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to castrate or not to castrate

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bweckybwoo

bweckybwoo

Junior Guinea Pig
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myself and my partner have adopted a male guinea pig whom we have had on his own for 1 year, we are keen to get him a mate, but are very nervous about the thought of him going under the chop!

He is indoors and well socialised with us but we know he will most probably be happier with another female.

please help us!

p.s. he is provisionally booked in for this Friday :-(
 
Hi Becky

Have you thought about a male companion? Then he wont have to have any ops.

You can take him to a reputable rescue, and they help him pick his own friend?
 
I'm scared he may not take to a male, so not sure what to do for the best - i have read in a few places they may take to a young male.

never considered taking him to a rescue to make his own choice!

lovely idea thou!
 
Your other option would be to look for a rescue that does boar dating - they will try to pair your piggy up with a suitable mate; often a younger boar so dominance is effectively sorted already or just a good match of a similar or older age.

If your vet is experienced with guinea pigs then your piggy has a very good chance of coming through his operation. Obviously there's a risk, as there is with all operations - but with good aftercare and advice from your vet all risks during and post op can be monitored and reduced.

It is totally up to you depending on what you want for your piggy. Boar dating is worth a go and doesn't have the risks of an operation attatched but if you wanted a female piggy or two for him then obviously neutering is the only option. :)
 
Thats the beauty of "Boar Dating"...they get to pick their own friend :)

it may take a couple of attempts to get the match right, but its a great way to get a friend for your boy, and give a rescue piggie a lovely new home :)

Suzygpr has a lot of success with it....use the search facility to see a very good thread about how it works.

I would be really nervous about the castration, and avoid it if possible but hes your piggy and ultimately its your choice which route you take x
 
I would deffo try boar dating. Ops are risky and he may get on with a male just as well as he would with a female.

I have introduced a 3 year old boar to a 12 week old boar. Have also introduced a 1 year old boar to a 16 week old boar. All went really well.

Space is crucial for 2 boars, or for any duo of pigs so make sure you have lots of it :)
 
Thankyou very much TwoPiggies! looks like the odds are in favour of Iggle Piggle keeping his bits ;-) !
 
Hello

If you do decide to go ahead with the castration, make sure you have chosen an experienced and pig savvy vet who has done this operation (successfully) a number of times. Remember to ask about operation survival rates, post operation survival rates and any longer-term side effects. You should also check with the vet what type of anesthetic they are going to use and also what type of stitch material (a local rescue told me that some types can cause real damage to pigs).

http://cavyspirit.com/neutering.htm

I'm currently going through the same debate with my piggy, as I have not had much luck finding a local rescue that has any young boars available (I have only been looking for a week though)... I am on the fence too right now, but am leaning towards waiting to see if any suitable boys come up in the next few weeks. Whatever decision you make, good luck and keep up updated!
 
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Personally I would have him neutered and get him a girlfriend or 2. A male/female pair tends to be the most stable.

If done by an experienced vet, the risk is minimal. Where abouts are you? we could find you and experienced vet in your area.
 
Hi Little Pig great to meet somebody with the same dilemma! Think we to are leaning towards a young boar, I have also found a 'dating service' near to us after having a quick web browse which looks promising - but never thought I might end up possibly going on a guineapig speed date!
 
I love the thought of it and would much prefer to get him a friend without the need for an operation. To be honest the thought of castrating him terrifies me, but I have a phone call with a very cavy savvy vet later this week, so I'll see what she thinks about it before I decide. In the meantime, fingers crossed for some young boars for both of us!
 
Little Pig said:
I love the thought of it and would much prefer to get him a friend without the need for an operation. To be honest the thought of castrating him terrifies me, but I have a phone call with a very cavy savvy vet later this week, so I'll see what she thinks about it before I decide. In the meantime, fingers crossed for some young boars for both of us!
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Sorry to hijack, but if it's Ann, she's done all three of my boys, no complaints here :)

However I do thin boar dating is a great idea and if I didn't have sows as well, or was able to keep them separately, I would have tried this first - so many more boars seem to end up in rescues :(
 
Thanks for all your help guys off to bed now lots of thinking to do before Friday! But keen to hear any other advice!
 
x-vic-x said:
Personally I would have him neutered and get him a girlfriend or 2. A male/female pair tends to be the most stable.

If done by an experienced vet, the risk is minimal. Where abouts are you? we could find you and experienced vet in your area.
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I can vouch for the vet Vicky may have in mind :)) she neutered both of my boys, performed x-rays without GA on another of my boars and did successful bladder stone surgery. I wouldn't use anyone else tbh now :(|)
 
Even though my Vet is an experienced piggy surgeon (same vet as Doeylicious and Little Pig I think) I personally would also try boar dating before thinking about neutering.

