To neuter Timmy or not

[piglover]

Good Luck! I hope Timmy does not spoil Teddy and Larrys idyllic relationship.... O0

 

[MemberY]

Me too!! If it goes horrendously wrong (we will know within a minute anyway), we are going to give Teddy & Larry a bath to distract them from their worst nightmare ;D

 

[MemberY]

Ok, we tried Timmy in a large run indoors with Teddy and Larry. The result was predictable, Timmy and Larry went for each other. We gave it about 15 minutes but by then Timmy was actually getting distressed and was digging to try and get out
There was lots of rumbling and mounting at first, then teeth chattering and then full on chasing and trying to bite. I took a couple of pics but what we did learn was that Timmy would definately have bonded with Teddy as during a very short break from the fray, Timmy shared some parsley with him :smitten:
Teddy was unfazed by the whole thing and spent the time munching away ;D
Glad to say Teddy and Larry are none the worst for their ordeal and are still best of friends and Timmy is fine too
Next step is a rescue to find the perfect Teddy like boar for Timmy.....there has to be one for him out there
Here are a couple of pics:
Larry and Timmy in background going for eachother while Teddy busy munching ;D

Timmy and Teddy sharing parsley :

 

[piglover]

Oh Well!

Why don't you take Timmy to Christine and let him choose a boy? explain to her what happened and she may have a more docile older boy who Timmy may like?

 

[MemberY]

That was going to be my next step

 

[MemberY]

Update:I spoke to Christine at animal lifeline and she is adamant no boar pairing will work for Timmy She gave me her vet details and he has done loads and loads of neuterings with only one loss......am I back to square one?

 

[MemberY]

I have just had a long chat with a lady at another guinea pig rescue in Wallington and she said the same thing as Christine, so it is looking like neutering is the way to go.

 

[jnenbnb]

hhmm, why dont they think its possible to bond him with a boar? Neutering isnt the worst thing in the world but obviously it has risks. Just want to remind you that not all male-female pairings work either, My girls really didnt like Ralfie, he's got a baby girl now who has him wrapped around her little finger but it doesnt always work, youd have to let him spend a lot of time with each possible girl x

 

[MemberY]

Believe me I know! but at least I can take him to a rescue once he is neutered and he can choose a girlfriend. The strange thing is I know in my heart that had I introduced Timmy to Teddy, they would have got on as Teddy always backs down (bless him), to see Timmy sharing parsley with another boar is unheard of ;D

 

[Pumpkinpiggie]

Having him neutered is not the end of the world. I would recommend neutering as there is so many boars living lonely lives due to not getting along with other boars. There is a risk but its only a small one. Beats me how anti neuter this forum has now become in recent months :-\

 

[MemberY]

I am not anti neuter at all, more scared I will lose him, that thought makes me feel sick :-\
But I am lucky to have an excellent vet nearby who I can trust, I just wanted to exhaust the options of bonding him with a boar first

 

[sammy]

just curious does neutering always solve them problem of boys fighting?

 

[MemberY]

No Sammy, it doesn`t make one jot of difference ;D
It doesnt change their behaviour like it does with cats or dogs, it is done so as not to get a sow pregnant

 

[sammy]

I just wondered coz in dogs it really calms them down once they've been done .....feel all daft now :embarassed: :embarassed:

 

[MemberY]

Dont be silly, youre not daft, I didnt know either till I learned it on here a good while back!

 

[sammy]

shame really as it WOULD save alot of boys being lonely :

 

[piglover]

Was it Julie you spoke to in Wallington ?

I would try him with another boy first, try Janice at ARC she has single boys in or Delia at Bobtails (they are open every sunday afternoon 1-3pm and you can jsut go along no appt or anything)

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Update:I spoke to Christine at animal lifeline and she is adamant no boar pairing will work for Timmy She gave me her vet details and he has done loads and loads of neuterings with only one loss......am I back to square one?

I have just had a long chat with a lady at another guinea pig rescue in Wallington and she said the same thing as Christine, so it is looking like neutering is the way to go.

Why are they saying this? I really don't know why people have this big problem about bonding boys. All my boys are happily bonded with another and I have only ever had one who couldn't be found a mate. At present I have four pairs of boys and one group of three. When I put Snap and Goggles together a few weeks ago it was a bit hair-raising to start with but after about 20 minutes it all started to settle down. During that time Snap at one point had got a mouthful of Goggles fur and it would have been very easy to panic and take one out. However, to see them snuggled up together now its quite clear they are best mates. I just think you need to very carefully monitor the first few hours together whilst not panicking unduly and splitting them up. I find giving them lots of veggies and grass to eat when first put together really helps. By the time they have munched their way through it all they have become friends.

