Options regarding new friend for lone boar

Nooberdog

Nooberdog

Junior Guinea Pig
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Good day everybody! I have a question regarding my 3 year old boar, Michael (Mike). Last week his cage mate, Hippo, passed away and I am seeking advice regarding what to do next. Mike is very healthy and active, and from what I am reading a pig can live until 6 or 8 years. I would hate for him being alone for the remainder of his life. Since Hippo’s passing, he has been very skittish and does not seem as confident.

I am unsure what to do regarding his future friend. Mike is a dominant pig who would often lunge/chatter at Hippo. They got along but were never close friends. One word I would describe Mike as is “aggressive”, as he regularly bites us and instigated fights with Hippo.

My partner wants to neuter Mike and get him a guinea girlfriend and name her Holly (like Michael and Holly from The Office US). I am worried he is too old for this procedure. Most things I have read online say it should be done when they are young. I would hate for something to go wrong due to his age and lose him. I am also considering getting a boar around 1 year of age, but I live in a very small community in Atlantic Canada. There are no rescues or anything where I would have the opportunity to have piggy dates. I would have to find one off kijiji and hope for the best essentially.

Does anyone have some thoughts or ideas?
 
If your piggy is otherwise in good health, and if you find an experienced vet, 3 years old is certainly not too old for neutering- @Bill & Ted have experience of neutering an older boy after Bill passed away, and now Ted is very happy with 2 young wives.
If you have no option where you live of dating to find a compatible rescue boy as a friend, perhaps a lady friend 6 weeks post neuter is a better option- a mixed sex bond, especially if the lady is young, can be a bit more reliable. Though there are no guarantees at all, piggies can be very fussy!
 
Nooberdog said:
Good day everybody! I have a question regarding my 3 year old boar, Michael (Mike). Last week his cage mate, Hippo, passed away and I am seeking advice regarding what to do next. Mike is very healthy and active, and from what I am reading a pig can live until 6 or 8 years. I would hate for him being alone for the remainder of his life. Since Hippo’s passing, he has been very skittish and does not seem as confident.

I am unsure what to do regarding his future friend. Mike is a dominant pig who would often lunge/chatter at Hippo. They got along but were never close friends. One word I would describe Mike as is “aggressive”, as he regularly bites us and instigated fights with Hippo.

My partner wants to neuter Mike and get him a guinea girlfriend and name her Holly (like Michael and Holly from The Office US). I am worried he is too old for this procedure. Most things I have read online say it should be done when they are young. I would hate for something to go wrong due to his age and lose him. I am also considering getting a boar around 1 year of age, but I live in a very small community in Atlantic Canada. There are no rescues or anything where I would have the opportunity to have piggy dates. I would have to find one off kijiji and hope for the best essentially.

Does anyone have some thoughts or ideas?
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome

I am very sorry for your loss!

Over the years, I have adopted several boars that have been neutered at this age and know of several boars that were successfully neutered even as old a 5 years. I have also had even more sows of my own spayed for ovarian cysts aged 3-5 years, which is a much more invasive procedure than a boar neuter, plus have had two 6 year olds undergo an emergency lump removal; one of them was just a month short of her 7th birthday.
3 years is the peak in any piggy's life. Piggies heal the quicker the younger they are, so it is much easier when they are neutered younger but that doesn't mean that a neuter later on is a death sentence. The healing process will take just a few more days longer.
However, a lot depends on the vet and their experience than the age. The quicker they can do the op because of their practice, the less the risk of post-op complications; this goes for any op. Overweight can also be an added operation risk in adult piggies.

Here is our comprehensive neutering guide to help you make up your mind. It contains an example of a problem-free recovery in the last chapter since you will read a lot more about complications and fatalities when doing your online research so you get a somewhat distorted view, which many people won't necessarily be aware of.
Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths, Facts and Post-op Care
Weight - Monitoring and Management (includes a chapter on how to work out whether your piggy is a good weight for their individual size at any age since the weight range is enormous).

However, there are other options available for you lacking rescue access. Canada has got sadly only very few rescues; two of the best in the country have unfortunately closed down in recent years (one in Montreal and one in the Toronto area). If you bring a piggy home on spec you have to however always got a plan B ready in case the bonding doesn't work out.
Our boar guide discusses the various alternative options in detail in the chapter about companionship: A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Our singles guide may also be helpful; it discusses the particular challenges for single piggies in a range of situations, including bereavement: Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities
 
Thank you all for the condolences and for the excellent advice. I feel much more confident about the possibility of neutering Mike after reading your replies and the guides provided. The vet I typically go to deals with exotics, and they do offer the procedure for guinea pigs. I have a friend who went to this vet before to have one of her boars neutered and she recommends them, and the price isn’t too bad either ($250 cad). I spoke with the vet today and they said they only do the surgery on males but not females. Is that a sign of inexperience? Should I be looking elsewhere?
 
Nooberdog said:
Thank you all for the condolences and for the excellent advice. I feel much more confident about the possibility of neutering Mike after reading your replies and the guides provided. The vet I typically go to deals with exotics, and they do offer the procedure for guinea pigs. I have a friend who went to this vet before to have one of her boars neutered and she recommends them, and the price isn’t too bad either ($250 cad). I spoke with the vet today and they said they only do the surgery on males but not females. Is that a sign of inexperience? Should I be looking elsewhere?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, it could be that the vet meant because having sows spayed generally isn’t done as routine method of neutering. Mostly sows are only spayed for a medical need (ovarian cysts needing to be removed etc). Hopefully they do know how to spay sows if there is a medical need. Id just do research that they are experiencing in neutering boars and do know what they are doing
 
In this country boars are routinely neutered in rescues unless there's a medical reason not to. Thus most of my boars have arrived plum-free and I only had to do one in his mature years (probably around 3 or 4, we didn't know!) and it was from being in the same position you are in... loss of a male cage mate. It certainly expands your options. Casper barely noticed his procedure and was so pleased when a female (eventually) arrived. Sadly, this poor girl barely lived with us a year before she passed (many cancerous growths internally) and so we were back in the same position again - but this time we had all the options on the table and Casper was delighted with his new young wife who he loved till he himself passed.

Saying that, nervous George (my avatar pig) recently got 2 sows: one would dearly love to be in there with him but the other one fought him like a lion and wouldn't quit so currently he has 2 sow neighbours. Even sows aren't a guaranteed fit... but by neutering you're raising the odds significantly if pigs generally are thin on the ground. Good luck with your choice 💕
 
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