You just found out your guinea pig is pregnant and someone mentioned they might eat their babies. That sounds horrifying, but it’s extremely rare.
Guinea pigs are herbivores. They don’t eat meat on purpose.
When a mother does eat a pup, it’s almost always accidental, usually while consuming the placenta right after birth.
Guinea Pig Behavior Basics
Guinea pigs are intelligent creatures. They can easily learn a specific path and remember it for a long time.
Here are some key behaviors to understand:
- They can jump over small obstacles and run very fast with darting movements to confuse predators.
- When happy, they hop and run fast in what’s called “popcorning,” similar to a ferret’s war dance.
- Guinea pigs are good swimmers and are self-groomed.
- A particular substance comes from their eyes that they rub on their hair during grooming.
- In groups, guinea pigs chew each other’s hair based on hierarchy.
- Their eyesight isn’t great compared to humans, but they have a wide 340-degree angle of vision. Their sense of hearing and smell is very good though. Learn more about how guinea pigs see color.
What Are Common Health Problems in Guinea Pigs?
Common diseases in domestic guinea pigs include respiratory infections, diarrhea, itching, and boils due to infection. Mange worms are a common cause of hair loss, and other symptoms may include excessive scratching and abnormal aggression.
Guinea pigs can suffer from “running lice”, a small white worm visible in the hair. Other causes of hair loss include hormonal distress from conditions like ovarian cysts.
Foreign bodies in the eye can result in tearing and corneal ulcers. Although guinea pigs occasionally sneeze, frequent sneezing is a sign of pneumonia, especially after climate changes.
The body temperature of a guinea pig is between 101-104 F, so its ideal ambient air temperature is approximately 65-75 F. Genetic abnormalities have been reported in guinea pigs, and certain color patterns in Abyssinian guinea pigs are associated with congenital eye defects and digestive problems.
Do Guinea Pigs Eat Their Babies?
Absolutely. Guinea pigs eat their babies, but it’s very rare and mostly accidental.
When female guinea pigs eat their babies, it’s usually because they’re excessively hungry, under extreme stress, or they accidentally consumed a pup while eating the placenta after delivery.
Sufficient nutrition, a mixture of alfalfa and timothy grass, keeps female guinea pigs hydrated and can prevent this. On the other hand, a male guinea pig may harm babies when he recognizes they aren’t his, or because he’s intimidated and territorial.
Why Do Guinea Pigs Eat Their Babies?
It’s natural for us to humanize animal behavior and apply the same standards we’d expect from people. This can be misleading, especially around motherhood, as many animals eat their offspring in certain circumstances.
Hamsters and rats are famous for this.
A female guinea pig usually won’t eat a baby guinea pig deliberately. The same goes for males, as it only happens by a strange occurrence.
Male guinea pigs are more likely to harm their babies but shouldn’t eat them. If it happens in captivity, it’s a rare exception.
Always separate baby guinea pigs from male guinea pigs.
The mother guinea pig will take care of them during the first few weeks, so don’t separate them from her. Every baby needs its mother’s milk, which provides enough nutrition during the first crucial days.
These small pets need a lot of food and nutrition. Baby guinea pigs feed on their mother’s milk, but they’ll soon need lots of alfalfa hay that’s rich in calcium.
Calcium is essential for baby piggies as they’re growing and developing.
However, too much calcium is dangerous for an adult guinea pig. Adult guinea pigs eat timothy hay, orchard hay, or any other hay that’s high in fiber.
Check out our guide on the best guinea pig hay brands for quality options.
Make sure to feed your guinea pig hay of high quality in unlimited amounts. It helps them keep their teeth trimmed and ensures proper functioning of their sensitive digestive system.
Guinea pigs should also eat about 1/8 cup of pellets and about a cup of mixed herbs, vegetables, and fruits in moderate amounts. Explore the best guinea pig foods for a complete feeding guide.
A pregnant guinea pig requires a lot of extra nutrition. Pregnant and lactating guinea pigs also need alfalfa hay to sustain their babies.
If the sow is starving, her chances of suffering illness increase, which may tempt her to eat excessively.
There are several major theories about why a guinea pig might eat its babies:
- Darwinian process toward motherhood, meaning only strong individuals survive and reproduce
- To prevent attracting carnivores
- If the baby is stillborn
- To eliminate competition for resources and territory
- Stress during placenta feeding leads to accidentally eating a pup
- Lack of food and energy after giving birth
How Can I Prevent Guinea Pigs From Eating Their Babies?
When they’re small and weak, it’s much easier to keep baby guinea pigs away from male guinea pigs. If you have an affectionate male guinea pig, you can introduce the babies when they’re bigger but keep the sessions short.
Make sure the guinea pig mother isn’t present during introductions with the male. When you introduce baby guinea pigs to an adult, monitor them for aggression and respond quickly.
How To Prevent a New Mother From Eating Her Babies
The best thing you can do is provide adequate nutrition to the new guinea pig mother. Give a pregnant guinea pig extra food, water, and nutrients.
While carrying babies, the guinea pig mother needs extra energy to prepare for giving birth and nursing. Giving birth is very stressful for guinea pigs, and the mortality rate is quite high due to delivery complications.
Learn about how guinea pigs reproduce so you know what to expect.
