FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

We get a lot of emails from all around the world each day, asking a multitude of different questions about guinea pig care, breeds, births, health, feeding etc. While we try our best to answer as these in a timely manner, we will sometimes miss emails and/or run out of time in the day to get to everyone. So we've put together this little page to try and give people a first point of call. 

We also have two pages with care information: Top Tips for Cavy Care and Breeding Info, and a great website called Guinea Lynx has a wealth of information - all of which may answer your questions. If you still can't find the answer, you're welcome to email us at eleb2000@hotmail.com. 

***Please note these questions have just been copied from my email as they arrive, and interpreted as best I could***

1) - I accidentally put my baby boy guinea pig in with my girl guinea pigs for 1 night, he was 5weeks old, I was wondering if my girls would be pregnant or not?

- It is unlikely that a baby boy at 5 weeks old could get a girl pregnant. Most baby boys don't figure out what to do until 10-13weeks. Some do figure it out at 3-4weeks though, so there is still a small chance. You will just need to keep an eye on her. 

 2) - I got a baby girl from a pet shop and when I accidentally put the boy in the cage I was wondering if she would also be pregnant? She was 8 weeks but she is quite small still.

 - buying a female from a pet shop means that you don't know who/what she's been with already, so she could already be pregnant to her father/brother/other random male. You will have to wait and see how her belly grows over the next few weeks.


3) - My friends guinea pig just had babies and they had 4... They went out and came back 4 hours later and they were just lying there dead, I'm wondering if u know what might of happened?

- Without knowing more details, i couldn't tell you what happened. If they were alive when born, then it may have been exposure to the elements (too hot/too cold), the mother might have trampled them, any other guinea pigs in the cage might have trampled them, they might have been born early and unable to breath/suckle properly... there are lots of things that could have gone wrong. 

 4) - A while ago you said that if I have 2 pregnant females they need to be separated from each other because other wise a hormone is given off and the other mothers babies are born to soon. And are you saying that they need to be separated from each other until the babies are born?

 - Yes, if you have two females pregnant, it is likely that one going into labour and delivering her babies could prematurely bring on labour in the other guinea pig. This is not a problem if they are both due to have their babies and you don't mind not knowing which baby came from which mother. But if one still has a week or so to go, then it will probably mean that her babies will struggle to survive. You can safely keep pregnant girls together until they start to dilate. 


5) - Since the boy was in the cage and if they are pregnant how do I know/ can I know straight away or do I have to wait and if so how long?

 - The only way to know for sure that a female is pregnant is to feel the babies moving in her belly when she's 6weeks+ pregnant. If you witness mating, and the female was on heat (her vagina/vent was open) and you could see the white semen plug from the male's ejaculate in her bottom - then it is likely that she is pregnant and will deliver in 9-10weeks. 


6) - When u also said that the 2 mothers need to be seperated from each other does that mean u need to put them in different cages? And how come in the wild they live in groups and they have babies all the time at the same time and my friend has heaps of them and they just give birth in the same cage?
 - I separate my pregnant girls because I don't want to risk them bringing on premature labour in their cage mates. I also do this so I can keep a close eye on the pregnant girl, and so that I know which babies were hers. This is most important when dealing with pedigree litters. In the wild it is likely that females would all deliver at similar times and suckle each others babies, as this would help increase the chance that the babies will survive. In the wild there would also have been a lot higher percentage of death though. You have to remember that the guinea pigs we have as pets now a days are a LONG way removed from their wild ancestors. We have domesticated them, so we have to give them extra care. 

7) - I always like to put my female guinea pigs in my room when they give birth I normally do it a week before they give birth but how will I know if its a week before or when she's gonna give birth? 

-  I like to brings my girls into the house before they deliver as well. It means you can keep a closer eye on them. Take each girl on a case by case basis though, as some will stress too much being taken this far away from their usual environment if they're used to living outside. The best way to tell that delivery will be soon is to keep an eye on the pelvic bones. When they first start to move apart you'll have approx a week before delivery. 

