Neutered boar started to attack and mount co-habiting sow

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SuperGuineaAnimals

Hello guinea pig fans,

My girlfriend and I have a slight problem with our two guinea pigs that's began in the last few days.

We have a boar and sow in the same cage, but the boar was neutered before Christmas time. Apart from the occasional squabble over food or space, they've always got along fine.

The boar (George) has started to chase and mount the sow (Pippa), she's becoming very distressed and he didn't take the hint she wasn't interested so he became even more aggressive. We seperated them before anymore damage was done, but obviously the plan was always to keep them together.

For your background, Pippa had two litters last year (we've had the two exactly a year this week) and she lost pups both times. She didn't take well to motherhood and we decided it was best if she had no further litters so George was neutered (this happened last December).

He continues to attack and mount her but has never shown behaviour like this before, we're concerned what to do next. We recently moved home three weeks ago but they seemed to settle well in the new place. We're at a loss to understand the boar's sudden aggressive change in behaviour.

Any ideas or thoughts?

Best wishes,



Alex

Cardiff
 
It's happened once or twice with neutered boar Llewelyn that he went on what I call "testosterone overdrive". I, too, thought hat Dizzy was distressed by it, but kept them together under close supervision until after Dizzy was ready to mate (no chance of babies, though) and her season was over.

On the following morning I sat down next to them having their breakfast.

Dizzy came forward, turned her bum towards me and was licking Llewelyn's face and ears, threw me a DIRTY look over her shoulder, cuddled hm some more, threw me another meaningful look and went back to eating. That taught me!

How much clearer can you say: "That's MY fellow. Keep away from him!" ?
 
Mating can sometimes look a lot more rough and dramatic to us than to the guinea pigs, as the girl can put up a real fuss with their squeaking, which rather translates "Not now, you oaf - but soon!" They have a different squeak for this situation, if you listen carefully; and it seems to spur a boy on, rather than repel him.

Gnereally, I found that bonded guinea pigs are very forgiving with any hormonal excesses of their mate and tend to reinforce their bond by lots of cuddling after things have calmed down again.
 
Thanks a lot - I think a testosterone overdrive is the best way of describing his behaviour!

Pippa is of a very nervous disposition, always has been, and she's been through trauma when she lost pups both times she gave birth. She seems a sensitive soul and was very upset to be chased around the cage by a randy boar.

She urinated in his face a few times to ward him off but he kept coming back for more. My girlfriend texted earlier to say they had both calmed down and were eating together happily enough.

We were worried because it was getting so aggressive and we both work during the day so can't keep an eye on them if things get out of hand.
 
It usually only happens when the girl in question is in season, so it never lasts more than 15-16 hours. Only during about two of these hours (usually towards the end) is a girl ready to mate. And it should only happen every now and then as bad as this. Perhaps the move to new surroundings has triggered it!

When Dizzy got a male mate for the first time in her a life at age 3 1/2 , she was rather overwhelmed, but came to enjoy it over time (at least the drama side got perfected!) and funnily enough, always found time for a little cuddle, just to tell Llewelyn: "You may be the biggest pain in the neck right now, but I love you still!"

It's always amazing how the brain switches completely off in a randy boy...

Don't be worried, girl might be litterally p***ed of with boyfriend, but it won't break their bond.


PS: You might wish to give them a bath now, though!
 
Yes, it might be a good idea to give them a hosing down tonight!

The girl can be quite feisty but I've never seen a guinea pig look so possessed as I did when I saw him chasing her around the cage last night. She looked exhausted, poor thing!

Hopefully no troubles this evening...;)
 
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