Woodgreen saves the day when accidental litters leave owner with 25 guinea pigs
Pearl’s unsuspecting owner had no idea she was heavily pregnant when they took her on.
Shortly after arriving at her new home, guinea pig Pearl gave birth to four babies. Their owner rehomed three of the youngsters and decided to keep one of the females, called Fuzz. Unfortunately, one of the boys in the litter got Fuzz pregnant before he was rehomed, and she later gave birth to four babies of her own.
When Pearl’s owner reached out to Woodgreen for advice and support, the situation had spiralled out of control. After struggling to find homes for Fuzz’s brood, two more females had each had four babies – which meant they now owned 11 guinea pigs! Unknown to the owner, guinea pigs can start breeding from as young as two months old, so girls and boys must be separated straight away to prevent accidental litters.
Woodgreen saves the day
Paiton, from our Outreach team, visited the home to check the sex of all the babies and see if any more expectant mums were on the horizon. We discovered that two other old female guinea pigs, Peggy and Poppy, were both heavily pregnant! Because the females lived in a double hutch in the garden, Paiton immediately arranged for Peggy and Poppy to stay with an experienced Woodgreen foster carer so their babies weren’t born outside in the middle of winter. The day after arriving on foster, Peggy had three babies, who we called Tictac, Bean and Pudding. Poor little Bean was born with entropian, an eye condition where the eyelashes curl inwards, causing him discomfort and irritation. Our Veterinary team successfully treated the entropian when Bean was three days old.
As soon as the youngest group of babies still in the home were old enough, Paiton returned to separate the boys and girls to prevent any further unwanted litters. Their owner decided to hand over all the guinea pigs to Woodgreen as they weren’t able to provide the care they needed. So, we brought all the remaining guinea pigs into our care. Paiton teamed up with our Small Pets and Fostering teams to divide the group up – some stayed on site at our centre in Cambridgeshire and the rest went into foster homes. We weren’t at all surprised when even more babies were soon born in our care!
We’re delighted to share some of the youngsters have now found new owners and we’re on the lookout for the right homes for the rest of the guinea pigs.
Paiton says: “The owner hadn’t fully looked into what level of time and care guinea pigs need, and they also weren’t aware how quickly numbers can multiply if males and females aren’t separated at the right time. They were very grateful for our support and said they wished they’d contacted us six months ago when the first babies were born.
“Any accidental litter is challenging and you have to think outside the box. This is a great example of how many teams at Woodgreen worked together to get the best outcome for everyone involved.”
