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I am new here and really need guinea pig advice...very confused!

  • Thread starter Thread starter heavensepitome
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heavensepitome

Hello.

I have had my piggie for 2 years, he was about a year old when i got him. The pet store told me he fights and must be homed on his own, but they are not a very reputable pet store and i am unsure how good their knowledge is...for example if he was sexually mature and kept with males AND females, then of course he would fight.

anyway, their warning always rang in my ears, and i always wondered whether he could have a companion, but didn't dare try.

Today I have taken on a female piggie which i am looking after for 6 months for a friend while they travel. I am keeping them in separate cages. My piggie is in my house and my friends piggie is in a hutch outside.

I gave the 2 piggies some supervised tome together, and i have never seen my piggie look so happy, he was talking like ive never heard before, but after about a minute tried mounting her and had to be removed. He was crying for ages. (theyre not neutered)

I went to the pet store to buy my piggie a male to live with but they said they wouldn't get along because my piggie has been alone so long. Is this true?

So i've been trying to decide whether to get my piggie neutered. I just want him to be happy and have a companion. Is neutering safe in guinea pig males? How long until the female can be re-introduced

Thanks for your advice x
 
Welcome to the forum!

I am not sure whether your boy is too old to be neutered, but if you take care in finding an experienced vet (a good way is to ask your closest rescue who they use for neutering), you can cut down on problems. Your boy would have to wait at leaST 4-6 weeks after the op to make sure that there are no accidents.

A cross gender pairing is usually very stable. If it is possible, keep your two piggies side by side, so they can interact through the bars and can become friends already.

If an op is no longer possible, you could either look for a baby boy (best one from a rescue - they will do the introduction for you in most cases; you can always ask) or you could adopt another boar that has fallen out and keep the two boys side by side, so they have at least company, which is always preferable to them being alone. In this case the two boars need to be kept apart from your girl.

Sows should only be spayed for medical reasons, as it is a major operation.
 
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Hi, welcome to the forum!

If your piggie is about 2 years old, I'm not sure what the recommended max age is for neutering, I am sure someone will be able to let you know soon.

It is possible that the few minutes that the your piggie and the female were together that if they had physical contact then it is possible that mini pigs may already be on the way. Being prey animals and needing to be in plentiful supply in the wild, nature "blessed" them to be able to procreate rapidly.

If it turns out that 2 is too late to safely neuter your boy, it may be worth taking him to a rescue if you can to see if they have a piggie (male) that he can be bonded with, some rescues are happy for you to take your pig down and assist in introductions. If you were looking at getting him neutered to live temporarily with the female pig you are looking after then you need to take into account how they are both going to react when the female goes home as putting them together then ripping them apart again once they have been happy together will be detrimental for both. Does the female not have a companion? I hate to think of a lone piggie all alone outside in a hutch, especially when they should be coming inside or in a heated shed now :(

If you do get him neutered then I would recommend getting a permanent friend for him. But it is possible for males to live together, pet shops often seem to misadvise rolleyes As long as you know the signs of any aggression (there is plenty of info on this forum to determine these signs) then it's quite possible for a boar/boar pairing to be quite successful :)

Best of luck.
 
Don't have him neutered just for the sake of it, far better to be patient and find him another male for company. If the op. went wrong, ie it killed him, you would regret it, there would be no turning the clock back.
 
its not just for the sake of it though, it's for his quality of life. and i have considered getting him another boar, but have been told not to, and did ask advice on whether he had been alone too long to get him a male friend.

As for maximum neutering age, this website http://cavyspirit.com/neutering.htm says there is no upper age limit, but the heavier the better. he is definately a big boy!

yes the female is also alone outside, so to bring them together in the house with the winter months coming seems sensible. I was hoping i may be allowed to keep the female when my friend returns, if they see they are happy together
 
As I say, if possible keep them where they can see and interact with each other.

And for the other: There are rescues (but you have to ask) that are prepared to bond guinea pigs for you. Your boy two years before is not what he is today - when you got him, he was still at his most hormonal stage when the chance of fights is highest, so it is well worth trying him again.
 
Wiebke said:
As I say, if possible keep them where they can see and interact with each other.

And for the other: There are rescues (but you have to ask) that are prepared to bond guinea pigs for you. Your boy two years before is not what he is today - when you got him, he was still at his most hormonal stage when the chance of fights is highest, so it is well worth trying him again.
Click to expand...

Thank you. My boar is in an indoor cage which takes up a large proportion of my small living room, so to get another indoor cage wouldnt be an option.

Unfortunately according to that list the only rescue centre near me is a normal RSPCA branch and i doubt they will bond them for me.

I will speak to the vet tomorrow and get his advice. I trust the vet as i volunteer for a cat sanctuary and am there on a regular basis with the cats so they know me well x
 
i emailed a sanctuary for advice and got this reply

"It depends on how good the vets are in your area at neutering, but I would definately recommend having him done. You MUST wait 6 weeks after his op before you pair him with a female as he will still be firing live ammunition.
A competent vet will be more than happy to carry out this procedure, but you need to be aware that there is a risk with the anasthetic with every animal, regardless of age.

I agree that at his age trying to introduce him to a male companion of the same age would be almost impossible. I find that my method of introducing an adult boar to one less than 14-16 weeks old is sucessful every time, so you could try introducing him to a baby boy, but this would depend on how happy you were with the age gap. Obviously its likely that your existing piggie will go before your new one, leaving you in the same position a few years down the line.

