Approaching Birth

Please keep in mind that females will go straight into heat as soon as 1 hour after birth! To prevent back-to-back pregnancies, any males housed with the pregnant female must be removed closer to labor.

Signs of Approaching Labor:
  • About 2-3 weeks before, you should start feeling the babies move around.
  • As early as 1 week before birth, you can feel the babies grind their teeth.
  • Her pelvic bones will begin to separate about 48 hours before birth. When the space between the pelvis has opened wide enough, then she will give birth. Below is a video to help explain how to find the pelvic bones.
  • Try to be patient. It's a very exciting event, but the babies will come out when they are ready.
If a pregnant female is over 1.5 years old and has never given birth before, we recommend seeing a veterinarian that knows a lot about guinea pigs. What happens in older piggies is their pelvic bones begin to stiffen and become less flexible. This makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to give birth.