Signs of pregnancy
This page is in no way an encouragement to breed, but if you do find yourself with a pregnant guinea pig or suspect that your cavy is pregnant this page will hopefully help answer any questions you may have.

Gestation (length of pregnancy) is 65-72 days (aprox. 10 weeks) with smaller litters taking longer than large litters. A sow can have between 1-8 babies in a singer litter, but the average is 2-4.

Pregnancy is noticable around 5-6 weeks when a gradual widening at the hips occurs. If you very gently feel her abdomen you may be able to feel walnut sized lumps. DO NOT squeeze them as you can cause serious harm to the sow and her babies!! There is no sure way to tell early on that a guinea pig is pregnant. The easiest thing to do is simply way and see. If you do suspect a pregnancy feeding her a well balanced diet with lots of vegtables high in vit C is a good idea. This way she will have been receiving the proper nutrition through most of her pregnancy. Proper nutrition can go a long way in helping to prevent other pregnancy related problems (it doesn't guarentee a problem free pregnancy and delivery though!)

Aproximately 2 weeks before delivery (sometimes 3 weeks) you can start to feel kickers or movement of the babies. There are times that you will even feel (or hear) the babies grinding their teeth.

As she gets closer to delivery she will seem to slow down and pick one spot in her cage to rest. She doesn't need any special material to make a nest with. Also if there is a male in the cage he should be removed well before the deliver as sows will go back into heat after the birth and the boar will breed her again. A lot of people believe that back to back pregnancies like this are very hard on the female especially if she hasn't received proper nutrition through her pregnancy.

Babies
Babies are born with their eyes open, covered with hair and teeth. They are able to eat solid foods the very same day as they are born and often do. During their first few weeks mom teaches them what is good and safe to eat (so feed a variety of fresh vegtables!) by letting them nibble off what she is eating.

There should always be water in reach of the babies, however excessive use of the water bottle by babies may be a sign that the mother isn't making enough milk. You can check to see if her mammary glands are filling with milk. You should also watch for signs of infection of her nipples and mammary glands (heat, tenderness, puss etc) as this needs treatment!!

I like to wean baby boars at 3 weeks old because by 3-4 weeks they may be fertile and could breed their mother or sisters. I tend to leave the sow babies with their mother so that she can wean them on their own and not experience discomfort from having too much milk and no one to drink it. Babies seperated from mom may cry a little, but they will be fine. At 4-5 weeks they are old enough to go to new homes provided they are eating and drinking well.