[Gpdd] Misc.: Extra Toes and Such

[Susi Eastin]

Hi Mikey-
Welcome to the family!   Your piggies are beautiful!!  You must really miss them,
I can't imagine being away from mine that long! (and with as many as I have now,
someone would be coming after me!)  I don't think I've ever heard of extra toes on
piggies, aside from the fact that they have more toes on the front than on the back.
I would imagine it would be similar to cats having extra toes, and shouldn't be any
problem as long as they get around ok (except that's more toenails to trim!).
How old are your girls?  I've read many times that the sows should have their first
litter by the time they are one year old, or the pelvic bones may become fused as
they grow, and cause difficult delivery, possible resulting in stillborns and even 
death of the mother. Then I had one breeder tell me that he thought that
was a myth, and that he'd done it a few times, sometimes with no problem. I don't
know if you could go to a vet clinic and have them xrayed or something to tell for
sure, but as far as I'm concerned, when the very lives of the babies and the mother
are at risk, it isn't worth taking the chance. And I would really like to have gotten
babies from our Rosie, but she was a year old last December, and I wouldn't trade
her for a dozen babies. As far as caring for the babies, they are probably the easiest
of all babies to care for that I have seen, and there is a great deal of information online.
Guinea Lynx has a great deal of information on all subjects - a good site to bookmark
http://guinealynx.info/breeding.html
Peter Gurney's website offers a great deal of information on all matters guinea pig
http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/index.html
also - see Cavy Madness
http://cavymadness.ne.client2.attbi.com/care-toc.php
and Cavy Info  http://cavyinfo.com/html/emergency.html
and Guinea Pigs Online  http://www.guineapigs-online.com/index-info.htm
In addition, I am sure you will get more responses right here on gpdd - this is an
excellent source of information and support.
We hope you can soon be reunited with your babies, and you are lucky to have such
a good sister who will look after them for you. Sorry to hear about Winky and Dobby,
I'm sure they will add them to the Rainbow Bridge list. We know they are in good
company there!
 
Susi and the Okie Piggies