Neutered Boar..

[chloe heslington]

Hi,
Will be taking Meeka to a rescue next saturday to be introduced to a neutered boar , He has had the operation 5 weeks ago, but by the time we take her it will be 6 weeks.
However i was just wondering since we've only ever had girls- is there anything that needs to be done significantly different with boys, especially with him having recently been castrated?
Thank you for any advice!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
Will be taking Meeka to a rescue next saturday to be introduced to a neutered boar , He has had the operation 5 weeks ago, but by the time we take her it will be 6 weeks.
However i was just wondering since we've only ever had girls- is there anything that needs to be done significantly different with boys, especially with him having recently been castrated?
Thank you for any advice!

I would check your boy's bits weekly for anything stuck in them or around the penis. Also check for any swelling for the first 6 months after neutering; it can mean an abscess or far less often a hernia. It is not quite often that abscesses happen so late, but it can happen. The pouch in neutered boars shrinks and the grease gland is often less active. They are also generally a bit less stinky than full boars.

However, please brace yourself for an abundance of amazingly smelly testosterone laden pee - the neutering has not impeded THAT. Spraying and thusly marking a new sow as his is part of the bonding, so please bear and rather open the windows. The first time is the worst. some boars can also lose the ON-switch for their brain and just go humping mad when meeting a sow for the first time. Girls have a special whine which translates as "I am not ready to mate - yet!" (Of course, what boars hear is the "yet". Please don't have any hideys with just one exit during the first few days until everything settles down and make sure that each piggy has a hidey and a bowl. The first season is usually very dramatic, too, as sows react strongly to the presence of boar pheromones. It is very much an occasion to bond even more closely.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/sow-behaviour.38561/

Best of luck!

 

[chloe heslington]

Thank you @Wiebke - thankful for any advice that will make it easier!

 

[Wiebke]

Cross gender bondings can be very vocal and quite dramatic, but by dating at the rescue, you will know that initial acceptance has happened before you bring your piggies home, if necessary in separate carriers.

How sows react often depends very much to close or a far to a season they are. If they are not far off, the presence of a boar can trigger a season and things can become a bit wild, but the bond is usually firmer. If a sow is far from coming into season, her interest in boar advances is minimal and she is much more likely to send him packing whenever he becomes too bolshy.

 

[Julie M]

Good luck. Hope you piggie finds her mr right.

 

[chloe heslington]

Thank you! @Julie M