Pregnant Guinea Pig

HermitCrabby_LHC · Post by **HermitCrabby_LHC** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 1:27 pm

So, we got two guinea pigs from a local petstore called Animal Jungle. This is where we got FireCracker who passed away before Memorial Day. So we got our four and a half year old some new friends, Lulu and Loopsie. We quarritined them for 2 weeks then introduced them in their new cage. Well, we have had them about 5 weeks now and Loopsie (she is about 13 weeks old) weighs as much as our four and a half year old, Flower, who is just fat. We sexed Lulu and Flower and they are both females. And also Loopsie is getting bigger in the abdomen, and not her hip, like Flower carries her weight on her hips. So she has this TINY piggie head and neck, big abdomen, and small hips. And when we feel her abdomen compared to Flowers, Loopsie has 2 lumps that Flower doesn't have. If it was cancer it would be one large bump. If anyone has any advice please message me. They are all getting unlimited hay and pellets and Loopsie gets a few pinches of alfalfa hay a day. I hope she has two girls so she doesnt have to be seperated from her son. Guinea pigs become "able to make babies" to maake this G-rated at three weeks old. Loopsie might get Toximia, a condition where the mother doesn't get enough weight put on, as they are babies or not enough food, and dies during labor. Another thing is stress, which causes all the babies to die and puts the mother in depression and she will too, eventually die. Again, any advice is greatly appreciated.

finalfantasyxii · Post by **finalfantasyxii** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:59 pm

You should get Loopsie checked by your local vet. Many of them will see pocket pets. It is not true that cancer would be one lump although her young age and the way pet stores are would definitely lead me to think babies first and not cancer! Perhaps when she has had her babies - if she is preggers! - it would be a good idea not to feed unlimited amts of food since the one you have is overweight? I know that I had to control the amt I gave my rats or they would get fat!If she has babies, you should post pics! CUTE

HermitCrabby_LHC · Post by **HermitCrabby_LHC** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 3:12 pm

My mom refuses to go to the vet for them as we took FireCracker to be put down ($75) and cremated ($150) and then Flower to the vet for head tilt ($100) then the two new babies ($100) and then vet for them for checkuos before you could tell Loopsie was pregnant ($50) Total of 375 dollars on rodents. We will wait and find out.Flower doesnt eat alot either- but since she is older she doesnt exericise as much. And she is over weight, she just looks fat because she lost alot of weight and now has loose skin and some fat at her hips. Lol

finalfantasyxii · Post by **finalfantasyxii** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 3:24 pm

Ouch! That is a lot of money. I hope she does well, whatever the case. I bet baby Guineas are ADORABLE!! My friend's mouse had babies once - they were SO cute!

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 3:54 pm

I've had mice as pets in the past and I was told by my vet that cedar, pine and aspen bedding are actually highly toxic to rodents and cause several different types of cancer which stem from over exposure to the phenols present in the conifers(cone bearing trees)that the beddings are derived from.Pet stores often times have their rodents and reptiles on one of the above mentioned beddings which leads to sick babies in the rodents as the smell of the bedding causes breathing issues especially when the store enclosure is an enclosed aquarium.Rodents can get tumors which I found out the hard way and the tumors can show up as multiple spots or just one large one which is not to say that your guinea pig has cancer just that cancer doesn't always present as one lump.My question here is what kind of bedding do you use and what was the store using?Most rodents become fertile around the three to four week mark due to the necessity of rapid breeding in the wild to make up for population loss from predation, age and sickness so it would be no surprise to see the guinea pig in question deliver a litter in a few days to weeks depending on how thorough/diligent the pet store and their supplier was in keeping the males separated from the females.

HermitCrabby_LHC · Post by **HermitCrabby_LHC** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:01 pm

They had their animals on kiln dried aspen and I use either fleece with carefresh in the litter box, ir aspen and a "Critter Litter" in the litter box. And they scatter the timothy hay around so a light layer of that as well. Lol.

finalfantasyxii · Post by **finalfantasyxii** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:14 pm

I've heard that aspen is ok. It is the pine and cedar that has aromatic hydrocarbons (phenols) and acids that are toxic - especially to the respiratory tract. It can cause respiratory infections, etc. I have not heard that it causes cancer.

HermitCrabby_LHC · Post by **HermitCrabby_LHC** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:27 pm

Ok, the dog is snoring so loud i cant hear my kindle keyboard. Anyway,You can kind of feel the pups moving but cant see the moving yet. And the "milk fountains" (still keeping it g rated) are swelling and loosing hair around them. 2 signs of a pregnant piggie. Yes, Aspen is safe. Cedar has terrible toxins and most pine is fineley grated so its dusty.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:59 pm

@final-fantasy, yep the phenols can and do cause cancer with long term exposure a fact that my family found out too late to do anything about when our pet mouse died with a tumor protruding from his ear.We spoke to our family vet about the issue and he was the one who informed us that certain brands of coniferous bedding even of the Aspen were found to be linked to early cancer ie tumors in mice, rats, hamsters and guinea pigs due to the fact that not every brand is made the same way and at the time (late 90's) there wasn't any real quality control on these beddings so things like pesticides were slipping in and not being mentioned on the labels and from what I understand the cheap brands are still suspect for this even today.

finalfantasyxii · Post by **finalfantasyxii** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 5:16 pm

Good to know! I guess it's just like with our hermies - the more we learn the better care we can take. Sounds like your vet is awesome. Not many take the time to learn so much about pocket pets!

HermitCrabby_LHC · Post by **HermitCrabby_LHC** » Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:53 am

When Loopsie has the babies should I be on fleece instead of wood shavings?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Mon Jul 08, 2013 6:03 am

I'd go with the fleece then change to your normal bedding around the two week mark.