Guinea Pig Fecundity

Guinea pigs are rodents, and they are quite fecund animals, as most rodents are. Unlike the rats, mice, and hamsters, guinea pigs have a gestation of 60 to 70 days (about as long as a dog or a cat), and they give birth to small litters of very well-developed offspring offspring. The sows can breed very soon after birth, which is common in rodents. A guinea pig sow can have 3 to 4 litters of cavy pups or “guina piglets” a year, although most responsible pet owners would never let them have that many litters per year. (Although a German guinea pig book I read when I was child said that guinea pig sows should be bred as many times as possible, if they are to be bred. I cannot remember the reasoning for it, and I’ve since lost the book. It was by Horst Bielfeld.)

Here’s a video of a sow giving birth, just to give you an idea of how big the offspring are:

Perhaps the most interesting story of a guinea pig’s fertility comes from Wales, where there lived the Casanova of cavies.

Sooty’s story can be read here.

One night of romance made Sooty a father 42 times!