[Gpdd] (CARE) weaning & separating baby pigs: from seagulls compendium

warmbreath imwarmbreath at netscape.com
Mon Oct 8 10:33:03 EDT 2007


----- Original Message ----- 
From: warmbreath 
To: rzm.2 at juno.com 
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2007 8:25 PM
Subject: from seagulls compendium


from seagulls compendium:  
Caring for young cavies
Young cavies are almost fully independent of their mother at birth, requiring only her milk and her warmth. They are born with hair, teeth, claws and open eyes. They will begin to run around on their own within hours, and will start eating solid foods within a day. Every two hours, they will line up under their mother to nurse; though sows only have two teats, there is no fighting at the milk line since the babies can munch on hay, pellets and even drink from the water bottle, if it's in reach. 
Like other animals that are born precocial, guinea pigs form their social bonds shortly after birth. It is important that they have human contact during this time to socialize and bond them to people. Unlike many other small mammals, the mother will not reject the babies if they are handled by humans, so the more you hold, pet and interact with them, the more they will grow up friendly towards, and less afraid of, humans. 

The babies will continue to nurse for anywhere from three to four weeks. During this time, they will follow both the mother and father around the cage. During exercise time, the guinea pig family will tend to form a "guinea pig train", with the father or mother at the head, the other parent at the end and the babies in the middle. This lineup helps ensure that no young ones get lost while moving about. They will chirp and grunt to each other often, and if a baby does get separated from the group, he or she will squeal loudly until one of the parents comes over to lead him or her back to the family. 

As they start to wean during the third week, they will nurse less often from the mother, and will begin to be more independent. By four weeks of age, all the babies should be completely weaned, and no longer require milk from their mother. At this point, you should start separating the males from the family. Males can become fertile at any point after weaning, and will be capable of mating with their mother. Females can come into season any time after one month of age, usually at 5 weeks, and can then be mated by their brothers or their father. Hence, separation of virile males and females is extremely important to prevent uncontrolled inbreeding. 

After they have weaned, you may safely give away pets to new homes. For the first day or two, the baby will probably be somewhat frightened of its new environment, having lost the security of it's family and it's familiar hutch. Time, and lots of love and attention from the new owners, will be needed for the baby to adjust to it's new surroundings. 



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good luck  Sandy 


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