Fixing a male?

[alfredsmom]

Please don’t yell at me if this is not an OK thing to ask. I am too embarrassed to ask the rescue lady because I don’t want to sound silly.
We adopted Alfred and he wasn’t able to eat or drink on his own for a long time. He now eats and drinks and is a happy and healthy fellow thanks to all of your help. Yay!
we are waiting for the rescue to get a single boy. In the meantime, they got baby girls and we couldn’t resist. We now have Charlie and Lola together in one home and Alfred in another.
I know I can never ever put the male with the females unless the male has been fixed - but here’s my question: Is it considered “bad” to fix a guinea pig? Is it frowned upon? If it is, we can keep the girls and boys separate forever, but if it’s OK to do, I think they’d all be happy together.
thanks for not judging me!
Here’s a photo of the sweetest girls.

 

[DMS260820]

It's not frowned upon atall to get the male neutered, the key is finding a vet who is 100% confident in doing the operation, and that the boar is health checked before hand.

The boar will have to be old enough to have the operation first of all ( testicle fully descended I believe*)

And then you will need to wait absolute minimum 6 weeks afterwards to make sure the boar can definitly not impregnate the sow.

It isn't ok to keep them seperate permanently.

I did the same as you, but the other way round, I had a single sow, and couldnt resist a boar, I got him neutered by a good vet and now they are happily together, do bare in mind though that there is a possibility they won't get along after all of this, it's all down to character compatibility in the end.

You can boost your chances a little by keeping them next door whilst you are waiting on the neuter op to go ahead, and keep swapping cage toys and objects over to get them used to each others scents.

But if you are keeping a single next to a pair it could upset a current relationship, depending on what sex is where

 

[Darcey15]

Don't feel bad for wanting the best for your boy. You are being sensible. You can have your boy neutered if you wish to bond him with girls, i did the exact same thing and my boy now has 5 ladies who adore him. A word of caution though, your boy may not necesarily get on with your ladies & you need to be prepared for that. It may work perfectly but if not, the best method is getting him neutered then taking him to a rescue that offers boar dating to choose his own lady friends. Good luck! X

 

[Piggies&buns]

That is wonderful. It is absolutely fine to have him neutered, it’s not frowned upon etc, it is absolutely the best thing to do. It can sometimes be easier to bond a boy with girls than with another boy. With that said, a bond comes down entirely to character compatibility. The girls have to accept him. If the dominant female won’t accept him, he can live alongside them, but hopefully the bonding will go well!
Have him neutered, then have his six weeks wait for him to become infertile. In the meantime he can live alongside the girls as long as he cannot get out of his cage - boys when around girls can become quite athletic and find ways out - and then once he is six weeks past, you can do the neutral area introduction. It’s good for him even now though while he can’t physically be with them, he will now still have the company of them nearby to them and they can chat through the bars!

 

[PigglePuggle]

Neutering your boy is an excellent idea if you have already brought home 2 girls, and living next door to each other and getting to know each other through the bars while he has his surgery and 6 week post-op wait will hopefully increase the chances of them bonding when you do the formal introductions later. If all goes to plan, he'll be a very happy boy having two beautiful lady friends!

 

[Wiebke]

Please don’t yell at me if this is not an OK thing to ask. I am too embarrassed to ask the rescue lady because I don’t want to sound silly.
We adopted Alfred and he wasn’t able to eat or drink on his own for a long time. He now eats and drinks and is a happy and healthy fellow thanks to all of your help. Yay!
we are waiting for the rescue to get a single boy. In the meantime, they got baby girls and we couldn’t resist. We now have Charlie and Lola together in one home and Alfred in another.
I know I can never ever put the male with the females unless the male has been fixed - but here’s my question: Is it considered “bad” to fix a guinea pig? Is it frowned upon? If it is, we can keep the girls and boys separate forever, but if it’s OK to do, I think they’d all be happy together.
thanks for not judging me!
Here’s a photo of the sweetest girls.

Hi!

We are here and work hard to keep our forum the friendly place you can ask any question, little or large, you have without having to feel embarrassed.

I currently have got 8 'husboars', i.e. neutered boars living with one or several sows; but they are in a long line of predecessors.
You can find my current piggies in this thread here if you want practical proof; it also gives you a bit of a view of the range of relationships: Wiebke's Tribe - Sows and the City Boars

Here is more information on the possible piggy combos: Boars, sows or mixed pairs; babies or adults?

Here is our comprehensive neutering guide with all the necessary information on the whole subject:
Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths, Facts and Post-op Care

You can keep Alfred next to the girls for interaction and stimulation through the bars as long as he cannot get at them. Keep in mind that boars can be extremely determined and athletic when a sow is in season when it comes to climbing, jumping or whiggling through loose grids! The sudden presence of boar hormones often triggers a strong season in sows.
But getting to know each other and becoming friends through the bars during the obligatory 6 weeks post-op safety wait can go a long way in promoting acceptance - and it is the sows that call the shots when it comes to which boar they want to associate with, or whether at all!
Living alongside can also be your plan B in case acceptance doesn't happen. A single boar hasn't got a boar mate to fall out with and is therefore not a problem when it comes to sow presence.
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

Please be aware that the prices of neutering operations vary massively. Key to success/minimising the risk of post-op complications is finding a vet who is practised and experienced in either guinea pig neutering or small furries operations.

