Should my boar be neutered - opinions needed

[Powerpigs]

As some of you may have read, I'm again in a situation where I have only one lone boar as his partner suddenly passed a week ago. The remaining boar, Ohmi, is a feisty young male of 1 year of age. He's quite dominant and not afraid to show it. He's also a big pig at 1,4 kg. My options on finding him a new friend would be a young boar, or to neuter Ohmi and find a sow for him. There's no boar dating available here, and it is rare to find anything but youngster pre-teenage boars anyway.

I assume that a hormonal young boar paired with Ohmi without dating would be quite catastrophic, so I feel that's not an option. That leaves me with the question of neutering Ohmi. If he would be neuteted, he could be paired with a sow. Even though I would not have an option of dating him with girls either, I could at least hope that a cross gender pair would have a greater success rate. I have a few girls available that I'm able to choose from, and I'm going to be looking for the most submissive one of them to ensure a match with Ohmi.

So, even after the logic presented above, I felt so bad and guilty when I booked a time for Ohmi to be operated. I have as good a vet I can have booked for him, she's done multiple neuterings to guinea pigs, and she specialises in small furries. Ohmi went for a general check up last week, and my vet also said Ohmi is a good candidate for the operation, being young and healthy. My vet also said she sees no reason not to operate Ohmi based on what I told her about finding Ohmi a new friend, she agrees that a sow could be a better match for him.

I really would like to hear your opinions about this, if I'm doing the right thing or not. I'm already so worried that I will loose Ohmi too if something goes wrong with the neutering as I have not had it done to my piggies before.

PS. I'm not exactly sure if this thread should be under Beahviour and Bonding or Health and Illness, but I decided on Behaviour because the pinned neutering post is located here. Please feel free to move this thread if needed!

 

[Lady Kelly]

It's a difficult one as it still comes down to compatible personalities for the bond to work. However I think you are right in your thoughts that a female may be less problematic. You also face with a young boar that he might end up falling out when the younger one hits the hormones.

With neutering obviously any op carries a risk but to minimise this the piggy needs to be in good health and in the hands of a knowledgeable vet and you have this so this is a big tick. You cannot remove all aspects of risk though so ultimately the decision needs to be yours.

For me, if it were my piggy and I trusted the vet I wouldn't have any hesitations going ahead

 

[Powerpigs]

Thank you @Lady Kelly for your opinion. I still consider myself as a beginner with piggies, so any input from an experienced owner like you is highly appreciated!

I'm aware that I cannot know if Ohmi and the new pig will have compatible personalities, but as dating isn't an option for me I'll just have to choose wisely and hope for the best. Ohmi and Voltti got along fine in the beginning with Voltti being the top pig, but when Ohmi hit the hormones he eventually became the boss and you can imagine the squabbles we had before the new regime was established. We got through it in the end, but that's an experience I'm not keen on repeating! And I believe a fall out was really close, but luckily we avoided that.

 

[Pigwhisperer]

I'm no expert either but with the limited choices you have, it looks like you have reduced the risks as much as you can, and I'd probably do the same. Do you have a plan B if they don't get on? That's the only possible loose end I can see.

 

[Powerpigs]

I'm no expert either but with the limited choices you have, it looks like you have reduced the risks as much as you can, and I'd probably do the same. Do you have a plan B if they don't get on? That's the only possible loose end I can see.

My plan B would be letting the pigs live side by side in adjoining cages, but that would mean a massive layout change in the whole apartment to increase the area available for two cages. I could also do two cages on top of each other, but that wouldn't work if I had two single piggies only. So not exactly the perfect plan B, and that's why I'm trying my best to make sure the plan A works. I could also inquire if it's possible to return the sow and choose another if Ohmi and the first sow I choose won't work, but I wouln't count on that. And I guess I would already be attached to the sow that it would be very difficult to give her back.

Oh how I wish I'd have the possibility to arrange Ohmi a date, it would make things so much easier!

 

[Qualcast&Flymo]

I'm currently in a similar situation to you, @Powerpigs , trying to find a new friend for my dominant boy Squeaks. The one difference is that I do have access to rescues and boar-dating, however this time round that hasn't helped (yet) as he didn't hit it off with any of the 4 boars he was tried with a month ago. They do like to make it difficult for their slaves! So for us too neutering may be a necessity. I saw our vet this morning, she would be happy to do it, but regards it as a last resort because of the risk of post-operative infection.

In your circumstances, I would agree with @Lady Kelly , neutering seems the best way to go for Ohmi. You have a good vet that you trust, and with that and good post-op care to minimise risk of infection there is every chance of a successful outcome and an Ohmi very happy with his new wife

 

[fanniephina]

Have also been in a similar situation recently but we already have another boar from a pet rescue whom can't get along with any kind of guinea pig-male or female. He is neutered (come to find out) but just gets too aggressive.

My boar I'm getting neutered now in a couple weeks was mis sexed and always with females that he got along very, very well with. I still wasn't sure before but after watching him have a meet with our first boar to see if maybe there was one that could be a friend, well, furr went flying really fast. Yikes. One had a batch of fur sticking out of his mouth from the other one. At this point, I even had to change my shirt later that day because the younger baby started clicking his teeth loudly just from smelling him on my shirt.

He's really lonely right now. After this, no guilt at all nor second thoughts at the neutering. A bit of worry, yes. I always worry for a vet visit and certainly this type of surgery but that's just natural.

