Questions About Getting A Companion For My Guinea Pig

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Malyssaasaurus

Malyssaasaurus

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I have a 3 year old boar that I adopted a week ago. I have a 2x3 c & c cage. He is in need of a companion. He hasn't been neutered though. I was wondering if I were to get a sow would she need to be spayed as well as having the boar neutered? As adorable as the babies are, I'm not experienced enough or have the room for little baby guinea pigs. XD

The pet store that I go to regularly is an independently owned store that is older than I am. Very trustworthy place. They get their guinea pigs from a local breeder who is very experienced and loves on the babies as much as possible before sending them to the store to be sold. I'm hoping to get one once they're old enough. Coming from a breeder that means they won't be spayed or neutered. Which comes back to the question of do they both need to be fixed?


Thanks in advance for the help! :D
 
Your c and c needs to be a minimum of 4 by 2. Were there no piggies in the shelter? By getting a guinea pig from a pet shop there is a risk of the guinea pig being pregnant,sick or wrongly sexed. If you wanted a sow you would need to get your boar neutered. Spaying a sow is a risky operation and usually only done for health reasons.
 
I'll make the c & c bigger, that's no problem. :) There's only 1 sow at my local shelter and apparently she's a little stinker and just can't find anyone to live with. They've tried to pair her with several boars and sows and she just won't have it.

Neutering is costs much less than spaying any way so that's good news. As for the breeder the store gets them from she's reputable and been doing it for 20 years. I've been looking all over at other shelters and can't find any guinea pigs. I could wait and check these places again but I just don't want him to be alone for long. I'm in a bit of a sticky situation right now.
 
I understand. Will you get him neutered now then? It will take six weeks before he can live with a sow after being neutered.
 
Sadly it seems many are not aware it takes six weeks and then unwanted pregnancies happen.
 
What if I find a sow sooner than 6 weeks? Would it be okay if I used some of my left over squares (after making the cage bigger) to partition it off? That way they're together for a bit but separate. Or does that still defeat the purpose of waiting 6 weeks. I'm just worried I'll miss an opportunity.
 
Did you know you could try him with a boar? He would not need to be neutered then.
 
Malyssaasaurus said:
What if I find a sow sooner than 6 weeks? Would it be okay if I used some of my left over squares (after making the cage bigger) to partition it off? That way they're together for a bit but separate. Or does that still defeat the purpose of waiting 6 weeks. I'm just worried I'll miss an opportunity.
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I think he would be too frustrated living right beside her. Personally I would not get a sow until six weeks after neutering.
 
If you find the right match it can work. The problem is you cannot just get a boar and think it will work. Here people take their boars to rescues to try and see which pair will work so I do not know how you would find a match.
 
I hope so too. He needs a friend so bad. He seems pretty happy for the moment. That's probably just because I put him in a bigger cage. And he'll be even happier when I make the cage bigger. :))
 
Piggies love having space to run and play. I love c and c cages. Ready made cages are just not the same in my opinion.
 
Even the shelter by my house uses c & c cages. Now that I figured out how to put it together it's so easy. I'm very thankful that you guys told me about it. Oh and the other shelter has 4 males up for adoption!
 
Well there are two boars to try. I really hope he gets on with one of them.
 
I was told that one of them is super friendly. So hopefully that applies to meeting other boars. Rufio is incredibly friendly and calm toward me and isn't bothered by my corgi. I just hope that also applies to other boars for him. I'll let you know how things go. :D
 
This guinea pig rescue here in your neck of the woods comes highly recommended by other good standard US guinea pig rescues: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/foggycreekcavyrescue.html

If you are getting a sow before the 6 weeks are up and if she doesn't come from a source where she has undergone a quarantine (like a good rescue), then she will have to live separate until it is safe to introduce them. I have the surprise baby courtesy of a supposedly safe over 5 weeks post neutering operation boar (not one of mine) living with me; it really can happen as late that!

It may be easier to pair up your boy with another boar via a good rescue that has already conducted a quarantine. If you can do a meet&greet, that would be even better, as the key to any successful piggy bond is character compatibility.
 
Little update: I took Rufio with me to check out the 2 boars. One of them had just been adopted. The last one was supposedly friendly. After our little meeting I would disagree. Rufio just wanted to hang out and didn't seem to mind the other one. He did a bit of sniffing and tried to mount his face one time but other than that he was totally cool with it. The other one however did not have ANY patience for Rufio. This boar was like vibrating and sounded almost like he was growling. He would chase Rufio away. He started to get nippy and pushing poor Rufio around a lot. It was definitely escalating and pretty clear it wasn't a good match.

Onto some good news. There's been a sow in foster care for a while and she was brought into the shelter for publicity since no interest has been shown in adopting her for a while. Spaying is risky and not always good, right? But she's already been fixed so what does that mean for her? The 2 of them got along great though. The only time they had an issue was when Rufio got a little too "excited" about there being a girl. She decided he needed to buy her a drink first before he could get to know her THAT well. ;) Anyway, they really hit it off and seemed to like each other a lot. I didn't bring her home with me today because I need to make my cage bigger and to kind of double check things with you guys.

Is it okay to have only one fixed and not both? If I do bring her home, should I just go ahead and put them in together after they've greeted each other again on neutral ground? Or do they need to be acclimated to each other more by being separated but next to one another?
 
I also forgot the mention the boys were sort of kick boxing. It got to that point. They were really starting to get into it.

Also, the sow urinated in front of Rufio's face and then he sniffed and licked it. They guy at the shelter said that's kind of a way boars and sows check each other out. Is that true? Or is that totally weird behavior?
 
It sounds very positive with the sow! If she is spayed then Rufio does not need to be neutered. If you decide to adopt her then you introduce them on neutral ground and once they accept each other you put them in a clean cage. The link I sent you will explain all about it.

My sows will wee to tell my neutered boar to stop chasing and mounting them but it does not work as he just licks it up!
 
I had forgotten about that link. Thanks for the reminder! I'll study it beforehand. :) Wanna make sure all goes well.

Unfortunately for Rufio he'll be alone a little bit longer. Due to a work schedule I won't be able to pick her up for a few days. I think he's upset with me or just cause yesterday was busy/stressful because he was doing the teeth chattering at me this morning. When he stopped he wanted cuddles and pets like he never had any before. Silly little guy. But yeah, I'm going to try to get her asap so he isn't alone for much longer. I feel bad about it.
 
Only one of a pair needs to be neutered (or fixed), so if the sow is spayed, then Rufio will be perfectly fine with a lady friend! :love:

Lucky boy! Spayed rescue sows are as rare as gold dust here in Britain! :mal:

You can never tell how two piggies will get on when they meet; if possible, dating (or meet&greet) is really worth the effort of finding a compatible mate!
 
Wiebke said:
Lucky boy! Spayed rescue sows are as rare as gold dust here in Britain! :mal:
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He gets to keep his manhood intact! Haha

The shelter also said that if things really don't go well at home I can bring her back. Obviously they want to find her a forever home but they also want it to be a good one. I hope it works out though and I think it might. I really want to be her forever home. I don't want to take her back. She's been there for quite a while trying to be adopted. I would hate to send her back just for her to continue to be fostered without a definite home.
 
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