baby guniea pigs have been born about 30 mins ago.

The little runt of the litter is so small and isnt doing very well, it was very cold so i have wrapped it up in cotton wool and tried to stimulate it and it is breathing but seems to be gasping for air please could anyone advice me on how to help this little thing.

I'd get to the vets asap, we had an adolescent piggie that all of a sudden was gasping for air and we had to rush to the vets. Good luck, hope it pulls through.

im afraid that it will probably die before we gt to the vets doing our best to warm the little thing up at the mo

In that case phone your vets for advice, maybe they would send someone out? Or at the very least they would tell you what to do.

yes i will try that ii was hoping that their would bre someone on the forum that has had a similar experience and knows what to do but i shall try and phone a vets.......cheers

Just try and keep the little mite warm

hope he pulls through

e x

I'd either get a hot water bottle or stick the little one down your top (everyone I know that has hand reared a kitten has stuck the little one down their cleavage for body heat at some point- and it leaves your hands free to be sorting out milk etc).

If mum's not paying much attention to the baby then you'll need to source some appropriate milk for syringe feeding within the next few hours too- your vets may have something suitable, or maybe bailey's mum would know which milk is most compatible with piggies' natural milk.

You'll only have a few hours to get some though- get that baby warm and get on the phone to the vets for help, then to a pharmacy for an eye dropper or syringe to feed it with.

trying to warm it up but its as cold as ice and why is it gasping so much for air could it be that its little lungs havent formed correctly is must be half the size of the other guniea pigs

it seems to be getting a bit stronger or maybe its me wishful thinking

do you think it would be a good idea to rub the little thing a bit to get the blood flowing??????

Not sure but it could be shock or some fluid in the lungs I hope he pulls through how many brothers and sisters are they.

I'm no piggie expert, well I'm no expert actually! But gasping for air could just be because it's so cold? Everyone knows how their chest tightens when it's cold, have you got it down your top like meds said? That's the warmest part of the body.

Good luck, sending little vibes to baby piggie xx

Yes- stimulus helps them to breathe. Wrap in a flannel or similar and be a lot rougher than you think you need to be.

BTW- I'm not any sort of piggie expert. I'm just using my knowledge of tiny kittens here- I assume that there are things that will cross over to all mammals.

Can't see a reason why not to rub it... Although if it needs blood to get to the insides, rubbing it might stimulate the blood to the skin and divert it away from the insides. That's speaking from my very limited experience of biology though :?

yeah, take meds advice! :lol:

there are 7 little piggys thanks for all the advice we are all working at saving the little thing. i have put it down my top it is only the size of a hamster.

If you need a heat mat to borrow let me know and if your near to me I'll drop it off. a heatmat wrapped in a folded towel will make a snug bed.I'll keep an eye on the thread to see any response.

if the little one survives this well it be alright to put it back with its mum or will she reject it???

There's every likelihood that she will reject it, if it hasn't suckled from her as soon as it was born, and if it smells too much of human.

That's why I was suggesting that you find some milk that you can hand rear with- especially if it's weak, cos it won't be able to compete for milk from mum with the other babies.

So what did the vet say?

Have you got a plan for feeding it yet?

I'm sure there is a thread about teeny piggies here somewhere. I'll go look for you

You will most likely need to syringe feed it with lactol using a 2ml syringe or sometimes they will lick it from a spoon. It will need feeding every couple of hours, im not sure if its every 2hrs..baileys_mum will have more of an idea.
I hand reared a couple of my piggies and they all turned out fine, its demanding but its worth it.

the vet said to keep it warm i havent thought about the mother rejecting the little mite what shall i feed it on

the vet said to keep it warm i havent thought about the mother rejecting the little mite what shall i feed it on

Use lactol i made mine up at puppy strength but made it in smaller ammounts as you can only keep the stuff u made for 24hrs.

Good luck

where would i get lactol from????

Most vets will have Lactol or Cimicat- whereabouts are you? Do you have transport?

yes i have transport what time are vets open to

Where abouts are you poppypopstar I have a plastic tub that with a mat would make a really good incubator to keep it warm

we are on the manor top is that near you

Im at shiregreen But i have an appointment I cant miss straight after work. If somebody could pick up the tub and mat when I get in you are welcome to use them if you want me to I'll pm you when I get in or you could use a hot water bottle but it would cool off in the night. Let me know what you would like to do as I really want to help but tonight is probably the worst night it could have happened or I would have brought it all upto you.

I may even have some mini bottles and holders if it'll drink I'll pm you as soon as I get home.

Has its breathing or its condition changed at all.

he seems to have stopped gasping for air and is just shivering now. he does seemto have warmed up i was hoping that as soon as he seemed ok to bring mum and siblings in and see how it goes do you not think that would be a good idea.

i must state that the mum is very tame

According to the vet that I've just talked to- you can use evaporated milk, mixed half and half with water and warmed up, fed with a syringe or eye dropper as emergency food for the little one. Thank you to the staff at Highfields for consulting their text books for me.

Please also remember that you'll need to 'toilet' the little one after every feed (rub their bum with a pad of cotton wool- it stimulates them to wee and poo at that time only, as their mum would normally clean them after meals. You must do this- they will die very rapidly if you don't stimulate them to wee cos their kidneys shut down- this applies to all baby mammals).

Highfields vets on London Road can get you a can of Lactol in if you would like them to- they're on 2554663, and they're open until 7.30 tonight. Any order phoned through to them before 7pm will arrive about 11 tomorrow morning.

