Should I desex my boys?

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Bellalunaaaa

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Hi there,

My name is Bel and this is my very first post in this lovely forum.

I started off with two brother piggies, Percy and Preston. After doing a little research and after they had settled I decided against having them desexed as they wouldn't have any contact with female pigs, and there were no behavioural problems between the two.

Then came Henry. Henry was abandoned by his owner so I brought him to join our little family. Percy was keen to make friends, but Preston was not very happy about having his new brother around.

After months of slowly trying to introduce them, disaster struck. Preston attacked Henrys eye, which required vet treatment. Henry has luckily recovered but has lost the use of his left eye.

My question is this, is it worth having the boys desexed? I would love to have them live together and I hate having Henry separate as he is a very social piggie. The research I have done says that desexing male guinea pigs may not change their behavior, so I don't want to put any of my babies through what could be a risky operation if I will find myself and the boys in the same predicament.

Any help or advice from someone who has had to deal with a similar situation would be hugely appreciated!
 
Generally having a trio of boys doesn't work out. They are too fussy for more than two in a cage. Having them neutered probably wouldn't work either. The best thing you could do is take Henry boar-dating so he can find a friend.
Good luck!
 
Unfortunatly having 3 boys together very rarely works, so it will be much better to have two pairs. Best to leave your original pair together and get Henry another boar friend.

Neutering does not change behaviour and will not stop them from fighting so dont get them all castrated.

The only other option is getting one neutered and getting him a girlfriend.

Welcome to the forum.

x.
 
Welcome to the forum.
Sadly if they've hurt each other like this they are never going to accept each other. A trio of happy boys is a very rare thing and neutering only stops them making babies.
Boar dating sounds the way forward for Henry so he can choose his own friend. If you let us know where you are we can recommend a rescue near you.
P.S. I'd love to see some photos of your boys!
 
Thanks so much for the advice guys. I want Henry to grow up as a well adjusted young lad so I'm going to start looking into getting him a pal. He's very chilled out (Preston is the bully) so I think that's the best option.

Should I find him a fellow of the same age? I know of a foster carer for homeless piggies so might send her an email about it.

Will def post some pictures when I get a spare moment! They are very lovely little boys :)
 
So he's possibly in his hormonal teenage age still. Pair up boars is all about matching personalities but if you have a choice of boars to go for I personally would go for one older 1 1/2 years upwards. You're less likely to have a hormonal fall out later on than if you go for a younger one with that still to come.
 
Wow! So much I didn't know about boars! I'm glad I joined this forum!

Do you think there will be many dominance issues between Henry and an older guy? Would hate to end up with the same problem. How is the best way to tell they're likely to get along?

Thanks so much for your help! I hugely appreciate it.
 
There's a good guide to boars here http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=76162
Have a look at the link in this thread as well as that details boar behaviour.
The boys will have to work out who's boss so they'll go through a degree of bum wiggling and mounting to decide. Once they are through this they should settle down.

When pigs hit the hormonal age the hormonal pig will often make a play for the position of boss, they'll either win, give up or, and this is where problems happen, they won't give up and the other pig won't let them win leading to fights! The advantage of an older pig is he's been through the hormonal stage already so you've only got one stroppy teenager to deal with.
If you go for a younger pig he's still got it all to come so there will come a time when they may well have a go for the position of boss and upset the relationship. As I've said, they may get through it and settle down again but there is a risk they could fall out completely.
 
Ahh yes, Preston is king of the bum wiggle.

I'll have a read through that post, and thankyou again for being so helpful! I'm so glad to have joined the forum. Will do a proper introductory post with some photos of the gang :)
 
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