Foster Watch

Wow, it's been three weeks since the last post. I blame exams! All delays can be blamed on the University of Toronto. But I'm done exams now (well, mostly), so on with the show!

As I mentioned in the last post (lo those many weeks ago), I have three foster guinea pigs: Tango, Polka and Salsa.

These three were dumped on the doorstep of North York along with a male and another female, inside a box. We named the male Lorax and, as I said in the last post, he was quickly adopted to a loving family. The females, of course, were relegated to pregnancy watch in foster care. While Lorax and Tango were adults, Polka, Salsa and the other girl seem to be only a few months old themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if they were an earlier litter from Tango and Lorax.

Usually with guinea pigs, pregnancy watch doesn't pan out. They aren't as crazy fertile as hamsters or rabbits, and I cannot tell you how many times I've fostered a guinea pig for three months only to have nothing happen. In this case, however, three of the four girls are definitely pregnant. Lorax is an efficient guy.

Polka here is the only one who got off scott-free. Or at least, I'm pretty sure. We've been weighing them every few days and her weight gain has been in the normal range for a growing pig, whereas the others have been blowing up like balloons.

Salsa is the same age as Polka (probably a few months) but unfortunately, judging by her weight gain, she's probably pregnant. I hate seeing babies having babies, but what can you do.

Tango here is absolutely, definitely pregnant. On April 11, she weighed 1072 g. Today, she weighed 1281 g - that's over 200 g in weight gain over two weeks! And she's already an adult. Besides which, yesterday I could feel the pups kicking, which was very weird and signals a birth within the next few weeks.
Besides, look at her:

She's looking pretty round!
They are really gorgeous guinea pigs, so I'm interested to see what the pups look like. And while my three girls look pretty obviously related, the fourth girl is a horse of a different colour (so to speak):

Isn't she stunning? I've never seen a pure white guinea pig with dark eyes. Her name is Jazz and she's staying with another foster home. She came to visit for a few days, and she is a noisy, chattery girl. Very pushy! She is another who's clearly pregnant:

Not quite as obvious as Tango, but she has that signature 'pear shape' of a pregnant pig. So that makes three pregnant girls! It really is the year of the guinea pig.

Good news: Huckleberry the rat has been adopted to a very loving, experienced home. And sad-eyed Hattie has found a forever home with one of our volunteers!