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Thank you for your replies! We're figuring we have to be somewhere in that time window by now, since it was at least Christmas when we took note of the pregnancy, and we're assuming we wouldn't have noticed until she was at least a little way along in the pregnancy. Still no babies as of this morning, however! The vet that neutered Jasper is the only one in our little town that works with guinea pigs, so we'll take Jewel to him if there are any problems. I just hope it doesn't happen when he's not available!

We'll keep everyone posted as soon as the new arrivals are here. Pics too!

C & R

Edited to add we do have a vet in mind. I wasn't properly awake the first time I hit the "post" button!

Thanks, Firegirl and Pooksied! Yes, 5 does seem like quite a lot, but with how enormous Jewel was, we weren't really too surprised. It would have been a big surprise if she'd only had 2 or 3!

Jewel seems to be a good mother. She huddles the babies up against her like a mother hen does with chicks, and chirps to them. The babies sometimes chirp back. Jasper is not so sure about the babies and has been hanging out in the opposite corner of the cage. He looks like he doesn't remember discussing this issue with Jewel. You can just see the expresion on his face, "Jewel, I didn't know we wanted babies!" He doesn't seem agressive toward them, though, so we haven't taken him out. We're hoping the babies will grow on him in time and he'll enjoy them while they're here.

We called to make an appointment with our vet and asked at what age the vet thought he would be able to sex them. We were alarmed (and a bit amused) when the receptionist came back on the line and told us his reply was "3 months." THREE months! "That can't be right," I replied. "The boys can impregnate their mother at three WEEKS!" So we scheduled an appointment for 2 1/2 weeks, and will hope the vet can can tell us which ones need to come out of the cage. We're planning to put the boys in with Jasper in a separate cage until we can find homes for them, while the girls stay in with Jewel.

We're also considering keeping one of the females. I have a favorite, one of the tri-colored ones with a cute little burnt orange bullseye shape on its hind quarters and a pretty tri-color blaze on its nose, and am hoping it's a girl! R. was alarmed when I began to think of names to assign each baby, saying, "Oh no! Anything that gets named always ends up staying! And we don't have room for SEVEN full grown piggies!" So they are numbered, instead -- babies 1-5. I'm pouting. They are so cute, I want to keep them all!

We're planning to thoroughly screen the adoptive homes, require references, and a contract. We're also offering re-homing, so if they cannot keep the piggie for any reason, they are to return it to us, no questions asked, and we will find a new adoptive home. There are no guarantees, but we're hoping this will get the piggies the best homes we can find. Wish us luck!

C & R