8) -  I was wondering about pregnant guinea pigs. I have two and possibly three pregnant females (we got the other one not to long ago so were not sure if she is pregnant or not yet.) my youngest is dilated to a finger width apart and yesterday it was a little smaller. So do you think that she will have her babies soon? She has a cage to herself and so does the other pregnant guinea pig I am just wondering about when you think I should expect the babies?

-  If your girl is 1 finger dilated, you've probably got anywhere from 24hrs to 3-4 days till she'll deliver. The width can open and shut over that time though. Thats very normal. Keeping her on her own is a great idea too. If she's with other girls who are pregnant, her giving birth can set them off prematurely. (note, the guinea pig in question delivered later the same day)

9) - Is there's no way for me to know whether my GP is a pure aby or not (she was purchased from a pet store)? 

- Abyssinian guinea pigs are a breed characterized by short, rough hair with evenly spaced rosettes through their coat, throwing the hair out into ridges. In guinea pigs 'rosettes' and 'short hair' are both dominant genes. This simply means that an animal can have the look of an aby, but hide other recessive genes that don't show in the coat. Especially when an animal is purchased from a pet shop - you never know what is in the history without doing trial mating's. Your best bet if wanting to breed quality Abyssinians is to purchase a breeding pair/trio with pedigrees from a trusted breeder. Then you will know what you are getting.  


10) - Why are the GPs in Malaysia look so much like a colorful rat without a tail? I mean I've watched some of the videos about GPs on youtube and it appeared to be that the GPs from the western country have rounder and cuter face.

- The long nose/rat face look guinea pigs get is just due to breeding. Selective breeding in other countries choosing only snub-nose guinea pigs to breed to other snub nose guinea pigs has produced the look you see there. If breeding guinea pigs with shorter noses is what you want to work on you'll need to find animals with the shortest possibles noses already and pair them. Then keep the best, shortest nosed babies for breeding the next generation. It would take quite a while, but if you keep selectively pairing them like this, you'd eventually end up with animals that have the fatter faces.

11) - How do I know if my guinea pig is roan? What's the meaning of breeding the guinea pigs roan to roan?  I am planning of getting a female pure white Abyssinian guinea pig, with black eyes. And how do I know if the guinea pig I bought wasn't lethal?

- Roan in guinea pigs simply refers to a gene. It looks like white hairs mixed through coloured hairs in the guinea pigs coat. Roan is a mutation. An animal with one copy of the gene is totally healthy. They are the ones that have the white/coloured mixed patches. Guinea pigs with two copies of the roan gene are the 'lethals' everyone refers to. They are ALWAYS pure white with pink eyes. They usually have a lot of deformities internally and externally - small eyes, mis-aligned teeth, oddly shaped ears etc. The reason there is so much hype with breeding roan guinea pigs is because when you breed two animals that have the roan in their coat, it means they have that one copy of the gene, and that they could both pass that gene onto a baby so that it has two copies - meaning it will be born as a lethal. 

If you have a guinea pig with dark eyes and a white coat, it is not a lethal. It may however have hidden roan. (ie the white roan hairs mixed through regular white colouring - which makes it impossible to tell. A hint tends to be dark eyes and/or a little patch of colour around the eye/on the head - but white everywhere else. You can also just get dark-eyed white guinea pigs as a breed though.

Because of the trickiness of 'hidden roan' a lot of breeders recommend not breeding any two animals that have any white on them unless you know their parents didn't have roan.

12) - Do you trim your guinea pigs hair?? Also do you trim your guinea pigs nails? If so with what? And how often? Do you bathe your guinea pigs? If so how often?

 - Its totally fine to cut their hair. Unless you're showing the long coats (which means you can never cut their hair, or they're disqualified from the show table), it poses no problems at all, and will keep them a lot cleaner especially around the rear-end. 

