Neutering

[daw]

From experience, would it make my boars less territorial and aggressive to have them neutered? I am guessing the operation would be traumatic and I don't want to do it to them unless people tell me that it has made a difference to their boars?

 

[keli]

From what I've heard it doesn't change behaviour and the operation is too risky if that's your reason for doing so

 

[katiepops]

I talked to our vet about this when we had Gizmo (RIP) and Spike and they were squabbling. He said there is a small chance it might make a difference but he wouldn't recommend neutering just for this reason. If it got bad and they were fighting it might be worth a try as if they carried on fighting they would have to be seperated anyway and neutering would mean they could live with females instead. He had not come across any cases where it had made a significant difference. We decided not to go down that route and the boys eventually calmed down (must of been going through that teenage phase!)

 

[Wiebke]

No, neutering only takes away the ability to procreate, not the instincts.

It makes only sense if you are planning to separate your boys and pair each of them with a sow (which a couple of members have done, with very good results, as cross gender pairings are generally the most stable).

 

[daw]

ok, so neutering not an option then. Hopefully with time they will settle down and stop picking at each other. Is one boar always the dominant one or do they take turns, it's not easy to tell which one is the more dominant one with my two. One is more likely to bite, but the other does all the rumblestrutting and bum swaying.

 

[Niki]

ok, so neutering not an option then. Hopefully with time they will settle down and stop picking at each other. Is one boar always the dominant one or do they take turns, it's not easy to tell which one is the more dominant one with my two. One is more likely to bite, but the other does all the rumblestrutting and bum swaying.

Usually yes, one boar will take it upon himself to assert his dominance over the other, the problems occur when the under-pig doesn't wish to be under-pig & also wants to be top-pig. This behaviour relates to sows too, guinea pigs have a strict heirachy with each pig eventually knowing it's place.