two single males....One going in for the chop

[Sodapops]

A while back my father and son pairing had to be separated on a permanent basis - even though they'd spent nearly 3yrs together they decided they no longer wanted to hare their home with one another.

A week ago i lost my precious neutered boy Dappy - who lived with his 5 wives. Due to the lack of neutered boys in rescue we were left with very little in the way of options.

So.....

Homer is booked in to be neutered on Wednesday - he's 3.5yrs old and does have a permanent head tilt - it's never bothered him and health wise he's had multiple vet checkups and has been given the all clear, but i do worry so soon after losing Dappy just how things will go.

If everything goes ok (fingers crossed) we are looking in to getting his son LB (who will be 3yrs in May) neutered. I'm not thrilled about putting two boys through and op and I'm even less sure about splitting my 5 girls up when it comes to pairing them up - if i cannot get the correct boy/girl combination i may have just put two boys through an un-necessary op.

Please tell me I'm doing the right thing??

I dont have any other options - do i? No boys in rescue either mean putting two middle aged boys through an op or going privately for a boar and then getting him neutered....Oh how i wish the rescues were bursting with boys right now, my life would be so much easier!

Desperately need some reassurance....

 

[Claire W]

I am afraid I have no advise regarding having your boys neutered as I have never neutered a boar. I am sure that they will be fine though.

I know that in your last thread you said that transport and that was an issue but I know that Jill at honeybunnies in Leicester have neutered boars in ready for rehoming (She announced it on her Facebook page yesterday). It may be worth contacting her and seeing if she can offer any advise anything before making any firm decisions if you are not 100% sure about splitting your girls and neutering your boars. I am pretty sure she would help getting a boy to you x

 

[Sodapops]

I am afraid I have no advise regarding having your boys neutered as I have never neutered a boar. I am sure that they will be fine though.

I know that in your last thread you said that transport and that was an issue but I know that Jill at honeybunnies in Leicester have neutered boars in ready for rehoming (She announced it on her Facebook page yesterday). It may be worth contacting her and seeing if she can offer any advise anything before making any firm decisions if you are not 100% sure about splitting your girls and neutering your boars. I am pretty sure she would help getting a boy to you x

Thanks for the reply

The problem with transport is not the getting any potential neutered boy to us, but more the fact that my girls wont be able to choose their own male friend - with a couple of my sows this may be a problem - hence why it'll be difficult to look further afield when it comes to the rescue route.

I'll keep looking....

I'm not thrilled about putting two boys through an op and splitting up 5 girls - but my sows (especially Tulisa) are missing having a man around the place - they are not themselves and all seem very quiet!

 

[Claire W]

Ah, I see Well good luck with whatever you decide to do

 

[MargaretB]

Good luck

 

[twiams]

Would just putting one male with all 5 girls be a possibility ? And then pairing the other male with another male or neutering and with a girl to save splitting up all of the girls ? Just an idea

 

[Guinea pig slave]

I feel for you Joanne. Have you discussed in depth with your Vet the risks of GA in 'older' piggies ?
I know many recover but we had a week of worrying with Harley who is almost 3 with his last GA, it really knocked him about eating etc. but if you are aware it is a slower recovery, would opt for it. I expected him to be popcorning around within 48 hours as he had done when he had his bladder stone op but he was lethargic, anorexic, dehydrated and refusing syringe feeds so I panicked. I just wish I'd been more savvy on post op expectations in our 'old man' as we call him rolleyes He got the idea in the end that we weren't letting him give up and bounced back but it really frightened us.
I can forward details of our Exotics in Shifnal who are totally amazing, help with transport if needed
Know you want what is best for your piggies x

 

[Sodapops]

Would just putting one male with all 5 girls be a possibility ? And then pairing the other male with another male or neutering and with a girl to save splitting up all of the girls ? Just an idea

Before Dappy passed away i did think about getting each of the boys a male companion - but finances wouldn't allow for me to take on another two pigs. Things like hay/nuggets i buy bulk anyways and veg i do with my weekly shop, so these wouldn't have increased too much, but i do have to think about vet expenses, with 12 guinea pigs there would be a high possibility of two or more guinea pigs being ill at the same time - hence why this wasn't a viable option and we never looked in to it.

At the moment there is a shortage of single males - and even less rescues within a reasonable distance to me that offers boar dating services.

If i didn't split the girls and put one boar in with them and then neutered the other male - i'd still be putting two males through an operation - only difference is id be taking on another guinea pig.

I have looked through most rescue sites over the last week and much the same as single males - single females are even rarer - there are loads of trios, but i cannot take on 2-3 more pigs as id have to them expand cages and that would be a big expense - not to mention the fact i do have a bonded pair of boars and so cage layout has to be planned with precision so'd not to have them near any girls.

When we first got Dappy the bonding failed with my two girls and i decided after 6wks to get him his own female companion - the rescues local to me had loads of girls in, but none were being re-homed singularly or had already been reserved. It was only by accident & via a comment id made via an online website, that someone contacted me with an offer of a single female. When we got her home we weighed her she was only 200g. Cut a long story short we had her in a cage upstairs for over 9wks, she had constant bouts of wet poops and was riddled with fungal all over her body.

When we wanted to add a 2nd girl for him, the same problem was present, no single females within a reasonable travelling distance.

Like i said, two of my girls are quite feisty and so they would have to be in charge of finding a suitable friend, so we obviously need there to be more than one boar available in the rescue - if we had to travel 50,100,150 miles away, it would have to be because there are a few males that we could try with our girls - and at the moment this isn't possible or even available due to the lack of single males in rescue right now.

If I'm truely honest with myself, Dappy has left a big hole where my heart once was (the phrase 'a broken heart' is so true and i actually have a broken heart) and i would jump at a Dappy the 2nd lookalike - but only because my heart aches for him, but let's be honest it's not going to be him and he can never be replaced.

Thanks for the suggestions anyhow.....