Would you adopt non neutered male guinea pigs?

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LittlePaws AnimalRescue

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I was just wondering if you adopted a pair of male piggies, would you adopt them if they aren't neutered?

I have a pair of males in and they are getting along great.
I just dont know if to get them neutered before rehoming them or leaving them be.
They are 1 year old if that makes any difference.
 
I think if they are going to be rehomed together as a pair then no they don't need to be neutered. Only if they were goig to live with a female/s would they need to be neutered. :)
 
If males are housed together and getting along ok then there is no need to neuter. The only reason I would ever suggest neutering is if bonding with a male has failed numerous times and you want to try bonding with a female. I know some rescues that routinely neuter male guinea pigs, but it won't change their behaviour, so as they are getting along fine I would leave them intact rather than risking surgery then upsetting them both afterwards.

Hope this helps
 
Thank you both. I just wanted to check.
I was pretty sure as they were going as a male pair they'd be fine but some people had said I need to get them neutered before rehoming.
I dont want to upset them or have them fo under G.A for no real reason.

Thanks again :)
 
Males don't need to be neutered unless going to live with a female. Whatever someone says it doesn't change their behaviour and it is a risk for no reason unless he must live with a female.
 
I think the theory behind neutering bonded boars is so that when one sadly crosses the bridge it is easier to pair the remaining one with a sow and the surgery has been done when the pig was young so lower risk although some rescuers neuter or spay every pig as a matter of policy. all surgery carries risk and having lost a pig to castration I would only put a pig through a general anesthetic when necessary not as a matter of course..
 
I have two boar piggies and they live together fine. They have squabbles now and again but never anything serious. Neutering only stops them having babies it does NOT change their temperament.
Some boars will get on nd some won't
 
i took on our 2 boars un neutered from a breeder as we just wanted a pair of piggies and (not being an expert and not having kept boys before )it didn't matter to us whether we had 2 boars or 2 sows.we just took what was available. As others have said, there's no point putting them through G A if they are to be placed together. As you are a rescue though, am i right in thinking some of your customers aren't quite as knowledgable as members of this forum?! You will need to home to people who are piggy savvy and totally love guineas or be very honest about the potential pitfalls. For example, the need for bigger living accomodation, 2 of everything, the extra attention to the grease gland and private areas plus the possibility of having to manually clear the rectum in older boars. Also, you can.t really add any more pigs in to a pair of boars like that as 3 boars won't work. So - i agree that usually it.s best to keep them entire but with the extra responsibilities of being a rescue, there are more factors to consider.
 
I would absolutely adopt a pair of un-neutered boars (and have done so in the past). I've only ever had bonded males, and apart from the odd squabble for dominance they've always been very happy together.
 
If we adopted them, we'd probably have them neutered because we have females and wouldn't want any "accidents" to happen. At the moment, we have enough guinea-pigs now and would only adopt one if it was neglected and desperately needed a new home.
 
Most good guinea pig rescues in this country rehome their bonded stable boar pairs unneutered, as neutering only removes the ability to make babies; they also need to have access to a good vet because of the sadly high risk of post complications and even fatalities.
Most rescues that rehome unneutered boars offer "boar dating" at their rescue for any bereaved, single or fallen out boars; either as speed dating (usually with a youngster) or as residential "full" boar dating between boars of all ages.

Some rescues have a strict neutering policy for incoming single or difficult to bond boars; a few rescues have a neutering policy for all incoming boars. Only one rescue also has a sow spaying policy to my knowledge.

Here is Suzygpr's boar dating blog from her rescue, to give you an idea. Full boar dating means that boars of all ages can be bonded with each other, provided they are character compatible. The resulting bond is as stable as a sow bond - all the featured boars in Suzy's blog are still together. It is very time consuming and requires experience, though, and not every rescue can offer it for that reason.: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=59233

Could you tell us a bit more about your rescue, please?
 
Thank you for the info Wiebke.
I wasn't actually going to take guinea pigs until I had done much more research but these 2 were about to be dumped goodness knows where so I took them.
I hope that doesn't make me sound irresponsible, I just couldn't let them end up homeless or in a bad home!

The reason I asked about the neutering is that I know it wouldn't change their behaviour/hormones like getting a rabbit neutered does.
I was mostly just wondering if people would take them knowing that they are unneutered so obviously wouldn't be able to be bonded with females in the future.