PM me your phone number and I'll see if I can put you in touch with Baileys mum

Have you got any complan

no just been to shop and got the evaporated milk going to give that a go as recommend

Be VERY careful you could give too much too quick and drown it.Phoneme i pm'd you my number

There's every likelihood that she will reject it, if it hasn't suckled from her as soon as it was born, and if it smells too much of human.

That's why I was suggesting that you find some milk that you can hand rear with- especially if it's weak, cos it won't be able to compete for milk from mum with the other babies.


Thats wrong, most piggies don't feed from mum for upto 24 hours before the milk comes in. If you want me to come across and help you out I will do

i am just about to introduce the piggy to his mum, he seems to be breathinf better since we have got him warm, i will watch how she is with the baby if everything is ok then we have a happy ending i will keep you posted.

Please get a vet to see it.
Although people on here will always offer brilliiant advice I would (dont want to upset anyone by saying this but......) always seek a professionals advice on such an urgent life/death matter.

It might be costly for a vet to come out but well worth it if it survives.

If you have contacted a vet please update us.

fingers crossed and well wishes sent xx:)

A bit of advice, hold mum on her back and put him to the nipple, mums milk is best especially for a runt

I agree completely- if she can be persuaded to accept the little one then she definitely should. The advice about the milk was just for a contingency if she doesn't accept him.

I had this with one of my sows, gave birth to 5 only 2lived. I was told to take mum from the otherbabies for 1/2 hour every 2/3 hours to feed the runt on its own, topping up with regular full fat milk mixed with warm boiled water gived extra calories. I have never got on with evaporated milk, the piggies seem to find it VERY hard to digest

sucess

mother piggy and baby doing very well.

i introduced mummy piggy to the baby and straight away she stradled over the top of the baby allowing it to suckle of her. I left them alone for a while and when we looked she was snuggled up against the little mite keeping it warm.

We then put the baby and mother back with the rest of the litter.
The little mite looks like its thriving and mother piggy seems to be happy with the baby .

When the litter was born and we saw the little runt baby lying there cold as ice and gasping for breathe my partner thought it didnt stand a chance, but it shows with patience and care and determernation what you can achieve.

A happy ending for all, we will of course be keeping a very close eye on the new family over the next couple of days.

Thank you all very much for you advice, we should all pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.

thats great news, well done, and congratulations.

I bet there will be tons of people wanting the little one if you advertise them lol.

Awwww, congratulations poppy :clap: :clap: :clap:
Keep us updated won't ya :)

yes i feel very proud and if i can manage it i shall take a photo tomorrow of the little one just to show everyone that helped how smallthe baby is.

Well done, what a lovely happy ending,
Hope he keeps growing big and strong.

I'm so pleased to hear that she's being a good mum, and that everything is happening like it should.

Big smiles from me.

looking forward to the pics.

Have you got any scales? if so, keep an eye on his weight, its a good guide to how well hes doing, a good weight is 70g upwards. Can you sex piggies?

Hope mum and babies are all fine this morning.

we went to the pen with our hearts in our mouths not daring to look, but we gained courage and opened the box.

And there was little tom thumb (thats what we called it) looking up at us snuggled down with all his siblings looking like nothing had happened.

They are all doing well and our other female guinea Starlet is helping mum tinkerbelle with the brood.

i am going to take a photo tonite and post it on the forum so keep looking

Once again thanks for all the advice and thanks to you carpet viper for offering to bring me the equipment if i needed it.

Thats fantastic news!!!! :clap: :clap:

Did you get my message about sexing them?

Yes i know how to sex them bm and will do so at a later date.
Just wieghed little tom thumb and he wieghs 2oz exactly

if anyone can instruct me on how to download a picture into a thread it would be a help as ive just took some photos of tom thumb.

Thats 56g. Be aware that he may still go, its a very small weight. Milk soaked bread is a good thing to put in with them too

we went to the pen with our hearts in our mouths not daring to look, but we gained courage and opened the box.

And there was little tom thumb (thats what we called it) looking up at us snuggled down with all his siblings looking like nothing had happened.

They are all doing well and our other female guinea Starlet is helping mum tinkerbelle with the brood.

i am going to take a photo tonite and post it on the forum so keep looking

Once again thanks for all the advice and thanks to you carpet viper for offering to bring me the equipment if i needed it.

Not a problem if you still need it just give me a shout. What are you doing with the piggies when they are old enough.

we havent thought that far ahead i suppose find them good homes.

poppy hun your inbox is full

we went to the pen with our hearts in our mouths not daring to look, but we gained courage and opened the box.

And there was little tom thumb (thats what we called it) looking up at us snuggled down with all his siblings looking like nothing had happened.

They are all doing well and our other female guinea Starlet is helping mum tinkerbelle with the brood.

i am going to take a photo tonite and post it on the forum so keep looking

Once again thanks for all the advice and thanks to you carpet viper for offering to bring me the equipment if i needed it.

Great news, can't wait to see a picture later.

not the best quality of photo bu ti hope you like them.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u205/melanieshemeld/40600131.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u205/melanieshemeld/40600133.jpg

They are lovely

i am going to soak some bread in milk like you advised, im not sure if the babies will get much of it as their mum is a hungry nose.

ohhh thats the cutest baby piggy!!!! :D

lol, even if she eats it, it'll help her calory intake with feeding so many bubs

yes it will the other female is giving her a helping hand