Help Advice Desperately Required - Neutering Or Not?

[Gail Lambert]

Hi I have two lovely cheeky boys rescued and living in a large hutch with a decent attached run in my back garden Munch and Nibble. I had this idea about getting two lady pigs so that they can have a normal healthly pig activity. However I cannot afford to have babies so I would need my boys to be neutered. My friend said that it wouldnt work because, if they were successfully neutered then female pigs may bully them as they would not see them as proper males. Is this true? Is my plan sensible. I want my rodies to have the best rodent life possible but I dont want to do the wrong thing either.

 

[GPcrazy]

Neutering males has some big risks attached. It's not a simple operation like in cats and dogs, so generally should only be done for health reasons or with serious consideration due to lots of research.
That being said, even if you did neuter them, you can't really have 2 males in a herd. You can house 2 males together as partners, but if there are females then you can only have one male, otherwise they fight like crazy to get the alpha male status. Herds in the wild are always only one male per group of females.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi I have two lovely cheeky boys rescued and living in a large hutch with a decent attached run in my back garden Munch and Nibble. I had this idea about getting two lady pigs so that they can have a normal healthly pig activity. However I cannot afford to have babies so I would need my boys to be neutered. My friend said that it wouldnt work because, if they were successfully neutered then female pigs may bully them as they would not see them as proper males. Is this true? Is my plan sensible. I want my rodies to have the best rodent life possible but I dont want to do the wrong thing either.

Hi and welcome!

If your two boys are happy together, please leave them as they are and don't rock the boat! Boars work best as a pair and as long as they get on, there is no reason whatsoever to interfere. You are not necessarily making any them any happier. But it is great that you are concerned about their happiness!

I would consider splitting the boys up and neutering them only if they fell out because even if they were neutered, they could not live together in a herd with sows. Each boy would need to have their own separate sow-wife or two and his own hutch.

Please be aware that in order to minimise the otherwise sadly still common risk of neutering post-op complications (bad reaction to GA and mainly abscesses), you will have to do your research to find either a general vet with lots of experience in guinea pig neutering or an exotics vet with plenty of practice in small furries' ops. This really makes all the difference!

You also need to factor in a full 6 weeks post-op wait until your boys are 100% safe to go with sows. I have the daughter of a suposedly safe over 5 weeks post-op boar (not one of mine) living with me, just to prove that particular point; and I have since heard of others. I have however so far not heard of any accident past 6 weeks, despite all good rescues with a neutering policy practising this deadline.
If money is an issue, please be aware that neutering is not a cheap or quick option!

As to biological facts: Boars can make babies from 3-5 weeks onwards (i.e. as soon as they are weaned) for the duration of their life. Sows have their first season between 4-6 weeks. They come into season again within hours of giving birth and there is no menopause, either. They are basically non-stop breeding machines until their bodies give out.
You can imagine how quickly that builds up when you factor in the babies joining in with procreating! Which is one of the reasons why we do not support intentional breeding. Add to that that about every 5th birth ends with dead or dying babies and/or mums... You are totally right not wanting to go there! Several of my adopted piggies come from situations like that.

Boars: A guide to successful companionship.
Guinea pig castration explained
Tips For Post-operative Care
Boars, sows or mixed pairs; babies or adults?
Guinea Pig Facts - A Short Overview

 

[madguinealady]

If they are getting on well I would leave them together.I wouldn't neuter unless I had to, especially long haired breeds (more susceptible to anaesthetic )I have two boars both neutered.The first one was on his own and I already had sows so neutered him to go in with them, all went great.My second boar had undescended testicles so I had no choice.He ended up back at the vets overnight as he wasn't doing as well.This is when I found out long haired pigs are more susceptible.My vet is very knowledgeable about pigs and has done loads of castrations but I wouldn't put a boar through it again unless I had to.

 

[Freela]

The problem is not so much that the lady pigs will bully them or not see them as true males, but that even neutered males (it does not change behavior in guinea pigs) cannot live together with another male when females are in the mix. They will fight and you would need to separate the boys, each with their own little herd of females. It simply won't work in a group. Taking that into account, as well as the risks inherent with surgery, I would probably leave your two boys as bachelor friends.