Will either of my female Guinea Pigs ever come in heat?

Question

Okay I currently have two guinea pigs. I'm not sure what species but they both have short hair. My one year old, Chichi, is like the color of a brownie, and my new guinea who I have had for about a month, Honey, is blond and grey. Anyway, Chichi has never come in heat... Do they only come in heat around males? What age do Guinea pigs come in heat? Will they be mean to each other when they do? What are the signs of being in heat?

Answers highly appreciated.

-Jean

Answer 1

Sows go into estrus approximately every 17 days. They are sexually mature at 28 days old. There is no blood associated with the estrus cycle, so chances are you'll not even know about it.

Outward signs would be a bit of an "attitude" from your sow, meaning she might not enjoy being petted as much as she usually does & acts a little grouchy. Sows sometimes will try to mount each other, but they don't fight. They go into estrus whether there are boars around or not.

Answer 2

GPs go into heat every 18 or so days and it lasts 1-2 days.  Going into heat has no bearing on any of the other animals; females will go into heat even if a male GP is not around.

Females are able to sexually reproduce at 4-5 weeks, but you should wait much longer than that if you really wanted to have baby GPs as they are too small to be able to successfully and safely have young.

When your GP is in heat, she will arch her back and put her butt in the air.  I'm not sure as to how your GPs will react to each other.  When my girl rats went into heat, they liked to hump each other occasionally, your GPs might do something similar.  They shouldn't get overly aggressive though.

For more detailed info, you can check out my sources below.

Hope that helps!