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Guinea pigs, also known as cavies, are considered by many to be the ideal family pet. To be a good, responsible owner, you should prevent breeding and this is easy to do by simply separating males and females. Sexing guinea pigs isn’t as hard as you would think. Baby guinea pigs, which are called pups, become sexually mature at a very early age, normally just a few weeks after birth. It’s very important to sex your guinea pigs and separate males from females if they are older than three weeks so you won’t have an accidental pregnancy.
Sexing guinea pigs can be done at any age but if you sex your piggies at an early age it’s very important to make sure you do a few confirmations days or weeks apart because it’s very easy to make a mistake, especially in young animals. Sex early and sex often because you can never be too sure or confirm too many times. Accidental breeding happen all the time by well meaning pet owners.
If you only have one cavy then it’s not as important to sex him or her. Determining the sex of a guinea pig is very important if you plan on keeping more than one pig or if your pig will be having other piggie friends.
Since cavy’s become sexually mature in a few weeks after birth, sexing guinea pigs at an early age is very important, especially if you will be keeping more than one cavy per cage or habitat. You must separate all male guinea pigs from the females and the mother by 3 weeks of age. If a boar is left with his sisters and or mother for longer than four weeks it could result in an unplanned pregnancy and you could quickly find yourself with more cavies than you know what to do with. If you are expecting a litter, having an extra cage on hand is a good idea because 3 weeks will sneak up on you and you don’t want to have another guinea pig litter.
Identifying Sow (female) Pig Sex: The sows vagina appears close by a hymen membrane, this membrane will not be present when the sow is in heat but will reseal itself after heat has passed. A sow can come into heat every 15-17, with the heat lasting approximately one to two full days. The membrane covering the vagina should look smooth but may look bumpy too. Gently try to part the genital opening, if the opening resembles the letter “Y”, you could possibly have a female guinea pig.
Identifying a Boar (male) Pig Sex: Males should be a little easier for you to sex. With your finger press softly right above the genital area. On males, you should see his penis slowing come out. This may take some time to get the penis to come out. If your cavy is overweight the penis could actually be hidden in folds. Some males will have very obviously testicles while others may not. Male genitals when just looking at them appear to have more of an “I” appearance but to confirm, you should try and locate the penis. Finding the penis in an young boar can be very difficult, so if this is the case, then look for the testicles, they will look like a doughnut shaped ridge near the cavies anus.
If you are finding it very difficult to sex your pups or adult guinea pigs then I recommend taking them to someone who knows about cavies. If your local 4H club has a cavy group, they could probably sex your guineas for your without charge.
Here’s a video demonstration of how to sex your guinea pig.
