Girls or Boys?

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woo

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I am interested in people’s views on the differences of keeping male or female piggies.

I have always had girls but may want to get a pair of boys at some point :) so is there much difference between them?

Personality
Friendliness /bonding with each other and you
Taming
Health issues
Anything else you can think of

Thanks:)

woo
x>>
 
I have never had girls so can't compare however all my boys have been very friendly and extremely tame however I think this is due to my set up and due to the amount of time I spend with them.

Boys can be smelly rolleyes They can do a bum drag to scent.....boys will be boys :))
 
I have both, and I love both boars and sows the same. :)

I've found boars and sows to both be very friendly, to each other and to me. My boars and sows are all very tame as they've been handled a lot, neither group is more tame than the other. As for health issues boars can get impaction and stuff stuck in their 'boy bits'. They are also a little more susceptible to bladder stones Sows can get ovarian cysts.

I hope that helped a little :)

x
 
Hope i can help :)

Personality
I feel personalitys dont differ between sexes, just between piggies generally. :)

Friendliness /bonding with each other and you
Males do have more problems bonding with eachother, and can only ever be kept in twos.

Taming
Ive have 3 pairs of boars so far, the first two were very name, the lastest two ive had 5 months, they love cuddle time (after the epic that is catching them,) but still wont eat from my hand. or come up to see me, and they even scarper when i come in the room*sighs*

Health issues
They have different health issues to girls sometimes, ie, they dont go into heat, or develope ovarian cysts (obviously) however they can get impactions, which girls dont get. :)
 
I've never had girls but I would love to have some eventually!
Here's the take on my boys

Personality
They are so cuddly, and they don't mind if I have one out for a time and then switch.

Friendliness /bonding with each other and you
Boys are harder to bond and you can usualy only have them in a pair, so adding more over time is out of the question. Both of my boys are equally bonded to me, they will snuggle on my neck and give me kisses constantly

Taming
I'm not sure, I just kinda get them out whenever and they deal with it. Although, after I got my second boar he got used to me much quicker then my first and I think it's because he had a little piggy support from the first and told him I was okay :)

Health issues
Boars can become impacted and you have to clean out their boy parts quite often to get any hay/bedding out of there and it's really gross.

Anything else you can think of
Boys tend to mark and they can smell more. Also their grease glad can be quite yucky at times.

If I were just barely getting my piggies I would get a neutered boar from a rescue and then add my girls so that I could have as many as I possibly wanted and they could live as close to the way the wild Guinea pigs do.

You can always have as many girls as you want but the boys are limited to two GOOD LUCK!
 
I've only ever had boars! So my experience is only on them

Personality: All have different characters, never found one to be lacking in character. Wonderful personalities
Friendliness /bonding with each other and you: I find they become tame quite quickly.
Health issues: Had a few that have had impaction - not a major issue but it is more common with boars. My Jakey currently has impaction but he hardly gets it, its just quite smelly when you have to get it out.
Anything else you can think of: Some boars may need regular grease gland cleaning sessions - esp hormonal boars like my Bounty rolleyes:p
 
I have 4 boars and 9 sows.

I have no preference either way but I think my boars are a little (not much) more affectionate than my girls.

The differences when it comes to possible health issues have been talked about too but I really think that it just depends on each individual pig when it comes to personality etc...
 
Thanks for all the great replies, there is so much I didn’t know about the boys mallethead..... impaction, smell, and only keeping a max of 2 together. I will definitely do some research into them.

Everything else seems much the same as keeping girls, I have had very friendly/tame ones and others that ran a mile when I went near them. The friendliest girls i ever had were my very first piggies I rescued from a horse box kept on a farm, they were living in the dark on dirty straw with a only a whole cabbage in the middle to eat, they both had terrible skin conditions but they were gorgeous. xoxo

Thanks everyone:)

woo
 
I have both, but so far havent seen much of a difference in tameness etc. All piggies have different personalities. Most people here have covered everything i were to say. Health issues being:
Boars: Impaction, more prone to bladder issues, need grease gland and there bits cleaning at times.
Sows: Ovarian cysts, pregnancy! (before you aquire them)
I think both are as likely to become unwell as another.

x.
 
Sadly that's why I haven't been brave enough up to now to get boys, all those extra bits rolleyes not sure I could cope lol :))
 
I have only had my 2 girls and they are very tame, clean and easy to care for. I don't like the idea of having boars what with the grease gland cleaning and stuff! :)
 
Ive only had a boy, and yes there are bits to clean but really its no trouble.

The only thing I didnt like was his scent marking :)>>>
 
I've had both,, but I'm defnititley a boar lover! x)

Apart from the smelliness & extra grooming needed,, I just find them so much more fun & mischieveous & loud!

So although cheeky,, I would totally always go for the boars! x)
 
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