 

[maryh]

How would Christine know whether Timmy would bond?,he lives with you not her.Christine runs a very good rescue,but she unfortunately does have a mindset of neutering.

I have never had a boar neutered and have had groups of 5 or more.I currently have a group of 4 boys who are very happy together.

It is your decision in the end,but if you do go for neutering,take him to Andy or Anne.

 

[karenrgpr]

...and other people have a 'mind set' of bonding boars, horses for courses? I agree that Christine does not know if Timmy would bond, maybe she doesn't want to put one of her boars who have had an already unsettled start in life in a home where he could be bullied and eventually kept on his own whereas if she rehomes her boars as castrated they will live with sows (not the first one that comes along perhaps, but eventually and when it happens it will be for good).

Sounds like a rescue mindset thinking of her boars wellbeing possibly. No one has come along for my boars so they will be going to be castrated next wheek, that'll be the lovely Mr Tickle Fiona He's quite the Mr Personality and is going to love having company of sows I don't believe in putting their little lives on hold waiting for a boar lover to come along (sometimes they do, just not very often ).

If you go for castration ask for Rimadyl (as opposed to Metacam) pre op too then only post op if they need it.

There is a boar out there for him, somewhere, its just finding him. My friend spent a year (11 months actually ) searching for a rescue friend for her guinea (who was kept in C+C next to other guineas at the time so not on her own), eventually she found the perfect match

 

[MemberY]

I am just very confused about the whole thing :-\
Basically, these rescues would not even entertain me going along with Timmy to find him a match, so how on earth can I find him a match when no rescues are willing to give it a go? I obviously cannot nor would not go to pet shops randomly buying boars to see if Timmy will get on with one. So I am left with a lonely guinea whose personality was fabulous but who now sits either lonely in his cage or lonely out of his cage....what am I supposed to do? :'(

 

[sammy]

Have a HUG I wish I could help you :'(

 

[jnenbnb]

If there are no other rescues in your area willing to help then maybe it is worth neutering him. As you say he's not happy alone. But try the vets mary sayd maybe? x

 

[MemberY]

If there are no other rescues in your area willing to help then maybe it is worth neutering him. As you say he's not happy alone. But try the vets mary sayd maybe? x

That is my vet anyway, so I would trust Anne to do the neuter for me

Thanks Sammy :'(

 

[jnenbnb]

I would look into neutering then, Karen made some very good points. I think everyone is just a bit scared of neutering because of the risks and thats why they say try another boar first but if the vet is good then those risks are greatly reduced x

 

[Pumpkinpiggie]

I am not anti neuter at all, more scared I will lose him, that thought makes me feel sick :-\
But I am lucky to have an excellent vet nearby who I can trust, I just wanted to exhaust the options of bonding him with a boar first

I never said that you were anti neuter sorry if that is the way you read it In genaral some on this forum seems to be more for trying to bond with another boar. When I first joined here many were all for neutering so they could have a girlfriend or two I for one am all for the neutering route I brought my Rimmer with the intention of him having the snip so he could live with my sows Hamish and Bumble. The lady who I got him from had a few litters that happened because of a mis sexing and had awful trouble rehoming the boars. I now have another boar that is waiting to be neutered so he can join my other sows and will worry like anything when his time comes to be done. I have an excellent vet who does guinea neuters all the time with 100% succes rate but I will still worry till my Oakley is back safely with me.
Sorry again if thought that comment was at you is was not my intention at all. Many on here seem against it everything has a risk factor.

 

[karenrgpr]

Good luck with your decision Fiona I can only recommend the 3 vets that op on my pigs and 2 of them see more pigs than the third, other than that I can't help I'm afraid :-\

 

[piglover]

Maybe Timmy and Bully need to meet their match and meet each other! I agree with Mary about Christine she told me Bully was probably brain damaged!

As we've said if you are going to neuter Timmy get Anne to do it, Christine's vet David is good but Anne is best.

Or as a last resort why not just take Timmy to Delia at Bobtails on Sunday and see what she says? They can't judge without seeing them really and how they react..

 

[MemberY]

Hi Sue, ARC have no piggies ready for rehoming at the moment but I have nothing to lose by going to bobtails. I will ring them first and see what their attitude towards me bonding Timmy with another boar is and to check that they have single boars for rehoming.
Christine at Animal lifeline is all for neutering her single boys that come in but Aimwell rescue are anti neuter, which is why I was so suprised that she was of the same mindset as Christine!

 

[piglover]

Have a look on Bobtails website but they always have more. In my opinion from experience Delia is the nicest one around to talk to although you probably won't be able to reach her by phone they work and are busy and never return your calls!
But go along and see them Sunday they are lovely couple and always happy to help..