 

[Gem789]

I was very lucky, with one of my pigs Sam, I had him on his own for nearly 4 years.I didn’t know back then they needed company.I took on a baby boar from a lady who was allergic and thought he could be a friend for Sam.I didn’t even do bonding on neutral ground as I didn’t know about that either.I just put Georgie in with Sam in a freshly cleaned cage and luckily there were no scraps or fights.I never even noticed any problems through georgies teenage years.

 

[Merab's Slave]

I found myself in a similar situation a few years ago and decided to have my boar, Titus, neutered.
He came through the op well with just a minor wobble the next day. That was easily resolved with warm cuddles and syringe fed mashed banana.
He was fine after that and 5 weeks later I acquired 2 sows - mother and daughter- from a breeder ( no rescues close to me) . The girls had a week to settle in before meeting Titus and he was delighted as soon as they all met.
Hope all goes well for you and Ohmi

 

[Powerpigs]

I'm currently in a similar situation to you, @Powerpigs , trying to find a new friend for my dominant boy Squeaks. The one difference is that I do have access to rescues and boar-dating, however this time round that hasn't helped (yet) as he didn't hit it off with any of the 4 boars he was tried with a month ago. They do like to make it difficult for their slaves! So for us too neutering may be a necessity. I saw our vet this morning, she would be happy to do it, but regards it as a last resort because of the risk of post-operative infection.

In your circumstances, I would agree with @Lady Kelly , neutering seems the best way to go for Ohmi. You have a good vet that you trust, and with that and good post-op care to minimise risk of infection there is every chance of a successful outcome and an Ohmi very happy with his new wife

I'm sorry to hear that you are going through this as well. But lucky you and Squeaks that you can boar date, I hope that you will find a perfect match for Squeaks eventually!

Have also been in a similar situation recently but we already have another boar from a pet rescue whom can't get along with any kind of guinea pig-male or female. He is neutered (come to find out) but just gets too aggressive.

My boar I'm getting neutered now in a couple weeks was mis sexed and always with females that he got along very, very well with. I still wasn't sure before but after watching him have a meet with our first boar to see if maybe there was one that could be a friend, well, furr went flying really fast. Yikes. One had a batch of fur sticking out of his mouth from the other one. At this point, I even had to change my shirt later that day because the younger baby started clicking his teeth loudly just from smelling him on my shirt.

He's really lonely right now. After this, no guilt at all nor second thoughts at the neutering. A bit of worry, yes. I always worry for a vet visit and certainly this type of surgery but that's just natural.

Oh I have fingers crossed that everything goes well for your boy and that he has a fast recovery! A lonely boar is a sad sight, and as you have pointed out neutering is something that allows the lone dominant boar have company. Ohmi is so quiet now that he's alone, if I wouldn't already know piggies are not meant to live alone, that change in behaviour would say it all.

I was very lucky, with one of my pigs Sam, I had him on his own for nearly 4 years.I didn’t know back then they needed company.I took on a baby boar from a lady who was allergic and thought he could be a friend for Sam.I didn’t even do bonding on neutral ground as I didn’t know about that either.I just put Georgie in with Sam in a freshly cleaned cage and luckily there were no scraps or fights.I never even noticed any problems through georgies teenage years.

You have been very lucky indeed. I have had two pairs of boars, first Voltti and Ampeeri and then Voltti and Ohmi, and both pairs had a rough time during the hormonal phases even though I saw textbook initial acceptance and did the neutral ground introductions and all.

I found myself in a similar situation a few years ago and decided to have my boar, Titus, neutered.
He came through the op well with just a minor wobble the next day. That was easily resolved with warm cuddles and syringe fed mashed banana.
He was fine after that and 5 weeks later I acquired 2 sows - mother and daughter- from a breeder ( no rescues close to me) . The girls had a week to settle in before meeting Titus and he was delighted as soon as they all met.
Hope all goes well for you and Ohmi

Thank you for sharing this. I'm glad to hear everything worked out for Titus. My piggies are breeder piggies too as Finland doesn't have any rescues and here it's a very different situation with sensible breeders (although it's still breeding and that's why I don't parade about where I get my piggies from as not to upset anyone and not to break forum rules). The girls that are available are older sows who are looking for an retirement home, I figured that a mature and calm sow would be a better match for Ohmi than a youngster.

 

[flowerfairy]

I had my beautiful boar Cufflinks neutered and he sailed through the op with no problems. He now lives with 6 sows!

Here he is

He was about 5 months old when he had his op.

Hope you have an easy time with Ohmi should you decide to go ahead.

 

[Powerpigs]

I had my beautiful boar Cufflinks neutered and he sailed through the op with no problems. He now lives with 6 sows!

Here he is

He was about 5 months old when he had his op.

Hope you have an easy time with Ohmi should you decide to go ahead.

6 sows what a lucky lad! I'm also glad to hear that everything went well with him. I have booked the op for Ohmi, he is due next week. All your experiences have eased my guilty feeling a bit, I just hope the op goes well and Ohmi will make a quick recovery!

 

[Merab's Slave]

Please don't feel guilty about where your piggies come from.
Pre forum days I tried to find a rescue when I was looking for piggies but couldn't find one so I had 2 from a breeder and later 2 from a pet shop (more reputable than PAH)
Sometimes we don't have a choice. What matters is that we give our piggies the best possible life and we don't perpetuate the breeding.