When do guinea pigs go in heat?
A female guinea pig’s oestrus (heat) cycle lasts 16 days. She will only be interested in liaising with the boar for about eight hours during this time. Female guinea pigs get on quite well with their boar-beaus, so the easiest way to manage the romance is to leave the couple together until you are sure she is pregnant. You can probably tell when the sow is in season as, during this time, she will regularly curve her spine downwards to elevate her rear end. In addition, you may find that she regularly mounts other female guinea pigs that she is living with. The female guinea pig takes her time to produce her babies. It will take from nine to ten weeks before you are rewarded with young ones. A sow will produce from one to six young, but three to four is the average. Large litters usually have a shorter gestation period (length of pregnancy). A sow will develop an obvious bulbous shape during pregnancy and will often double her weight. You will need to provide larger quantities of water