Nails definitely need trimming. We do our guys about once every 1-2months (depending on how fast/sharp they get). On light coloured claws you'll see the pink 'wick' of the claw - cut just before this to avoid bleeding. On black claws it's a little trickier. I just cut the very tip in this situation. You'll need to do all 4 front claws and the back feet. If they get left too long they'll twist the digits under and cause pain when they walk. Just use dog nail clippers or a pair of sharp scissors. 

Our guys get bathed about the same time as they get their nails done. It will depend on the coat though. Short coated animals who are good at grooming themselves don't 'need' a bath. But it wont hurt them. 

13) - Are there higher risks of complications when guinea pigs are so young (3 months old) and heavily pregnant?  Is there anything I can do to ensure that the birthing process goes well?  What happens if the pelvic bones don't separate soon? When should I remove her cage mate? 

 - for your little lady, there's not a great deal you can do at this stage. She is either going to survive or not. Her bones will separate. The only problem with them not separating is when the sows are older. Your best bet is to check her pelvis every day. From the day you first feel the bones start to move apart (feel the individual edges of the two), you'll have about 5-7 days until delivery. When she dilates to two finger widths, and you can feel a bub sitting in the birth canal ready to go - it'll only be a matter of hours. The worst things for young mums is the size of the babies compared to the size of her. If the babies are large, she will have trouble delivering. You may need to assist. Let her attempt it on her own first though. Some mums can spook if humans interfere too much - and then they refuse to clean/feed the bubs. If it all goes to plan the birth will be very quick - it's likely you'll miss it. If you find her hunched, and making a hiccuping movement (contracting) - but nothing happens after a few minutes you may need to gently lift her up and check what is going on. I've often had to help push back on the sides of the birth canal while the mum pushes the bub out with the contraction. It can be slow going. And if the baby is very large it may not survive the delivery even with help (it may be crushed as it comes out). But these are all things you'll just need to deal with if/when they happen. 

Most first time mums do surprisingly well. And hopefully you'll just wake up to a few dry, fluffy bubs. 

I would remove the male as soon as you feel the bones start to separate. If you're not confident of your determining her due date from the bones - then remove him now. If she delivers with him in there, he'll mate with her immediately following delivery (and you'll have another litter to deal with in 9-10 weeks!) lol 

14) - How many litters per year is recommended for a breeding guinea pig? Why is it not recommended a guinea pig should have more litters than this?

- For our breeding girls we do 2 litters per year maximum. Pregnancy is approx 2 months long for guinea pigs. Then with a 4 month break (3 months after bubs are weaned to get her health back), she can be put back with a male in good physical condition. This will give you 2 litters a year. In theory you could back-to-back breed the guinea pig, keeping them with a male when they deliver so that they are constantly pregnant/nursing (this would give you 6 litters per year), but it is likely that you would get a lot of pregnancy/delivery complications due to a weakened mother - and ultimately a premature death for her. This is NOT recommended at all - but is the way breeding is often done in laboratories/was done in the 80s. 

The toll on a guinea pigs body - carrying multiple, large offspring for a VERY long gestation of up to 10 weeks is quite high. Often mother guinea pigs will loose a lot of weight and coat during the pregnancy/nursing period. This is why it is not recommended to put her through this too frequently. 

15) -  I've been wondering if a guinea pig can ever not get pregnant? My guinea pig is now 2 weeks later than when I thought she would give birth. So when d u think she'll give birth?

-Can you actually feel babies in there? If her belly is just soft and squishy then she isn't pregnant. If there are firm lumps that move, then she is pregnant. Females are only fertile for a small window of opportunity (think hours) every 16-18days. So unless a male managed a successful mating during this time, then she may not be pregnant. 

16) - A couple of months ago, I bought a gorgeous guinea pig from the pet store, who said that she was 4weeks old. After about a month, I noticed her getting larger. Now, after a couple of weeks, I know she is pregnant, which means that the pet shop didn't separate her. She's been eating heaps and sort of just sitting in the corner of her cage. Or she lies sort of on her side with her leg out. She also used to let me put my hand under her belly a few days ago, and now she doesn't really like me doing it. I've had her in a cage inside for almost a week now to keep an eye on her. Do you know if these are signs that she is close to having her babies?