Your pregnant and lactating guinea pigs should have access to alfalfa hay in the last weeks of pregnancy. They should also have unlimited amounts of timothy hay and water at all times.
Never let her food bowl go empty. When properly fed, you don’t have to worry about her eating her babies.
Watch your guinea pig while she gives birth, as she’s more likely to confuse the placenta and a pup in the moment.
Increase the protein content in your pregnant guinea pig’s diet and make sure she always has enough food. Show affection toward your guinea pig.
Let her know she hasn’t been replaced.
Your guinea pig will be frustrated if her youngsters are upset or stressed. Keeping the environment calm helps everyone.
Do Guinea Pigs Eat Their Babies if You Touch Them?
Your guinea pig won’t eat its babies if you touch them. That’s a common myth and it’s not true.
You can’t do any harm by touching your adult guinea pig or its babies. However, you shouldn’t touch the babies right after they’re born.
At those moments, the guinea pig mother can be very protective and may mistake you for a predator.
Giving birth is very stressful for both the mother and the babies.
How to Care For Baby Guinea Pigs
We’ve already covered the reproductive cycle of guinea pigs and pregnancy. Here we’ll focus on some important aspects of caring for guinea pig babies.
Female guinea pigs handle the hardest part. Unlike many other animals, guinea pig babies aren’t completely self-sufficient.
They need to stay with their mother and nurse, but they’ll quickly become active.
Don’t separate them from their mother too soon. However, separate male guinea pig babies from their mothers when they turn about two months old.
Male guinea pigs mature sexually very soon and can impregnate their mother as young as 2-3 months. Female guinea pigs mature sexually at 2 months, so keep them separated from their brothers and father.
Guinea pigs are peaceful creatures. If you look after the mother regularly, she’ll allow you to touch her baby guinea pigs.
The earlier and more regularly you handle them, the more likely they’ll accept you.
Make sure their cages are sturdy, comfortable, and escape-proof. Baby guinea pigs are much smaller than their parents, so they can slip through bars.
As long as the enclosure is secure and the bars are tight, you should be fine. These babies come out of the womb ready to run around very quickly.
Babies grow fast and reach adult size quickly. Consider getting a cage large enough for them to play around in.
Having a cage that’s too large is always better than one that’s too small.
Can a Guinea Pig Baby Live Without the Mother?
Guinea pigs make the best mothers and give pups the best chance of survival. Guinea pig babies can walk, see, and hear as soon as they’re born, and most start nibbling solid foods within a few days.
However, they’ll continue nursing as well.
If a guinea pig mother can’t nurse her babies due to illness or death, keep the orphans with as many pet guinea pigs as possible. Watch for this: other female guinea pigs aren’t always willing to raise another sow’s babies.
Raising an orphaned guinea pig isn’t very difficult because mothers only feed pups a few times per day.
Orphans should be fed by an eyedropper or pet nurse within the first 12 to 24 hours of life. Feed the pups for the first 5 days around the clock every 4 to 5 hours.
Over the next 2 weeks, decrease the feeding time gradually.
Give the orphaned pup equal parts water and evaporated guinea pig milk. Soak guinea pig pellets in water from the first day of life.
Continue giving milk for 21 days even when they start eating solid food.
Why Do Guinea Pigs Sometimes Kill Their Young?
Guinea pigs and other rodents don’t eat their babies because they’re hungry in the traditional sense. They aren’t cannibalistic by nature.
Almost the only reason a female guinea pig would kill her babies is that she’s so stressed her mind can’t handle the strain. That’s why you should do everything possible to make your female piggy feel at ease.
Keeping the father around is a very bad idea and adds to the mother’s stress. Do everything you can to fulfill the wants and needs of the pregnant female, to make her feel safe and comfortable.
Make the entire environment guinea pig-friendly. Make sure there’s always enough food in your pregnant guinea pig’s bowl.
Once the baby guinea pigs turn 3 to 4 weeks, separate them from their mother, especially the males.
Final Thoughts
Guinea pig pregnancies are risky, and the mortality rate is high for both mothers and babies. Guinea pigs eating their babies is a rare but possible occurrence, usually happening by accident during placenta consumption or due to extreme stress.
Proper nutrition with unlimited hay, a calm environment, and keeping the male separated are the three most important prevention steps. If you give your pregnant guinea pig everything she needs, the chances of her harming her pups are extremely low.
Frequently Asked Questions
Wait at least 24 to 48 hours before handling newborn guinea pigs so the mother can bond undisturbed. After that, gentle and brief handling sessions actually help socialize the babies. The mother won't reject or eat them just because you've touched them.
Separate the male before the mother gives birth. Males can stress her during delivery, and she can become pregnant again within just 12 hours of giving birth. Back-to-back pregnancies are extremely dangerous and significantly raise the mortality risk for both mother and pups.
Guinea pigs typically have between one and six babies per litter, with two to four being the most common number. Larger litters sometimes mean smaller, weaker pups that need extra monitoring. First-time mothers tend to have smaller litters than experienced sows who've given birth previously.
Separate males from their mother and sisters at about three weeks old, no later than four weeks. Males can become sexually mature surprisingly early, sometimes by just three weeks of age. Waiting too long risks accidental pregnancies between siblings or between sons and their mother.
