• PLEASE NOTE - the TEAS facebook page has been hacked, take extreme care when visiting the page, for further information visit here

Advice after bereavement

KatP

New Born Pup
Joined
Jun 12, 2016
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
85
Sorry this is going to be a long post!

So I look after 2 guinea pigs which are owned by the school I work at. They are both entire males and because of a falling out a couple of years ago they live side by side in separate cages. One of them passed away on Wednesday, leaving the other one alone. The one which is left is now obviously missing the one which has passed away. The school won’t let me get the one who is left neutered.

So I’m looking at getting a couple of guinea pigs of my own so that the school one has company. In the past I have always had girls and I would prefer to get girls.

My question is
1) If I got 2 girls would this make the male aggressive if he could smell them, especially when they come into season?
2) Would the girls fall out and fight because they could smell him?
3) Would I be better getting 2 males or would that also cause aggression between the new boys? And potentially between the new boys and the current one?
4) What is the best solution to this problem?

I will take any advice that you can offer as I really have no idea what is the best solution.
Thanks for any advice.
 
Why won't school let him be neutered?

I'm not sure about all your questions, just to say when I had a boar living alongside waiting to be neutered and then waiting the 6 weeks after the op, the girls were completely fine but found him out the c and c cage one morning, so assume his hormones were raging.
 
Why won't school let him be neutered?

I'm not sure about all your questions, just to say when I had a boar living alongside waiting to be neutered and then waiting the 6 weeks after the op, the girls were completely fine but found him out the c and c cage one morning, so assume his hormones were raging.
The school won’t pay for it! It’s a very complicated situation that I’m caught in the middle of!
 
Sorry this is going to be a long post!

So I look after 2 guinea pigs which are owned by the school I work at. They are both entire males and because of a falling out a couple of years ago they live side by side in separate cages. One of them passed away on Wednesday, leaving the other one alone. The one which is left is now obviously missing the one which has passed away. The school won’t let me get the one who is left neutered.

So I’m looking at getting a couple of guinea pigs of my own so that the school one has company. In the past I have always had girls and I would prefer to get girls.

My question is
1) If I got 2 girls would this make the male aggressive if he could smell them, especially when they come into season?
2) Would the girls fall out and fight because they could smell him?
3) Would I be better getting 2 males or would that also cause aggression between the new boys? And potentially between the new boys and the current one?
4) What is the best solution to this problem?

I will take any advice that you can offer as I really have no idea what is the best solution.
Thanks for any advice.
 
It looks like you posted the same question twice. Not sure if you meant to do so or not, but just a heads up it helps you get more concise advice if you stick to creating one post rather than duplicating content. This also helps forum members get around to reading more posts (rather than sorting through duplicates) and thereby help more piggies. I'm sure a mod will be along when they can and sort out which post should stay and which can be deleted. Just wanted to give you a heads up. Thanks for understanding.
 
So does the school piggy live permanently with you or does he live at school during term time and come home to you on the holidays?
You getting Guinea Pigs yourself - if the school piggy lives at school term time, then are your own piggies are going to have to move into the school as well during term time so the single boar has companionship all the time? We couldn't advocate for that for the sake of the piggies.

In answer to your questions -

1) If I got 2 girls would this make the male aggressive if he could smell them, especially when they come into season?
- no, it wouldnt make him aggressive, because he has no one to be aggressive with. he would however, be interested in them and suddenly being around sows would probably provoke a strong reaction from him, and make him determined to escape his cage and get into them though. you would have to ensure that his cage was very secure and lidded so he could not get out.

2) Would the girls fall out and fight because they could smell him?
- no

3) Would I be better getting 2 males or would that also cause aggression between the new boys? And potentially between the new boys and the current one?
- you could get an entirely separate boar pair and keep them in a completely separate cage and only allow through the bar interaction to stop the single piggy getting lonely. They could never have physical interaction though and three boars cannot live in the same cage - this is a recipe for disaster and will cause fights and broken bonds (and potentially three single piggies). Two boars together need a 180x60cm cage (lack of space is also a factor in how a boar bond will survive (character compatibility being the most important) - they need more space than a sow pair) and the single will need a 120x60cm minimum cage.
Having a separate boar pair and then smeling/seeing the school boar would not cause the two new boys to fight. What would cause them to fight is not being compatible in character and then they would have to be separated and live in separate cages side by side. You could end up with three separate cages.
Boars reestablish their relationship in every new environment so if they live at school term time, and move back to you for the holidays, then each and every time the piggies moved location, their relationship would be reestablished resulting in a lot of dominance behaviours, stress and potentially destabilising their relationship.

4) What is the best solution to this problem?
- there are two best things for him -
- for him to have a live in friend - as his current owners won't let him be neutered, then finding him a character compatible boar friend to live in the same
cage as him - ideally finding that friend via rescue dating. Buying a piggy on spec ie pet shop can run the risk that they won't be compatible and then
they will not bond.
- for him to have a permanent home (assuming he lives at school during the term time/with you on holidays) - would the school surrender ownership of
him to you, so you can then do as you wish in finding him a friend: whether that's neutering, having the six week post op wait to become infertile and
finding a character compatible sow(s) for him to live with, or finding a character compatible boar to live with; and keep him in a stable home
environment
 
Hello. If I was you I’d ask the school if I could take him home and keep him. Then you would be able to find him a compatible male friend from a rescue. Or if he is young and healthy enough get him neutered and he could find a compatible wife. I don’t like the idea of school guinea pigs. 🙁
 
Back
Top