- The best way to tell if your girl is nearing her due date is to feel for her pelvic bone (see attached image). When this reaches 2 finger widths apart she'll be a day or so away from delivering :) 

All the behaviours you've explained are totally normal. If she goes really lethargic, starts doing sloppy poo, or looks like she's in labour (straining, hiccuping movements) but no babies come after an hour or so - get her to a vet asap. 

17) - I've been looking for a pair of guinea pigs ready to bring home in time for my daughter's birthday in December. Can you please tell me why most people want girls over boys? 

- Most people prefer girls because most people get addicted to guinea pigs and want to be able to add more to their group as time goes by. This only works with girls. When you have a pair of boys, you can never introduce anyone else, or take them apart and try and put them back together as it interrupts the friendship and they then see each other as a threat. Personally I find the boys to be cleaner, friendlier and they grow bigger (which is often better for kids as they have more to hold on to). As long as you get a pair that get along well, and don't add any more guinea pigs in the future - they will be happy friends for life :) 

18) - I am looking into showing guinea pigs and looking into breeding my own lines. Just wondering if you could point me to some good sites on identyfing roan guinea pigs please as have read a few places about the danger of breeding roan, still getting my head around all the genetice etc so any help would be much appreciated.

- Your best bet is to just google roan cavy genes or roan cavy images to get the best idea (this forum has some good info too: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?51194-Roans-Dalmatians-and-Lethals-Explained! ) . 

In a basic nutshell 'roan' presents as white hairs blended through coloured hairs. The gene that makes the white roan hair is different to the gene that makes 'normal' white hair on guinea pigs though. So it's possible to have an animal with any white on its coat with hidden roan. Roan is a dominant gene, so if one of the parents had roaning, there's a good chance the offspring will too if they have any patches of white in their coats. The problem with breeding two roan animals occurs when their offspring inherit a roan gene from each of them. Doubled up like this means that the animal is born with birth defects (they're always white with pink eyes and often have poorly formed organs/teeth etc). These are the animals referred to as 'lethals', as they often don't live long. Most people agree that it's best not to deliberately breed these poor creatures. 

19) - I was wondering what the maximum age of the sow can be to breed her?

- a sow can breed right up into old age - up to 4-5yrs old and beyond. It really depends on the health of the sow.  If she hasn't bred in her first year of life, I'd be reluctant to breed her. A lot of breeders do breed sows over 12 months old without problems, but there are still risks to do with weaker contractions in older sows and possible rigidity of the pelvic ligaments that dilate the pelvic bones.  Because of this some sows may not be able to actually deliver their babies and they will die. In my opinion it's best to allow a sow to have her first litter between 6-10months old. She will be physically big enough to handle the size of full-term babies, but young enough to deliver properly. 


20) - What makes a guinea pig pedigree? 
- A pedigree guinea pig is just a purebred animal that has had their ancestry recorded and documented, then sold with the piece of paper with all of this information. Ie. a piece of paper with parents details, grand parents, great grandparents etc. with information on breed, colour, show wins, champion status etc.  Only certain breeds can be put on pedigrees - they must be a standardized breed and must be recognized by your country/cavy club. Also, only some breeds can be mixed in a pedigree and still retain pedigree status. It depends on the genetics behind the breed. For example Shelties and Texels are genetically very similar animals, only differing on the gene that produces straight hair (sheltie) or curly hair (texel) - so these animals can be mixed together in an ancestry but still be considered pedigree. However if two pedigree animals from breeds that are too genetically different (ie. Sheltie x Peruvian) are crossed, the babies are no longer considered purebred/pedigree anymore. They just become 'pet' quality. 

