[Minibean]

Ooh! Another pig person!

My pig's name is Piglet (so creative huh?) so maybe I'm not the best person to be helping with names... I had another pig named Mitzi which means "the perfect one" in Japanese.

I guess you don't want a typical "black pet" name like Ebony or Midnight...I think naming by personality is better a lot of the time, anyway. But it can be tricky sometimes! I think in this case I might be inclined to go with a "people name", too. What about Elfrieda (Elfie for short)? Penelope (Penny for short)?

I like the name Wild Child!

Is she a Peruvian or maybe an "Abbyruvian" (Peruvian/abby cross)? Those are the cutest things ever!

And of course I can't miss an oppritunity to advertise the greatest pig sites on the net. You're probably already familiar with some of them, but just in case:

http://www.guinealynx.info (great message boards here with many extremely knowledgeable members, great place for medical info and general info as well)

http://www.cavycages.com

http://www.cavyspirit.com

Good luck finding the perfect name for your little girl!

 

[Minibean]

Raine, what did your vet say about the tumour? Are you sure it's a tumour? If you need any advice on it, post at the Guinealynx medical forum. http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/index.php There are a lot of members there with extensive medical knowledge.

 

[Minibean]

Oh no!

Have you moved Ricky into a seperate cage yet? If not, do so right away - sows go into heat and can become pregnant again right after birth, and you don't know how far along she is.

Read this page on labour, etc. so you'll know what to expect: http://www.guinealynx.info/breeding.html (and you can skip that part at the top - I know you weren't breeding intentionally). And make sure you have a good, pig-knowledgeble vet lined up. Guinealynx also has advice on finding a good vet, if you don't already have one.

Also, hone your sexing skills now so this doesn't happen again. This page should be helpful: http://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm Are you absolutely certain the other two are females?

You already have a C&C cage, right? Depending on how many babies there are, you might be able to enlarge the cage and put a divider in (I think there are pics of cages like that at the cavycages website), and put the male(s) with dad and the female(s) with the other girls.

I hope everything goes well. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that it's a small litter and you'll be able to make space to keep them. I'm sure you wouldn't let them go to anything but a great home, but even so, I know it would be hard to part with them.

 

[Minibean]

Males have nipples too, but they're smaller. The only way to tell the sexes for sure is to use the methods in the link I gave you. If you have a hard time telling yourself, have a vet confirm for you.

It's possible your other girl (is she is indeed a girl) is pregnant, too, but let's hope not!

Do you have any idea how far along Doclie is? I would probably seperate the other piggie from her too just in case "she" is actually a male, too...it would be awful is she delivered and became pregnant again.

Hopefully there'll be a male baby to keep Mr. Pig company so he doesn't have to live alone.

 

[Minibean]

Oh, by the way, make sure to give the mom calcium-rich veggies while she's pregnant, and I think it's recommended while she's nursing also. Parsely, kale, dandelion greens, spinach, etc. She should also have alfalfa hay - not to replace grass hay, but just as an addition to the diet. Babies can eat alfalfa (in addition to the grass hay) up until about 6 months.

Also, supplement her with Vit. C while she's pregnant and nursing, about 50 mg a day (but not in the water). The 100 mg chewable tablets for humans, cut in half, is an easy way to do this. Piglet doesn't like chewable C tablets straight, like some pigs do, so I crush hers up and roll it up in a piece of wet lettuce - she eats it that way (albeit a bit grudgingly!)

I don't know much about pregnancy/how to tell when delivery will happen, never having had a pregnant pig. You can probably find some good threads on it if you do a search on the Guinealynx forums.