they don't want any more pets so I'm afraid the only solution to keep the guinea pigs together would be to neuter the male and to do it as soon as I can so they don't need to be separated for too long, they are already clawing at the barrier to get to each other.
 
You mention a solid barrier, they really need to still be able to interact with each other. I'm not sure about the neutering risks, I think it depends on various things like the experience of the vet and the general health of the boar. Of course, any anaesthetic involves some risk. It is a 6 week post neuter wait before the boar is definitely infertile.
Yeah as a emergency way. I have a very metal grid I'm putting up now, its wayyy to small for them to get through but they should be able to interact through it so they will be happy with that.
 
Could I please see a picture of his face? And your girl too. What are their names?
 
Could I please see a picture of his face? And your girl too. What are their names?

Orange and white one is the soon 3 year old female, Orange, Black and White is the 4 month old now to be male. Female is named Chimi, and the male was called Sunni, might change it with the new discovery
 
Welcome to the forum.
Your piggies are gorgeous.
Sorry that you have found yourself in this situation.
Hope everything works out well
 
Just want to update people. Sunni has been neutered, the operation went perfect. He's survived his first day and is no longer in danger. He's great at accepting his medicine and will go check up in 10 days. He's been a real cute cuddle buddy since he's lost his balls, I think he got scared by the vets and thought I might hurt him too, but realized I was super friendly and so he likes me even more now, haha.

Still can't tell if my female is pregnant or not, I'm keeping them separated, the vet recommended they be separated for 4-6 weeks now after the surgery, so we shall see. Ill update if the girl is actually pregnant, so far I dont see any signs on her body, except their affection for each other.
 
Glad the op went well.
Here a 6 week wait is recommended as a boar may still have fertility past 4 weeks.
I know @Wiebke can testify to that.
 
Just want to update people. Sunni has been neutered, the operation went perfect. He's survived his first day and is no longer in danger. He's great at accepting his medicine and will go check up in 10 days. He's been a real cute cuddle buddy since he's lost his balls, I think he got scared by the vets and thought I might hurt him too, but realized I was super friendly and so he likes me even more now, haha.

Still can't tell if my female is pregnant or not, I'm keeping them separated, the vet recommended they be separated for 4-6 weeks now after the surgery, so we shall see. Ill update if the girl is actually pregnant, so far I dont see any signs on her body, except their affection for each other.

Please wait the full 6 weeks. The little surprise baby in my avatar picture, Tegan (2011-19), was the unplanned daughter of a supposedly safe over 5 weeks post-neutering op boar (not one of mine I hasten to add). Just to prove that it can really happen as late as that.
In the wake of this birth, the 6 weeks post op wait recommendation has been observed by major leading UK charities and good welfare standard rescues and has been in practice since then. Any even later births would have made the rounds link wild fire but there never has been one in the intervening coming up to nearly 15 years with literally thousands of boars neutered, so the 6 weeks cut-off seems to have very much stood the test of time.

 
Everything's been good with Sunni (the boy). He had no issues with the surgery and is eating well and very energic again.

Chimi (the female) I think is most likely pregnant. Her belly seems to be bigger... Do you all agree? Her lower belly is sagging like she's got something in there. No idea how many weeks along she might be.
 

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Hello you have had everything thrown at you - well done for coping with it all - it does seem likely Chimi is pregnant - all you can do is carry on and follow Wiebke’s excellent advice - you can do this…… and this forum will help you and support you 🥰
The photos of Sunni and Chimi are lovely …..gorgeous piggies ❤️
 
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