I was in the same position as you and decided to adopt a boar from a rescue rather than go down the neutering route, simply because of the risks involved with any operation and possible post operation complications - I just didn't want to put my pig through an op which I felt wasn't absolutely necessary, especially with so many single boars in rescues.

Plenty of people do choose to neuter though and competent vets routinely carry out this op with high rates of success.....it just comes down to personal choice. At the end of the day we all want our pigs to be happy so either decision is to be respected :)
 
Neutering a male and then pairing with a female makes no sense to me.

It's seemed to be the most 'natural' of set-ups to the lifestyle their wild cousins will have, a single boar or couple of boars with a handful of sows, but look at it this way, once he's been done, the natural instinct to be around sows to mate with them has completely gone, and the only reason their wild cousins stick in groups like this is to mate, well you're not going to be breeding them, so you'll be pointlessly risking his life for the sake of something he could have just as well with a young male. It's just a safer and kinder option to him to boar-date through a rescue, plus you'll be helping a rescue out at the same time :)
 
bweckybwoo said:
funnily enough Vic we are in Birmingham/Sutton Coldfield not to far from yourself!
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If you would like me to send you our vets details, please let me know. She is brillant with piggies and neuters all the boars we have in at Walsall RSPCA

Guinea pig slave said:
I can vouch for the vet Vicky may have in mind :)) she neutered both of my boys, performed x-rays without GA on another of my boars and did successful bladder stone surgery. I wouldn't use anyone else tbh now :(|)
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yep, thats who I'm thinking of, she also neutered Danny, so I would trust her 100%. Plus all my foster piggies.
 
I have a neutered boar who lives with 9 other sows. Well it will be 11 next week! He loves life as you can imagine but he was neutered when I got him and so was his dad. He is getting on a bit now and his also blind so when his time comes I probaly would consider getting one of my lone boars done to go in with the girls because it's such a lovely set up.
 
Hi,

I have got the exact same issue!

I contacted my local RSPCA and the manager said I cant put Butch with another male piggie. Her exact words were "You really can't put another male guinea pig with yours. They will fight.
You will need to have your guinea pig castrated, leave for a few months, then introduce a female. You can put males and females together and by having your male castrated you put females in with him with no risk of them mating."

The other rescue we have in our area already says on its website that their boars fought amongst each other and they had to separate them.

My nearest 'boar dating' rescue is about 2.5 hrs away by train so thats out of range as well.

Hate the thought of making him go through neutering but that seems like the only logical option.

Keep us posted as it will help me gain some confidence as well. Good luck!xx
 
I'm gobsmacked that an organisation such as the RSPCA obivoulsy have no idea what they are talking about!

These are people that the general public look to for advice on animal welfare, yet they are advising people that -

"you cant put your male gp with another male or they will fight"
"you can put a castrated male and female together, without any mating"

WRONG! on both accounts! You can match a pair of males, and mating will still take place. Castration doesnt stop the urge to mate, it just prevents any babies

Unbelieveable :(
 
x-vic-x said:
If you would like me to send you our vets details, please let me know. She is brillant with piggies and neuters all the boars we have in at Walsall RSPCA



yep, thats who I'm thinking of, she also neutered Danny, so I would trust her 100%. Plus all my foster piggies.
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hi Vic that'd be great if you don't mind, you can email me at [email protected].
 
lolseh said:
I have a neutered boar who lives with 9 other sows. Well it will be 11 next week! He loves life as you can imagine but he was neutered when I got him and so was his dad. He is getting on a bit now and his also blind so when his time comes I probaly would consider getting one of my lone boars done to go in with the girls because it's such a lovely set up.
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sounds like heaven for your little man lolseh!
 
Hi all

So, I spoke to the vet today (and yes, Doeylicious it was Anne!) and she was really great and talked me through everything.

In the case of Little Pig, the vet didn't necessarily recommend castration. Firstly his age was a concern. Little Pig is 3, and while not old, the vet's opinion is the younger the better. Secondly, Little Pig has had some health problems recently and although he is fine now, the vet was worried that pigs with underlying health issues are more susceptible to problems, either during or after the op.

I was already leaning towards no, but the call with the vet today decided things for me. So, I'm going to be patient and hope that I can find a young boar for him through a rescue. I'm not having much luck on that front so far (they have lots of pairs and lots of older boys) but I'll keep hopeful!
 
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