If you happen to be a guinea pig owner you have almost certainly entertained the believed of breeding guinea pigs as a hobby. This can be incredibly exciting and educational. If you determine to take on this ambitious hobby then you need to have to make positive that you have the time, the space, the revenue, and most importantly, the understanding to do it appropriately.
So let’s start out with mastering all we can about breeding cavies so that you can raise delighted and healthier cavy pups.
The Cavy’s Reproductive Cycle
Male cavies, which are named boars, attain reproductive maturity amongst 60 and 70 days of age (2 – 2 1/2 months). Female cavies, named sows, will attain their reproductive maturity in about the identical time frame, but can really commence their estrous cycle in as handful of as 4 – 5 weeks. It is not uncommon for the father cavy to breed their personal daughters even ahead of they are weaned. If you happen to be not attentive you could have a lot more cavies on your hands than you anticipated! It is a fantastic notion to separate the boar from the young female cavies for this explanation. If young sows are bred at much less than 6 weeks of age they will almost certainly have a challenging time carrying all the way by means of the pregnancy, and may perhaps have stillbirths.
The Suitable Age to Breed
The time-frame window to breed your female cavy is really really smaller. If you are going to breed your sow the excellent time to do so is amongst the age of 10 weeks and 6 months. You must in no way breed a cavy sow ahead of the age of 6 weeks, and if the sow have in no way been bred ahead of, you must not breed her soon after the age of 8 months.
The explanation that they must not be bred soon after 8 months of age (if they have in no way been bred) is that by that age the female’s symphysis pubis will have fused with each other and they will not be capable to pass the fetus by means of the birth canal, and will ordinarily die of complications.
The Cavy Pregnancy
A female cavy’s pregnacy, or gestation period, can final amongst 59 and 72 days, averaging 63 to 69 days, based on the size of the litter she is carrying. The larger the litter the shorter the gestation period. The typical cavy litter size is 3 or 4 pups, but can be as handful of as 1 pup, or as quite a few as 6 pups. The pups are incredibly effectively created when they are born. When they are born they are completely haired, their eyes are wide open, they have completely formed teeth, and they can be nibbling on strong meals suitable away. But they nonetheless rely on their parents for nutrition and warmth till they are completely weaned soon after 14 to 21 days.
The Birth of a Cavy
Cavie parents never appear to be concerned about arranging for the birth of their pups, in reality ehy make no preparation at all. Cavies ordinarily go into labor in the evening hours and it comes on incredibly abruptly. The sow will give birth to her pups by sitting up and leaning more than, or by squatting. The infant cavies are born head-1st, and are born 5 to 10 minutes apart. The whole birthing approach final around 30 minutes. The new mother cavy will clean up the placenta and other tissues by consuming them. It is a fantastic notion to leave the mother and pups alone for various hours soon after they are born.
Weaning the Cavy Pups
As I currently described cavy pups are born incredibly effectively created and can really consume strong meals inside days of getting born. But they nonetheless need to have their mothers milk till they are at least 2 weeks old, and preferably 3 weeks old.
As significantly as you could want to you almost certainly will not be capable to maintain all of the new pups in the litter. Now that you have a litter of weaned pups it is your duty to make positive that you obtain a caring and loving household that will supply fantastic care of every and just about every 1 of them.
One particular final note: Prior to you plunge into the hobby of breeding guinea pigs you must ask your self why you want to breed guinea pigs. Be entirely sincere with your answer. If your answer is that you want to make revenue then let me be the bearer of terrible news: It is hugely unlikely that you will make a profit, in reality you will be fortunate if you even break even. Sorry, breeding guinea pigs is just not a revenue maker.
