A Dilema - What to do with Curly?

Caviesgalore (EPGPR) · Jul 10, 2009

As some of you may remember Curly lost his cage mate and brother, Herbie, a couple of weeks ago. He is in my shed in a 6ft hutch which sits on top of another large hutch with my "gang" (made up of neutered boar and 5 wives) in it, and when they are out in the garden in runs, I push the runs up next to each other so they can talk and see each other.

My dilema is what to do with Curly. He will be 4 in October, he is a chunky snuggly Rex piggy who is very gentle and laid back. He used to live with an older boar, but when he died Curly became part of a group of 3 boars, 1 being his brother Herbie, the other another older male. The group lived happily and eventually the older piggy passed away and Curly and Herbie were left happily together. He has never lived alone before and is obviously missing his brother despite extra cuddles etc. etc. I am not in a position to be able to commit to any more pigs at the moment (much as I would like to, otherwise I would get him a little baby boar as a friend. So, my quandry is:-

Do I leave him as he is, giving him extra attention and continue putting him next to the gang during run time?

Take Jazz (2 1/2 years old) my neutered boar out of the group and try to introduce him to Curly?

Have Curly neutered and split the group and give him a couple of wives? I know rescues routinely neuter older boys, but what does everyone think of having an almost 4 year old boy done? My girls range in age from almost 3 to 5 so was thinking of pairing Curly up with 3 older girls and leaving Jazz with the younger 2.

Decisions decisions, piggy keeping is never easy. Sorry for the rambling post.

jnenbnb · Jul 10, 2009

Oooo it's such a tough one! Poor Curly

How good is your vet with neutering? I think i'd be inclined to try him with Jazz and see how they are, but i'm a wimp when it comes to neutering lol! Sorry i'm no help! Really hope you can sort something out for him x

Caviesgalore (EPGPR) · Jul 10, 2009

jnenbnb said:
Oooo it's such a tough one! Poor Curly How good is your vet with neutering? I think i'd be inclined to try him with Jazz and see how they are, but i'm a wimp when it comes to neutering lol! Sorry i'm no help! Really hope you can sort something out for him x

Hi Emma, lovely to see you around. See I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to neutering too! To make matters worse my usual vet, who is fab with piggies, is off on maternity leave and not due back until March 2010! We do have another great vet at the same practice, but I would have liked to have chatted it over with Nicola first.

jnenbnb · Jul 10, 2009

Hi

it's nice to be back! Well maybe it's worth chatting to the other vet? Getting an idea of whether they can do it etc? It does seem a shame for Jazz to be neutered and not live with girlies lol! xx

teadragon · Jul 10, 2009

I'm of the opinion that neutering a boar should be done only in extreme circumstances and that those extreme circumstances are rare. This isn't a criticism of your set up, but does mean that I'd be reluctant to neuter Curly so I'd be more likely to try and pair him up with the neutered boar with the girls.

If that failed, I'd put the neutered boar back in with his group, have Curly neutered and remove some of the less bonded girls in the large group to move in with Curly.

Caviesgalore (EPGPR) · Jul 11, 2009

Thanks Teadragon, I tend to agree with you. I have never had a piggy neutered before, Jazz came already "done" when we took him in from a local rescue. I don't really want to have to put Curly through the op if I can avoid it (he has already had surgery to remove a bladder stone, a year ago) and if anything happened to him as a result of the surgery I would never forgive myself. I know when we got Jazz the lady that runs the rescue said she had the boys done as soon as they arrived, before she got attached to them for exactly that reason!

I held Curly up to the front of the groups cage today during cuddle time so that he could say hello and they all ignored him, even Jazz! The poor little chap was chatting away and the rest of the gang were too busy stuffing their faces to come over and say hello!

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Marty · Jul 11, 2009

Hi Sandra

I saw Nicola in the local Tescos a couple of weeks ago. If you camp out there for a week you're bound to bump in to her!

On a serious note, that is a bit of a dilemma. We don't like the idea of neutering piggies either, one of the reasons Denny and Alan have become permanent residents

I would agree with teadragon if it's of any help.

Hope you and the family are all well.

Martin

MemberY · Jul 11, 2009

For my twopence worth, I would imagine it less likely for the boar bonding to work as taking Jazz away from his girlies and putting him with a boar will surely induce fighting from Jazz as he has become used to having wives? :{
It just seems to make sense to me...

An awful lot depends on your trust in your vet. If you are confident he has performed lots of neuters sucessfully and Curly is healthy, I see no reason for worry but as others say, there is a risk with any surgery.

I would be inclined to try the boars together but perhaps bath them first so that no girl scent is on Jazz.

Best of luck Sandra!