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Neutering

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Pets Palace TV

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Hello, I have a group of 5 sows, a pair of boars and one lone boar. About 2 years ago I adopted 2 male guinea pigs called Pudsey and Bramley and they are both the same age but unfortunately they started fighting since the day we got them. We waited several months to see if they would get along but unfortunately they were getting worse with each other as they were teeth chattering all the time, grumbling lots and they both drew blood from each other so we decided to separate them. I had a different pair of boars living together called Teddy and Badger and they were brothers and about 1 and a half years old - they got on very well but unfortunately Teddy had to be put to sleep which meant Badger was left on his own. A couple of weeks ago we decided to bond Pudsey with Badger and that was successful so they are now living together. All the boars live in a C & C cage which has a partition to make 2 individual cages so they can all interact with each other. Pudsey and Badger have a 4 x 4 grid cage and Bramley has a 2 x 4 grid cage. Bramley has been chewing the grids of his cage to try and get the other boars’ attention and because of this one of his upper incisor tooth broke so we are thinking of putting some perspex on the cage to stop him chewing but if we do this he won’t be able to interact with the other boys very well. Because he won't be able to interact with the other boars we have been considering getting him neutered and putting him with our 5 sows (they have a 6x4 cage). Originally we boar going to attempt to pair him up with a younger boar but I'm not sure that he will get on with another boar. He has lived on his own for about 2 years but he has lived next to other males so he has been able to interact with them. Do you think we should get him neutered? It's a very difficult decision to make - I understand there are risks but it would be great for him if he could live with the girls.
Bramley lives in the cage nearest the right;
P1050565.JPG
This is where he would live if we got him neutered;
P1050551.JPG
Thanks :)
 
I would think that having Bramley neutered would be a great option, provided you can find either a general vet with plenty of experience in guinea pig neutering or an exotics specialist who has lots of practice in small furry ops. That is the most crucial factor in minimising the risks.

Bramley will have to go through a full 6 weeks post op wait until he is 100% safe to go with your girls. I have got the baby from a supposedly safe over 5 weeks post op boar living with me and have heard of a few more cases, but I have yet to hear of over 6 weeks post op babies despite many good rescues with boar neutering op practising this deadline.

Even if Bramley clashes with your head sow, you may find that one of your undergirls may be happy to live with him. Having bramley living next to the girls will help with the eventual intros as the piggies will be familiar with each other.

My own groups have each either a dominant boar or sow who won't tolerate another dominant piggy, but are happy to head a group of their own...
 
I would think that having Bramley neutered would be a great option, provided you can find either a general vet with plenty of experience in guinea pig neutering or an exotics specialist who has lots of practice in small furry ops. That is the most crucial factor in minimising the risks.

Bramley will have to go through a full 6 weeks post op until he is 100% safe to go with your girls. I have got the baby from a supposedly safe over 5 weks post op boar living with me and have heard of other cases, but I have yet to hear of an over 6 weeks post op babies despite many good rescues with boar neutering op practising this deadline.

Even if Bramley clashes with your head sow, you may find that one of your undergirls may be happy to live with him. Having bramley living next to the girls will help with the eventual intros as the piggies will be familiar with each other.

My own groups have each either a dominant boar or sow who won't tolerate another dominant piggy, but are happy to head a group of their own...
That's very helpful, thank you! :)
 
The key to neutering is finding the right vet, and having the perfect aftercare planned :) Perhaps having a search for previous nuetering threads could give you an idea of what to expect and also searching for a piggy savvy of experiences vet in your area using the vet locator at the top of the page :)
 
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