New piggy mummy needing advice

[Ladygarden]

Hello,

I'm a new piggy mummy to 2 boar brothers who have just entered puberty...... They tend to get along OK, in that they'll eat together but spend a lot of time apart. One of them has started to become more dominant and gets a bit grumpy with the other, but the pecking orders been established and there's a bit of chasing and teeth chattering just to remind them who's who.

I'm used to bonding neutered bunnies so understand about the "alpha" animal, but I've read that neutering wont calm them down mallethead so I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to help these 2 guys get along?

They are being neutered Thursday anyway in a hope it will stop the dominant one from trying to "hump" the othere fella's head..........

Could potentially bonding a couple of girlies with them help sort this all out, or am I looking for more trouble?

Appreciate any advice you can give, thank you 8

 

[flintstones]

Hi There,

I wouldn't bother with neutering, as it won't stop the humping. It only makes them infertile. If you wanted to bond them with a girl each you can do that but you would have to separate the boys, as more than one boy cannot live with a group of girls. The males will fight to the death.

I would recommend 2 of everything, and lots of space. Your boys may well make it though the teens, if they fallout you could always neuter then but I wouldn't neuter now as they may be fine and you've just spent "x" amount of money for no reason, not to mention the risk of the Op going wrong and aftercare!

Good Luck.

 

[Wiebke]

What you see as sexual behaviour is actually mostly dominance behaviour, so neutering will not stop humping etc. in guinea pigs, unlike rabbits. Guinea pigs are herd animals and dominance is crucial to their society. You will see dominance behaviour in girls, too. Neutering only takes away the ability to make babies, nothing else.

With guinea pig boars, you just have to sit it out and hope for the best. Lots of space, two of everything (hides, bowls, water bottles hay racks etc., all nicely spaced away from the other object). The stroppy months happen in hormonal spikes with slightly quieter phases in between.

However, neutering comes in handy if you are planning to bond each of the boys with a girl; you can never have more than boar living with a sow or group of sows or there will be blood shed. Cross gender bonds are certainly the most stable bondings. However, you will have to face the risk of an operation and a 4-6 weeks post op wait. Just don't expect a change in behaviour in a neutered boar - my boy is as active as a full boar, I can tell you!