Lonely Boy Waiting To Go In With 2 Girls

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Black piggies

Black piggies

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I have 2 sows and an about to be neutered boar. He was on his own at the adoption section of the pet store for weeks and I fell for him. After the op recovery, can they have floor time together if I watch them carefully? Can I put them in a c and c cage with a divider? Will a 2x5 c and c cage be big enough for the 3 of them if they get along and eventually move in together? Many thanks!
 
Black piggies said:
I have 2 sows and an about to be neutered boar. He was on his own at the adoption section of the pet store for weeks and I fell for him. After the op recovery, can they have floor time together if I watch them carefully? Can I put them in a c and c cage with a divider? Will a 2x5 c and c cage be big enough for the 3 of them if they get along and eventually move in together? Many thanks!
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Hi and welcome!

Please be aware that your boy needs a 6 weeks post-op wait if you want to make sure that he is 100% safe to go with your sows. The little baby in my avatar is the surprise present from a supposedly safe over 5 weeks post-op boar (not one of mine, I hasten to add), but it shows that it can really happen as late as that - and it is not the only case I have heard of since. I have yet to hear about a 6 weeks post-op pregnancy even though that is the usual cut-off line for any good UK guinea pig rescues with a neutering policy.
Here are our post-op care tips: Tips For Post-operative Care

However, he can live alongside your sows during that time to make friends with them and to hopefully make acceptance easier. You can divide the 2x5 grids cage into two smaller pens for the time being (a 2x2 for him and a 3x2 for the girls) and cable-tie in a grid divider if you can get hold of two spare grids. The size is perfectly fine for three guinea pigs for the long term.

No shared floor time - when a sow is in season or close to her season it literally takes only second and happens far too quickly for you to step in. Boars also have got two spikes at the tip of the penis to anchor it during the act, so ripping him off is not a good idea. Please let them mix through bars and be sensible. They can have shared run time, as long as it is supervised and with a divider.

Here are our bonding tips:
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
 
Black piggies said:
Thank you, really helpful. The accident baby in the avatar is so cute!
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Thank you! Tegan is now 5 years old and proper little madam! Her Welsh names translates as something along the lines of "Little Beautiful Surprise".
Incidentally, she's got more than a passing similarity to my first ever own childhood piggy, so I think it was meant to be, considering that I adopted her mum because she is looking like our much beloved family piggy who lived to nearly 10 years old back in the seventies; Tesni is now 6 years old. ;)
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PS: we have got a recommended UK vets vets locator on the top bar, but can provide links to recommended vets in some other countries if wished. Please make sure that you ideally choose either a general vet with plenty of practice in guinea pig neutering or an exotics vet with experience in small furries operations. Being able to keep the duration of the GA as short as possible and to work quickly, but efficiently can make a huge difference in minimising the risk of post-op complications.

Since we have members from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so it shows up underneath your username in every post you make and allows us to tailor any advise to what is available and relevant where you are straight away. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. You can also create your own avatar via that place. Thank you!
 
Apart from my piggies of course Tegan is the cutest guinea pig I think I've ever seen! Amazing that she looks like your childhood piggie. Thanks I've added an avatar :-) The local guinea pig rescue lady recommended some vets and I've gone with one of them. Do feel nervous about his op, that's great to have the post op care info you posted.
 
Black piggies said:
Apart from my piggies of course Tegan is the cutest guinea pig I think I've ever seen! Amazing that she looks like your childhood piggie. Thanks I've added an avatar :-) The local guinea pig rescue lady recommended some vets and I've gone with one of them. Do feel nervous about his op, that's great to have the post op care info you posted.
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If your rescue lady has recommended a vet that she has her rescue piggy seen regularly (and also hopefully neutered), then that comes under the heading of "general vet with experience in piggy ops", so I would take that suggestion. Is it Hazelcroft you have rescued from? They are on our list of recommended rescues.
 
Wiebke said:
Thank you! Tegan is now 5 years old and proper little madam! Her Welsh names translates as something along the lines of "Little Beautiful Surprise".
Incidentally, she's got more than a passing similarity to my first ever own childhood piggy, so I think it was meant to be, considering that I adopted her mum because she is looking like our much beloved family piggy who lived to nearly 10 years old back in the seventies; Tesni is now 6 years old. ;)
View attachment 59479

PS: we have got a recommended UK vets vets locator on the top bar, but can provide links to recommended vets in some other countries if wished. Please make sure that you ideally choose either a general vet with plenty of practice in guinea pig neutering or an exotics vet with experience in small furries operations. Being able to keep the duration of the GA as short as possible and to work quickly, but efficiently can make a huge difference in minimising the risk of post-op complications.

Since we have members from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so it shows up underneath your username in every post you make and allows us to tailor any advise to what is available and relevant where you are straight away. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. You can also create your own avatar via that place. Thank you!
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GPM has boobed in there Jan/Feb issue, they say boars are safe at 4 weeks so won't impregnate sows. Who's going to tell them.
 
Tiamolly123 said:
GPM has boobed in there Jan/Feb issue, they say boars are safe at 4 weeks so won't impregnate sows. Who's going to tell them.
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I'll tell the editor; she has met Tegan in person. All I can say is that we were all battling against time, illness and lack of sleep to get the magazine to the printers before Christmas on the shortest turnaround.
 
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