In Australia you can mix pedigree sheltie with pedigree texel, pedigree merino and pedigree coronet - and still have pedigree babies. And you can mix peruvian x alpaca and still have pedigree babies. But for breeds like Rex, Sheba, Abyssinian etc - they need to only be bred to their kind, or the pedigree status is lost for the offspring. 

(an example of one of our pedigree papers)

21) - I have a 7 week old pedigree rex sow, cream colour. Her coat is very curly and it shed easily. It it normal? Do rex change coat from curly to spiky from baby to adult? I don't understand why she shed though. I am afraid to brush her or bath her cause she not even 4 months old yet. 

- it's very normal for baby rex pigs to have a softer, curlier coat. they don't get their full course rex coat until they're 12-18months old. The shedding is also normal as long as her coat isn't coming put in clumps. It's totally ok to wash her in some 'Fido's itch free' shampoo (meant for dogs) - just dilute it a bit more. You can find it online or in pet stores usually. It's herbal and gets rid of parasites. And makes them smell lovely. That way if she does have a mild case of lice it will help. 

If you think it's mites you will need to either treat her with ivermectin or revolution. You do the does by her weight. As long as she's over 300g it will be fine. And if she doesn't have bugs in her coat, it's also totally ok to brush her at this age. 

(Adult rex sow with her baby rex sow daughter)

22) - Over the years I have had several guinea pigs produce litters. My current old sow is now five and a half and up until she was three years old had 5 litters. After that I felt that she was getting too old to cope with babies. However, I just wondered if you could put something on your page as to what age you think a sow should be 'retired' from having litters?

-  We retire our girls between 2-3yrs old as well. Depending on how they're health/coping ability is looking. They tend to have their first litter at 6-8months. Then subsequent litters in 6-8monthly intervals after that (depending on how quickly the boys can do their thing!). This means that by the time we retire them, most have been allowed 3-4 litters. This gives us enough chances to keep the best offspring to continue a sow's lines, but allows her to relax in her later years. 

23) - Hello there,  About two months ago a friend gave me two guinea pigs. A male and a female, managed to get impregnated. My question is, can I allow play time together? He, Billy, is very respectful. He let's her use the igloo while he sleeps outside. He has more places to hide but prefers watching her sleep.  When she, Lizzy, makes an unhappy sound, he walks away and sleeps or rests in another igloo. I have separated them but noticed that they were not their cheerful self and were not eating as usual  today, I have allowed a supervised visit. They ate together, he pop-corned  she rested by my feet while he jumped around. I'm reading as much as I can. I even have a baby monitor in case she goes into labor at night. Should I continue with the supervised visits? 

- Supervised visits will be totally ok. Especially if she is already pregnant - he can't do any more to her at this stage! 

The biggest reason breeders advise people to remove males before the female goes into labour is because he WILL mate with her as soon as the babies are born - and she will be pregnant again. This is called back-to-back breeding, and is generally frowned upon. It is stressful to their system, and in my opinion an unnecessary load on their bodies - especially when they will be trying to nurse their current babies, while simultaneously needing to grow a new litter. This is what would happen in the wild though, so a lot of people use that as a justification for it. Obviously if you'd prefer they stay together and are willing to risk this - then it's fine. 

If you would just like them to visit each other and play, then that is perfectly safe too. Guinea pigs are VERY social creatures, and would much rather hang with their own kind. If you're watching them, and she's not in the middle of delivering a litter-  there's nothing he can do to her. Once the babies are born, you can let the whole family play together as well (supervised again). Just make sure dad is gentle with the bubs and doesn't try to trample them in his excitement to get to mum. You can check mum's bottom for being on heat (this happens every 16-18 days - her 'vent/vaginal opening' will be dark pink and open. When she's not in heat it's sealed with a membrane of skin). Play time when she's not in heat is safe. Be aware that any daughters from the litter will become fertile for the first time at about 3-4weeks, and the father will try and mate with them too. 

Ideally you'll get a boy bub and a girl bub, and when the boys is weaned at 3weeks, he'll be able to go and live with his dad.