My little rescue is currently unregistered, I have asked for advice from other rescues and my local council about becoming registered and was told that unless I am taking in more than £5000 a year in donations and fundraising then I dont need to be registered.
I only take in and rehome very small animals, so guinea pigs and anything smaller than that. I only take in furries so no reptiles/spiders/fish.

I've been taking in and rehoming for years, only just started a facebook page though :)
In the past I have rehomed to family, friends, or people on rescue forums that can be vouched for (I tend not to rehome to someone that pops up on a forum and their only post is asking me for an animal) however if they are close enough and I can homecheck them then I will rehome to them.

I am very small scale (I'll only ever have in between 4-6 cages of animals at a time) and I'm self funded.
I'm just doing this because I know there are so many animals out there needing help.
I know being so small scale means I am not doing much but I'm doing what I can with the time and funds I have.

Link to my facebook page if anyone wants to have a look
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Paws-Small-Animal-Rescue/480793745272955?ref=hl
 
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LittlePaws AnimalRescue said:
Thank you for the info Wiebke.
I wasn't actually going to take guinea pigs until I had done much more research but these 2 were about to be dumped goodness knows where so I took them.
I hope that doesn't make me sound irresponsible, I just couldn't let them end up homeless or in a bad home!

The reason I asked about the neutering is that I know it wouldn't change their behaviour/hormones like getting a rabbit neutered does.
I was mostly just wondering if people would take them knowing that they are unneutered so obviously wouldn't be able to be bonded with females in the future.

My little rescue is currently unregistered, I have asked for advice from other rescues and my local council about becoming registered and was told that unless I am taking in more than £5000 a year in donations and fundraising then I dont need to be registered.
I only take in and rehome very small animals, so guinea pigs and anything smaller than that. I only take in furries so no reptiles/spiders/fish.

I've been taking in and rehoming for years, only just started a facebook page though :)
In the past I have rehomed to family, friends, or people on rescue forums that can be vouched for (I tend not to rehome to someone that pops up on a forum and their only post is asking me for an animal) however if they are close enough and I can homecheck them then I will rehome to them.

I am very small scale (I'll only ever have in between 4-6 cages of animals at a time) and I'm self funded.
I'm just doing this because I know there are so many animals out there needing help.
I know being so small scale means I am not doing much but I'm doing what I can with the time and funds I have.

Link to my facebook page if anyone wants to have a look
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Paws-Small-Animal-Rescue/480793745272955?ref=hl
Click to expand...

I think most people would be perfectly happy with that. I know I would always choose the easier option of male and male then having to go through and operation to try out male and female bonding
 
I have adopted two entire males, a cracking bonded pair of brothers and have no problems that they come complete with a pair of plums (or space hoppers as someone on here calls them). So in answer to the question, yes I would adopt non neutered guinea pigs.
 
Vikki said:
I think the theory behind neutering bonded boars is so that when one sadly crosses the bridge it is easier to pair the remaining one with a sow and the surgery has been done when the pig was young so lower risk although some rescuers neuter or spay every pig as a matter of policy.
Click to expand...

This is what we do and the reasons behind doing every animal that comes through the rescue.
 
I know that the Cambridge Cavy Trust by Huntingdon do neutering; Simon Maddock at the Cat&Rabbit Clinic in Northampton is also a very experienced guinea pig vet with a very good track record (he's been neutering all piggies of both sexes for rngpwelfare rescue for years now).

You have several of our Piggy Bank UK (rescue support network) recommended rescues of good standard and practice within your area; perhaps you can contact them re. their practice and rehoming requirements? The guinea pig fosterer for the RSPCA West Suffolk is a Piggy Bank member; there is also Wood Green in Godmanchester. They may also be able to tell you which vets they use for they use for the own guinea pigs.
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=209994852075231951564.0004b8fd9391b4257d8eb&msa=0

Please be aware that neutered boars need to wait for a full 6 weeks after a neutering operation before they are 100% safe to meet sows. I have the surprise baby from an over 5 weeks post boar to prove that particular point!
 
I adopted 2 brothers that had been together from birth, both unneutered and no problems (they'd be almost a year old now).
 
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