Guinea Pig Breeding

One of the reasons that Guinea Pigs are popular as pets is that they are inexpensive. The reason they are inexpensive is because they breed so easily. This in turn means that it is really difficult for a breeder to get rid of any baby Guinea Pigs - so before you think about breeding from your animals, find homes for the babies. A female could have 20 offspring during her life, and it might be easy to get rid of one animal, but have you really got twenty friends who desperately want a pet cavy?

To sex a Guinea Pig, examine the genital region closely. Unlike many mammals there is not much difference in the distance between the anus and the genitals, but the female cavy has a genital slit while the male's opening is round. Males, which are called boars, sometimes fight so it is not a good idea to keep them together but one of them can be kept with up to five sows if their enclosure is large enough, and he will serve all of them. A sow may well be sexually mature after a month but she should not be mated until she is at least three months old, and the male should also be no younger than this.

If your Guinea Pigs live outdoors they are unlikely to breed during the colder part of the year, but if you keep them in a warm building they will breed throughout the winter. The length of the pregnancy is about 63 days, and I feel that if both parents live in a small enclosure, it is best to remove the father when the female becomes pregnant, though if there is a community of animals in a large pen there is no reason to disturb it. Guinea Pigs have a surprisingly long pregnancy for rodents but when the young are born, they are well furred, their eyes are open and within 48 hours they can eat solid food, though they still need milk from their mother. Baby Guinea Pigs are sweet, just like clockwork toys, but they grow fast and by the time they are four weeks old they are ready to be weaned and the mother should be removed. During the pregnancy you should feed the female plenty of hay and vegetables but do not increase the quantity of cereals as otherwise there can be difficulties with the actual birth. All pregnant animals should have peace and quiet to get on with making babies and this is especially true of Guinea Pigs, which are rather nervous animals.