PS: My charismatic and very dominant Hywel (2009-16; on the left), who was neutered after he consistently beat up every boar he was introduced to, had a very happy boar career and lived the dream with up to 13 sows at the height of his life!
He nearly died from some more unusual post-op complications done by an inexperienced vet (the op was done by the rescue I adopted him from). I thankfully had the presence of mind to ask for some crucial meds and had the help of some experienced forum people very late at night to get him through the critical weekend and to get a consultation slot with a piggy savvy vet out of town just after the weekend. Hywel made up for his narrow escape in the following 5 1/2 years!

Here are some Hywel classics:
Trashing a smelly sow tunnel from a newly adopted sow pre-introduction.
Defending a plate of grass against his wives - a gentleman he wasn't!

When black and cream 2 years old Dylan met 4 years old sisters Mererid (black and tan) and Morwenna (white).
The bonding failed later on in the dominance phase when Morwenna wouldn't accept him but is fine at this stage - no party is pushing the line.

Over-excited Barri is messing up his first introduction in just 3 minutes!

A much calmer and settled Barri again with his gentle wife Briallen (who sadly died last week) during an introduction with two lively baby girls some months later on. This was a successful, if lively bonding.

Long-haired Gareth is having a happy 'boarly' moment with his two bonded wives and a stack of dirty bedding during roaming time :

I hope that this helps you?

 

[alfredsmom]

Thank you SO MUCH for all of this kind and informative information.
We have had guinea pigs in the past from our rescue but they have never been mixed sex.
Alfred is a very different Guinea pig. His story is that he came from a breeder who does shows and breeds these GIANT very docile guinea pigs. Well, Alfred was born with a fatty eye so the fancy breeder didn’t want him and was going to kill him off.His neighbor rescued him and now he’s with us. But when I tell you he is not really a guinea pig, I am not kidding. He’s the size of a rabbit (even his feet are huge) and he is just so incredibly lazy. He basically never moves. Of course he’s been to the vet a few times (there’s another thread all about him absolutely refusing to eat or drink anything) and is super healthy. I am not in a rush to put them all together because of his size and temperament. I’m honestly afraid he might lay on them and squish them. Haha! These babies are so tiny.
their cages have been directly beside one another and so far he doesn’t care at all.
We live about an hour away from a fantastic guinea pig vet so I will make an appointment for a consultation.
One of my other big fears is antibiotics. I’m assuming they have to give antibiotics when they fix the males and I’ve read so much on here about complications with that. But I will chat with the vet.
thank you again for being so kind!
the videos and links are so helpful. I love being able to talk to people who understand how much love I have for these babies!

 

[Darcey15]

When you say he is huge- how huge? could he be a Cuy? I read an article not long ago about them.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you SO MUCH for all of this kind and informative information.
We have had guinea pigs in the past from our rescue but they have never been mixed sex.
Alfred is a very different Guinea pig. His story is that he came from a breeder who does shows and breeds these GIANT very docile guinea pigs. Well, Alfred was born with a fatty eye so the fancy breeder didn’t want him and was going to kill him off.His neighbor rescued him and now he’s with us. But when I tell you he is not really a guinea pig, I am not kidding. He’s the size of a rabbit (even his feet are huge) and he is just so incredibly lazy. He basically never moves. Of course he’s been to the vet a few times (there’s another thread all about him absolutely refusing to eat or drink anything) and is super healthy. I am not in a rush to put them all together because of his size and temperament. I’m honestly afraid he might lay on them and squish them. Haha! These babies are so tiny.
their cages have been directly beside one another and so far he doesn’t care at all.
We live about an hour away from a fantastic guinea pig vet so I will make an appointment for a consultation.
One of my other big fears is antibiotics. I’m assuming they have to give antibiotics when they fix the males and I’ve read so much on here about complications with that. But I will chat with the vet.
thank you again for being so kind!
the videos and links are so helpful. I love being able to talk to people who understand how much love I have for these babies!

With his size, you need not worry. Provide just plenty of space and avoid any hideys with just one exit or any caught spaces - your girls should be able to run circles around him! There is no danger of accidental squashing.
Here is a video of bonding my 2 year old Dylan with little Begw who is the size of a 3 weeks old in their new to both quarantining cage as she was a mis-sexed emergency rescue intake; normally I would allow more space. Because of her young age, companionship had to come before quarantine so Dylan and Begw had to go through the quarantining period together outside my piggy room; they are from the same rescue but adopted at different times.
You can clearly see that he can get hold of the baby only as much as she is allowing him for acceptance and submission; you can see the same in the baby girl intro video in my previous post!
None of my baby girls (or baby boars in a boar-boar intro) have ever come to any harm or was at any stage in the least danger!

 

[alfredsmom]

When you say he is huge- how huge? could he be a Cuy? I read an article not long ago about them.

We rescued him without knowing much and the second we arrived to pick him up, both of us said, “that’s not a guinea pig.”
I’ll google CUY now - I’ve never heard of that before.