She decided on two females, both smooth coated, at a local store and named them Acorn and Weasel II, in tribute to a guinea pig my family had had ages ago. We never meant to have a guinea pig, but one of us kids -- it wasn't me -- volunteered to host the class guinea over a summer, and when school returned in the fall, no teacher wanted it. So we kept the pig, and that was Weasel, a strong phweaker.
Alas, Weasel II stayed small -- the vet called it "failure to thrive" -- and got sick and passed on. After a time to make sure Acorn was not also infected, Amalie picked out a new female pig, a very puffy one with kinky fur. This was Cottonball.
We also had told Carson that he could select his own guinea pig in time. I had the kids out shopping one day in mid-November, and decided to stop in at the local PetsMart just to check out the guinea pigs. (The PetsMart stores, at least locally, have a policy of keeping one gender only of guinea pigs. This one had females.) Most of the pigs, like usual, were huddled in little "pigloos", but one mostly white one was munching kibble, either oblivious to the giant humans watching her, or utterly cool and unconcerned about being on display. Carson took a liking to her, we consulted with Mommy by phone (who approved whole-heartedly), and we obtained the guinea pig. Before getting home, a rather short trip actually, Carson had decided that the new pig would be named Vanilla. (I suggested this based on her white fur, but she also has some light tan patches that made me also suggest Maple Walnut. The kids didn't like that much.)
So, three guinea pigs, all female, living in a large, roomy hutch that Val maintains. Cottonball was a bit pushy for a few days, but they all settled into peaceful coexistence quickly.
Vanilla began getting wider, particularly in her belly. Hmm. This wasn't simple growth, although she was getting bigger (as is proper for a guinea her young age). This was a bulge. Granted it could have been a highly specific tumor, but all signs pointed to her being pregnant. Amalie and Val both claimed to have witnessed kicking action on her sides. I wasn't completely certain, but there was no other probable reason for her size increasing.
Many years ago, I had seen a pregnant guinea pig (not Weasel) which was huge, its belly so extended it looked like it had swallowed another full-sized pig sideways. That memory clearly colored my perceptions. Reading up on guinea pig gestation, they are pregnant for about two months. Vanilla must have gotten started before we bought her, as there had been no chance since, so I just guessed she began in early November and, since she wasn't very big yet, we wouldn't have to think about baby guinea pigs until January.
Lousy guess. Not about Vanilla's pregnancy, but about the timing.
I dropped off the kids at school on Wednesday, December 15. When I got home, I went to give the guineas their morning veggies -- romaine lettuce, some sweet pepper slices. I put the bowl on the upper floor like usual (it's more easily accessible) and lay down to watch the guineas until they figured out where the snack was. Vanilla popped out of their main box, scurried about for a bit, then ran up the ramp. Cottonball soon followed. By now Acorn was also out of the box, but wasn't really trying to find the lettuce, and seemed to be stubbornly staying right by the box.
This was a bit puzzling; Acorn is our senior guinea, and certainly knows that the morning veggies are often upstairs. I crouched down to take a closer look, perhaps something was troubling her --
-- and a small guinea pig face briefly popped into view through the box doorway.
Whoa!
Acorn was still in full view. I looked at the upper level -- yep, there was Vanilla and Cottonball. All three guinea pigs were accounted for, but there was a fourth one! I tried to take a closer look at Vanilla, but while eating she was scrunched into the short, fat shape guinea pigs can make themselves, so I really couldn't tell anything about her belly. Not that I needed to, but visual confirmation always helps.
I opened the downstairs door and carefully reached into the box and determined that there were at least two babies, which were already scurrying easily.
Well, this was a surprise -- the arrival timing, anyway. I immediately realized that the babies could fit through the cage mesh -- their hutch is made of stackable shelves with large openings. And, sure enough, while I was trying to catch the babies minutes later, one of them did pop out through the bars, but was contained by the coroplast base and scrambled right back in. That helped, but I decided the retaining wall needed to be higher, which is why I was trying to capture them. Eventually I did get both -- there were only two -- and put them in a box with a towel, which they scurried deeply into.
Some spare coroplast, some boards, and some cardboard scraps soon provided a higher, more secure retaining wall so the babies couldn't escape. I returned the baby guineas to the hutch -- witlessly neglecting to take a few pictures of them. Consulting with the vet, I was told that leaving them alone for the first few days is the best approach, so we did that, and they have been very elusive when trying to photograph them since, preferring to stay in the box or otherwise out of sight.
Until last night, when Val undertook the weekly cage cleaning, and they had to be captured and temporarily relocated. We have a large, open "country estate" for this purpose, and when we managed to get all five guinea pigs transferred, I was able to get a decent pic of the babies.
Vanilla and her pups.Cottonball is a bit cool, but not aggressive, toward the babies. Acorn is almost protective. So the entire bunch is getting along well, which is all to the good.
I had told Val earlier in the day, but asked her not to tell the kids when she picked them up. When they got home, I sat them down and asked, do you remember how we thought Vanilla might be pregnant? Yes, they replied. Well, I said, she's not pregnant any more.
The babies are only five days old, but have wasted no time. They explore (neither has gone up the ramp yet, that we know of), eat alfalfa and moistened guinea pellets and lettuce, are basically guinea pigs, just smaller. We haven't named them, and don't have any real idea what we'll do with them, although Val and I have been clear that if either or both are males they are not staying in the main cage. Vanilla turned out to be our crackerjack guinea pig, with the surprise inside -- but we're not willing to go through this again. Once is enough.
So, two baby guinea pigs. They're cute, they're fun to watch, they're amusing and delightful -- and yet, we are undecided if we should call them "guinea piglets" or "mini guineas".
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