24) - I've read a lot about it online and have been a little worried about the problem with the pelvic bone in one of my 2 pregnant females. Is there a higher percent chance of the pregnancy ending poorly, or close to 50/50? I have a female who is probably 3-4 years old and had 3 babies in the past... so I assume her pregnancy will go well, but I'm worried about my other one which is between 1-2 years of age and has not been pregnant before. I read somewhere that the more guinea pigs they have, the better their chances of survival because the pigs would then be smaller? It seems to me that the older pig might be having 2, and the younger pig I'm worried about might be having 3.

- Hi,  the size of the babies doesn't really make as much difference as you might think. Often bigger bubs (90-110g) survive better and birth better. Little ones can be too weak to suckle properly, and might birth easy, but then not survive the first few days. But that being said - huge bubs (150-180g) can be quite difficult for mums to deliver - these are usually single-bubs.  It's all relative though- and you won't have any control over the number/litter size. What you do have control over is mum's diet - make sure she has access to good quality food, but also the ability to exercise/lots of space to explore. This will prevent her from being too sedentary and gaining too much weight. 

The pelvic problem is also a risk-based thing. A 3 yr old girl who hasn't littered before might have no troubles, yet a 7month old first-timer might have a lot of trouble. The risk is greater for ligament/pelvic bone issues in sows who haven't littered before, or littered for a while (6-12months +), but it's not an automatic death-sentence  You'll just need to be very attentive and watch/monitor them daily as they get closer to delivery. If the pelvic bone doesn't dilate at all - size of the babies will be irrelevant and you will need to get her to a vet asap. 

25). - Hi I just bought 2 females 8 weeks ago from a pet store ( could not find a rescue near me :( ) and one of them is pregnant! I was just wondering how long after the birth do I have to wait to hold the mommy

- That's a really good question actually. Most mumma pigs will be tender and bleed for a few hours after birth. I tend to avoid holding them during this time if I can. You can gently put your hands around her belly to make sure she feels empty after she's delivered the final placentas. And if you do need to pick her up do so very gently and support her weight using her feet rather than on her belly - if that makes sense. After 24-48hrs she should be feeling a lot better and be fine to cuddle as normal. 

26.) - Hi I'm interested in breeding my 16 month old guinea pig. she is at perfect and weight and isn't unfit. we have been told that she will be fine and wont die and on the other hand were getting told she will die, I'm trying to get the most info about it as possible.

- There's a lot of information about breeding older sows out there - most of its contradictory as well.  Basically what happens is that as a sow gets older, the ability for her pelvic ligaments to be flexible reduces. 

In some pigs this happens around the 1yr old mark. For others it might be earlier or later. 

What this means is that when it comes time for the babies to be born, her body can't dilate far enough for them to come out, resulting in the babies dying inside of her, and her eventual death (unless she is rushed to a vet - but this is not a guaranteed fix).

It won't happen in every case, but it certainly can happen. So the risk in breeding a 16month old would be up to you.

She might be fine, and often slightly older first time mums do better with nursing their bubs. But it might also be a very sad result as well. 

27.) - I read your blog on pregnant guinea pigs, and I was just wondering I have a pregnant guinea pig and I'm not sure when she is due, as of right now she is housed with another female who I think might also be pregnant but again not sure, should I move the one that I know is pregnant into a cage by herself or is she okay with the other female??

- Hi, pregnant girls are usually  fine together until the one closest to her due date starts to dilate. Then I'd move them into their own cages. If they both start to dilate together - they can stay together as it means their due dates are close. They will then likely both birth within a few hrs of each other if this is the case, and will help clean  and nurse each others babies and feed each others babies too. 

If one is a few weeks behind the other though, it's safer to have them living apart until the first one delivers. Then she and her bubs can go back in with the other sow to wait for her delivery. 

28.) -  Just need your favor to share, how to make a guinea pig fat healthy  I think my Guinea Pig not very healthy  Everyday I give a fresh veggies, grass, pallet. It that corn not a good for feeding?

