Naughty Guinea Pig Impregnates 100 Females!

A guinea pig news item caught our attention recently, and we wanted to share it with our loyal readers:

Staff at Hatton Country World in Warwickshire couldn't understand why they suddenly had 100 pregnant guinea pigs on their hands - until they released one of the male rodents had managed to escape his enclosure and infiltrate the female-only enclosure.
They noticed that the exhausted father-to-be, now nicknamed Randy, had lost a little weight, but did not realise why until they discovered he was actually a male rodent being kept busy in the wrong pen.
The animal park, which already has 300 male and female guinea pigs, is now readying itself for a population boom in the next few weeks.
Manager Richard Craddock said: "One of our male guinea pigs managed to find his way into the female enclosure and had a very good time by the looks of it.
"We suspect a child may have placed him back in the wrong pen by accident after stroking him or Randy may have somehow broken out of his enclosure to get to the females. "

"Randy, centre, pictured alongside some of the female guinea pigs he mated with Credit: SWNS"

If there was ever a candidate for guinea pig shaming, this is it! That's a naughty Randy!

This case also highlights the importance of neutering your guinea pig. There are already so many guinea pigs out there in need of good homes that there is really no reason to add to the population. Don't let your guinea pig be a Randy!

Introducing Broccoli

Hi humans! I'm the new male guinea pig everyone's been talking about. I'm currently recovering from getting neutered, which has been pretty awful. The humans have to feed me meds and Critical care daily, and I hate it. They're weening me off of it slowly though, so hopefully I won't have to put up with it for too much longer.

I love to talk. When I'm in my cage, I delight in talking to anyone that will listen. I enjoy being held by humans, and I like licking and nibbling on fingers. I was the first pig to explore the whole apartment (well, almost the whole apartment- the bedroom and bathroom scare me!), and I love getting into hard to fit spaces, like under the couch and behind furniture.

The original humans who owned me abandoned me in a park, but luckily I was found by a wonderful human named Ann, who took me in and pampered me. Now I live with another set of humans, and I'm neighbors with Buffy and Lola, who live in the next cage over.

The highlight of my day is being let out for floor time so I can rumblestrut in front of their cage. I puff my coat up so I look a little bigger, and then sway my butt side to side and burr. The ladies totally dig it.

It'll be a few more weeks before we can officially be introduced, but I have a feeling I'll fit right in.

Neutering Guinea Pigs

Hi humans. As you may know, the new male guinea pig, Broccoli, underwent surgery recently. The humans decided to neuter him so that he will one day be able to live in the same cage as us. As it stands now, Broccoli is all alone his his own cage. When the humans let him out, he wanders over to our cage and tries to chat with us through the bars. The humans saw how badly he wanted to join us, so they decided to have him neutered.

A few notes about neutering: always be sure of your vet's credentials. The fact is, it's risky to neuter and spay guinea pigs, so it's best to see a vet that specializes in small or exotic animals exclusively. Unlike vets that also treat cats and dogs, small animal specialists have likely performed hundreds of spays/neuters on small animals, and you want your vet to have a lot of experience.

The reason why neutering a guinea pig is risky is because guinea pigs tend to fare worse than other types of pets when it comes to anesthesia. While the risk that a guinea pig will die under anesthesia is low, it's still a risk, and you'll want to be sure that you're doing the best you can to help your pig survive it.

Make sure your guinea pig is a good candidate for neutering. Your vet can help you discern whether your boar is a good candidate or not. Broccoli is young and healthy, and so he was a perfect candidate for the surgery. He first saw his vet to determine if he would be a good candidate, and then saw the vet a second time for the surgery. Then, they kept him overnight for observation and then the humans took him home. The total cost of the process was the vet visit ($77) plus the neutering ($320) plus the Oxbow Critical Care ($14). The vet threw in the cost for the Meloxicam pain killer for free (would have been $20). You should be aware humans- it's a big commitment.

Male guinea pigs don't need to be neutered unless you want them to be able to live in the same cage with a female guinea pig. Even if you think you wouldn't mind having baby guinea pigs, I would strongly advice you not to get your females pregnant- in the United States, there are already too many unwanted guinea pigs who need homes, so it's better to adopt one than breed more. The second reason to avoid pregnancy is because if your female guinea pig hasn't been pregnant and given birth by age 8 months, she may die. Something having to do with the pelvic bones fusing in nulliparous guinea pigs. Anyway, it's a bad idea all around to get your sows pregnant.

Broccoli underwent his surgery this past surgery, and it went fine. He's recovering well. The humans have to check the scar on his abdomen daily to make sure it's healing right. 

He has to take pain medication by mouth once daily and the humans have had to supplement his diet with Oxbow Critical Care for a few days until he's eating more. He absolutely hates the Critical Care, but at least the humans reward him with timothy treat rings when it's done.

It'll be two more months until he can join us in our cage. We can't wait to finally meet him!

Broccoli's Surgery Postponed

Just a note- Broccoli's neutering surgery was postponed last minute, in case anyone was wondering how it went. The vet called the humans an hour before it was scheduled and said that since the staff would be away for Thanksgiving, it might be better to wait, just in case he needed some post-op attention.

He seems relieved and is currently munching on some sprigs of dill.

Guinea Pig Neutering

Now that Broccoli is living in the same room as us, the humans are thinking of having him live in the same cage as us. Guinea pigs get lonely on their own and need companionship. However, since Broccoli is a boy, putting him in the same cage with us would be a bad idea because of the risk of pregnancy. If a female guinea pig has not given birth (and neither of us have), it is very dangerous to our health to get pregnant after we're 8 months old. Here are some things you should know about neutering your male guinea pig:

* Surgery, including neutering, is serious business for guinea pigs. We don't handle anesthesia as well as many larger pets do. Having a male and female live together is the only valid non-medical reason for neutering.
* There are some things you can do to minimize the risks of neutering. First, make sure that your vet has lots of experience operating on guinea pigs; don't be afraid to ask questions. Second, get your male guinea pig neutered while he's young--4 months old is a good age. (If you neuter a guinea pig when he's much younger, however, he could experience bone loss.)
* After neutering, take proper post-op care of your piggy. This includes monitoring weight, behavior, and visually inspecting the incision site for pus or lumps.
* There are some health benefits from neutering, such as reduced chance of impaction, but you shouldn't neuter your piggy for this reason alone.

Broccoli's surgery is scheduled for Monday. Let's hope he has a speedy recovery and is able to join us in our cage. I'm looking forward to stealing his food.

Broccoli thinks the humans can't find him there. Let him pretend he's escaped the neutering.