Brother and sister... oop! Need help!

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Jagmnm33

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So I bought a guinea pig a few weeks ago. A week later we went back and got her "sister". Or so they said. They get along amazingly and snuggle and play together. My neighbor saw them and decided to get her own two girls. So yesterday my boyfriend brought them downstairs and immediately after they got together one of mine tried to jump one of hers. So... it's a boy. Dont know what to do.
Some facts. He has never tried to jump her. They are besties. Play and cuddle all the time. I dont want to separate them. I can get him neutered. They are 10 weeks old. Again
He does not act like that to her like he did to them... literally jumped on them. With her he is sweet. So I guess my question is when is a safe time to neuter him? I'm not separating them. They love each other too much. Also when I got him he was 7 weeks and they say a male can impregnate a mom as early as 4 weeks. They were still together. Mom was in cage with them.
On a happy note mom was adopted/sold by the time we went back a week later....
Ok. Any advice would be good. But keep in mind right now there are no signs of heat
... and I really dont want to keep them apart.
 
Sometimes mounting can be a sign of dominance so I would check out Sexing Guide to make sure that he really is a male before making any decisions. As of now though, if you suspect he could be a male, I would have them separated immediately to prevent pregnancy. You can also put them in cages alongside each other so they can still see, smell, and hear each other until you figure out what to do!
 
As
@ILoveGilbertTheGuineaPig says, just because the piggy is mounting does not mean it's a boy. There's no way to sex a piggy by behavior alone as both sexes display the same behaviour. The only way to tell is by looking at their 'bits".
We can try to help if you can post pics, but the best way is to use the sexing guide.
Also, it sounded like you had yours and your friend's piggies having a play date. This is not a good idea as they will treat each play date as a bonding session, and get frustrated when they are separated and put together. You would probably see an escalation of bonding behaviour each time.
 
Jagmnm33 said:
So I bought a guinea pig a few weeks ago. A week later we went back and got her "sister". Or so they said. They get along amazingly and snuggle and play together. My neighbor saw them and decided to get her own two girls. So yesterday my boyfriend brought them downstairs and immediately after they got together one of mine tried to jump one of hers. So... it's a boy. Dont know what to do.
Some facts. He has never tried to jump her. They are besties. Play and cuddle all the time. I dont want to separate them. I can get him neutered. They are 10 weeks old. Again
He does not act like that to her like he did to them... literally jumped on them. With her he is sweet. So I guess my question is when is a safe time to neuter him? I'm not separating them. They love each other too much. Also when I got him he was 7 weeks and they say a male can impregnate a mom as early as 4 weeks. They were still together. Mom was in cage with them.
On a happy note mom was adopted/sold by the time we went back a week later....
Ok. Any advice would be good. But keep in mind right now there are no signs of heat
... and I really dont want to keep them apart.
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome!

Mounting is a dominance behaviour that both genders practice. You cannot sex a guinea pig just by that. However, mis-sexing is not at all uncommon, which is is why we strongly recommend to double-check the sex upon arrival.
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
When Sows Experience A Strong Season (videos)

Please have a look at our illustrated sexing guide here: Sexing Guide
Then check these two areas which are not quite obvious but where the gender is unmistakeable:
a) The inside of the slit in all piggies. Sows have a distinctive fleshy seal just below the rim, which is closed whenever they are not in season. Boars haven't got any fleshy flaps and go straight down.
b) Feel for the presence or absence of a penis ridge just below the skin where the guide picture tells you to check.
If both tests come back with the same gender, you can be 100% sure that you have sexed your piggies correctly without having to rely on anybody's opinion whose qualifications and experience you know nothing about. It is easier if you do the sexing with somebody else holding the piggies.

If you really do have one of each, please open an ongoing support thread in our specially monitored pregnancy section and read our comprehensive pregnancy, birth, baby and mother care advice, which you can access via this link here: Pregnancy & Baby Care Guide's

Please be aware that guinea pigs don't do play dates. They live in firmly bonded groups, and for them the group identity is more important than the individual one. For them, every meeting with other guinea pigs is a full-on serious bonding session and any separation is very frustrating as it is basically an aborted bonding session.
 
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Mounting is dominance behavior in both genders. This doesn't mean that your piggy is a boy. That said, it's a good idea to check to be sure they are both females (there is info on how to properly determine the sex of guinea pigs on the pregnancy page if you're having a hard time figuring out which gender they are.) In addition, I wouldn't do playdates with other pigs... because they are herd animals, they have a strict hierarchy within the herd. When meeting new pigs, they immediately start to sort out the pecking order, having no idea that these other pigs are just there to visit. It's really confusing to them to start and stop this bonding process for them, so it's probably causing some stress.
 
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