- hi, Guinea pigs will usually get big and fat if they eat a lot of grain/pellet mix, and don't exercise enough. Fresh green grass is the best food for vitamins, fiber and water content, but doesn't tend to make them overly fat. We use a grain/chaff mix that is meant for horses, and this has lots of protein and fats to help them gain condition. 

Corn on the cob is fine, but can be quite sweet, so best to only give it a few times a week. The green husks and silks are most loved by my guinea pigs. Best vegetables for vitamin C content are red capsicum, broccoli, parsley and dandelion. 

29.) - This question is concerning one of our females who may be pregnant. she has been in with our male for approx. 1 month.  My daughter noticed she is getting bigger, and bigger,(her stomach) we are not sure if she is pregnant, so we decided to weigh her and she gained 103 grams in 19days.
 
When do they stop growing?? she is approx. 4-5 months of age. 
 When do we remove the male from Mocha(the female) 
 When do we return the male in with Mocha?
 Any special foods, nutrients other than what she is eating already, and how often??

I did read that babies eat alfalfa hay? am I correct, I just don't remember for how long to feed the babies with it.
Does mom need or eat that after her babies are born as well?
How long before the babies can be on their own, or can they stay with mom until they are sold?

- Hi - a lot of those questions are covered on the webpage :) http://emmasguineapigs.blogspot.com.au/p/breeding-info.html - specifically this page 

Most young guinea pigs will gain about 25g each week just with normal growth and will continue to grow up to approx 12months, though it will slow down from 8 months onwards. Any gain over 25g a week in a female you suspect is pregnant could be pregnancy weight. 

You will need to remove the male when she starts to dilate. If she gives birth with him in the cage, he will mate with her right away and she will be pregnant again. 

You can put the female and male back together when ever you like. Most dads are pretty tolerant of babies. BUT be aware that he can get his daughters pregnant as early as 3 weeks old. And he will mate with the mum again as soon as she's on heat. Which will mean another litter very quickly. This can be stressful on their bodies. 

She will need extra water, calcium and vit c while pregnant. lucerne hay/alfalfa has good calcium content. As does parsley, and broccoli. Red capscium is best for vit c, as is dandelion and parsley and broccoli again. Green leafy vegetables will be a good addition to her diet too. As well as lots and lots of fresh green grass. 

Mum will nurse her babies for 4 weeks. You will need to remove the boys at 3-4 weeks or they will attempt to mate with mum and any sisters. 

They can be rehomed from 4 weeks. 

30.) - On Friday I had a beautiful little merino and two coronets born. Last night when I was checking on them I noticed that the merino has crusty eyes and is struggling to open them. I gave them a wipe with cotton wool and warm water, but vaguely remember you maybe having a similar issue with a texel born at your stud once. Can you recommend any course of action or what you did?

- This sounds very much like 'Entropion' (where the hairs around the eye grow inwards, irritating the eyeball). It's really common in the curly-coated baby guinea pigs. Your best bet is to keep the eye clean and open. This blog post might help you identify it too: Basically, if the bub hasn't grown out of it by about 2 weeks of age, it might be time to see a vet. 

31.) - Hi i just read your website on breeding guniea pigs. I have just recently got guinea pigs both females but one of them i took of a friend cause she wasnt getting looked after and we figured out she was pregnant. She has been in a cage with 2 males for about a month or so and dont no when she would be due. Would you be able to give me some sort of an idea on a due date??  

-  without actually witnessing a mating it can be hard to estimate. 

I tend to go from the first time I feel babies moving. If you check her every day and she has a normal litter that will be around the 6-7wk mark. They're pregnant for 9-10wks. 

So I usually mark a month ahead on my calendar from when i first feel movements. But you might want to try for 3 weeks from that point as a rough idea. 

The other thing you can use as a guide is her pelvic bone - that will start to open/dilate about a week before delivery (ie. you will just feel the pelvic bones moving apart). When they're about 1-2 fingers width apart, delivery should usually be within the next 1-2days.