Help with our guinea pig

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  • #484998

    cyndee
    Member

    We bought a guinea pig from a pet store three months ago and she had a still birth yesterday. First we never knew it was a girl second we didnt know it was pregnant. When we looked in its cage we noticed something in it. The baby only had patches of fur on it, head was in caved a little on one side and one of the front paws was missing like momma had eaten it.
    Is this normal? What should we be looking for?

    #484999

    Lisa
    Member

    Guinea pigs do not typically snack on their young.
    However, there are certain situations where this may occur.
    The first is starvation. Your guinea pig was preggers but you were unaware of this so in all probability you underfed her. Pregnant females of all species need more food as they are eating for more than one being.
    She could have cranked out the baby and gnawed on it because she was famished.
    This was not your fault. You didn’t know.
    Also, it’s possible that she had a litter just prior to this pregnancy which is possible since guinea pigs are exceptionally fertile right after delivery. If this were the case, that she had two pregnancies in very close succession, then that could have contributed to her killing this baby.
    Guinea pigs are hard-wired to care for the first litter first so even though she didn’t have the baby with her any longer, that instinct still may have kicked in and compelled her to slay her second baby in the interest of the first.
    Again, you have no way of knowing so this is not your fault.
    At this point there is nothing you can do other than keep this pig from getting knocked up again.

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