Piggies live up to 8 years so I would personally recommend trying him with company as he still has an awfully long time ahead to enjoy with someone to wash his ears and snuggle up to. No human can offer that!

Hope this helps with your decision"
 
It is about what what I thought - at age three, your boy will be more of a daddy figure to the baby at first. Most older boys actually adore their baby companion. There can be a difficult phase when the baby hits the hormonal phase between 4 months to 1 year old. But with only one boy wanting to be the most macho boy ever, you stand a better chance of weathering it than with two boys of the same age.

On the other hand, there is always a risk with an op, either during the op or from infections/abscesses that can happen afterwards despite the best of care. Cross gender pairings are generally very stable, as dominance issues don't come into it. Your boy will be a very happy boy with a girl indeed!

I have had a cross gender pairing myself between a 3 1/2 year old sow and a 1 year old neutered boy, and it was a very loving relationship that lasted for nearly two years until Dizzy sadly died in summer, aged five. My boy is now coming up to three years old and has four girls with him, from two months to one year old. He is a very busy and happy patriarch indeed!

Whichever way you decide to go bears risks - it is up to you which one you prefer to take for the sake of your boy's happiness.

Please keep us posted!
 
Hi. I have been reading my Peter Gurney book and he says that male boars accept baby boars as companions. However, boars raised together from birth are more likely to get on.

I have just taken in another boar. I now have three boars, but they won't get on with each other. So at the moment I have them in units with a mesh top so they can see and chatter to each other. This is working well. The piggies are happy (popcorning etc) and they do chatter to each other. It's quite comical - they're like Furbies. It's not ideal, but at least they can see each other and communicate.
 
Boars raised together from birth are no more likely to get on with one another, once they are about 6-9 months old, than a random pair of adult pigs.
 
well i think my plan of action might be to get a baby boy for my boar and see how it goes. I might even get a little girl to live with my friend's female and hope they will keep them both when they return. If you have a big cage, i don;t see why people just keep one. Its no more expensive to have two piggies
 
oh, i am also going to move my friend's female into the garage for winter, so she is sheltered and protected from predators :o)
 
Best of luck! You will make some piggies VERY happy! :))
 
Hi just to let you know I rescued a piggy from a horrid home he was a boar and was very negelted I just went to visit him as he was advertised in a local paper 'free' so I went to see him and just had to have him as I could clearly see he was negelected. I contacted my local rescue centre and paired him up with a another boar. I wasnt sure how old the first one was or if he had ever been with other males and he paired up with a 8 month old boar. I'm guessing they were the same age as they have grown together. They have lived together for a year now with no major problems! They have there odd day when the have a moan when one wakes up the other but ive had no fights, only the usually mounting when I first got them. It has made Joey the first one so different as I kept him alone for about a month and he was very shy but now they are together he is much happier and has more confidence as Gizmo is so cheeky! So I would definalty try and find him a friend. It was a worry for me when I first had them together as I thought what if they didnt get on etc but it was well worth the sleepness nights! I just worry though and they were fine together. I'm guessing it depends on the nature of the piggy to as Gizmo is so layed back, Joey is just a little shy and they bonded well.
Hope you are able to find a piggy friend.
 
hello

well after a lot of deliberation and careful thought, i decided to get dougal neutered. he has been in today and thankfully woke up from the anaesthetic, that was my biggest fear. He has come straight home and ate some carrot and some cabbage leaf. they glued the wound up as they said it is better for healing, and i have lined his indoor cage with newspaper and no sawdust so it cant irritate his wounds.

I cant wait to put him together with miss piggie so they can be happy ever after :o)
 
If you could put him on a towel (preferably an old, light one), you can see, if his wound bleeds a bit and may need reglueing, and it's a bit softer than newspaper.

I'm sending him my best wishes for a quick recovery and a happy life with his girlie! Tell him that my Llewelyn says it was worth it!
 
Aww lovely to hear that he is recovering! I'm sure he will be a vert happy boy when he is put with his princess.
Lots of hugs to him. x x
 
Hello

Just wanted to thank you all again for your advice

It is now time for Dougal and Miss. Piggy to be introduced after Dougal's successful neutering. It is lovely to hear them chattering away to each other like guinea pigs should after spending so many years alone.

They have both come inside for the winter now and I have got them a nice new cage.

I hope you like the pictures

IMG_3455.jpg


IMG_3456.jpg


IMG_3457.jpg
 
Hi and welcome, you've had some great advice. Please keep us updated on what you decide to do.
 
AWWW - I am SO glad that everything has gone well and that you obviously have two VERY happy and gorgeous piggies at home! :)):)):))

Thanks for the update!
 
Ignore my last post I think my brain went to sleep.


Glad to see your wee man is not only well but happy as can be.
 
I had a wee baby boar and I paired with an adult boar and they got on fantastic till he reached adolescence and Tommy the baby took to kicking his head inpow-pow

I had another male Harry who was happily living on his own at 2 years old after separating Sparky from Tommy I slowly introduced the two of them, Sparky was by now 18months and they have now lived together for over a year and they get on like a house one fire often sleeping snuggled up together x). Sparky and Harry are very different in personality but they are so great together.
 
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