Meet Marble & Babies – Home for the Holidays: Story 1
Marble is a beautiful guinea pig who was surrendered to RAPS about a month ago after her owners decided they were unable to care for her anymore. Marble had already had a litter of babies prior to being surrendered to the shelter, but had wound up pregnant again, which we immediately noticed when her owners brought her into us.
A sweet but shy piggy, Marble was about as wide as she was long, and she looked about ready to pop! We immediately took her to our small animal Vet, Dr Martinez of Little Paws Animal Clinic, where he confirmed that she could give birth any day now (just was we suspected!). Dr Martinez also noted that Marble was very underweight, anemic, and lacking vitamin C. We started Marble on plenty of fresh vegetables (including lots of guinea pig appropriate leafy greens and daily fresh orange slices), amino B-plex supplementation, Oxbow guinea pig pellets, and unlimited timothy hay.
Within about a week of being at RAPS, our animal care attendants came in to a surprise one Saturday morning! Marble had given birth to six healthy babies and was doing very well. Guinea pigs are born with their eyes open, covered in fur, and are immediately ready to start running around!
Marble was an excellent mother to her babies, although we could tell that the job was very exhausting for her. Her babies were either nursing or running around wild and exploring their surroundings (did we mention the adorable sounds they all make?!). Besides all of Marble’s effort, the baby guinea pigs have also had excellent nutrition, TLC, and constant monitoring (including tri-weekly weight checks) from our animal care staff.
Because guinea pigs are sexually mature at only three weeks, we had to ensure that Marble was separated from her babies before this time and that their genders were accurately determined as soon as possible. After several checks throughout the last couple of weeks, we have split the babies up into two separate groups – we have four baby girls and two baby boys.
We were very pleased with the even number, as guinea pigs prefer the company of another pig, which means each baby can be adopted with a sibling!
RAPS is happy to introduce the girls: Checkers, Chess, Rummy, and Yahztee and the boys: Uno and Domino!
All our guinea pig babies will be available for viewing and adoption this weekend, Saturday, December 16th. The piggies must be adopted in pairs, and we encourage any interested applicants to do their research including but not limited to: suitable guinea pig housing, appropriate diet and nutrition, and the amount of time and care that guinea pigs require.
Read more about each of the guinea pig here!
