Neutering for piggies?

[LeBonkeyMollocks]

How much does it cost roughly? Anyone know?

Is it as risky as I have heard?

What are the chances of beloved piggy/ies not coming home? :(

As some of you know my two boars have been separated. They both seem the dominant type, I am wondering if they would both be better with a wife, but i don't I do really but dh would murder me want piglets.

I'm a bit wary of getting more boys, I don't want to have three or four piggies alone in case of more diaggreements.

They are both young 3 months and 5 1/2 months.

Its just a thought at the moment, I'm not that keen given some of the warnings. There is a chance they may get back together but I am guessing its not going to be for some time yet :(

[LeBonkeyMollocks]

Should add that there is a guinea community recommended vet nearby. I would be using him without doubt!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I asked a lady in P@H (she was buying a piglet as company for her neutered boar) She said it was £68 (we're in Essex).

There was a thread on here about Easter Time ( IIRC My middle aged GP is looking for love ).
The GP in question was a 3yo male who was left as a lonesome after his brother died. He was neutered and matched with a slightly older female who didn't get on with other sows.

Their temperement won't change with neutering , but it sounds like they could be happier with a female companion.
I'd consider neutering my chaps purely to make it easier in the future to pair them up when one goes.
But I've had groups of GPs as a child and when the numbers dwindled (from 4 to 1 at one point) we didn't risk introducing a newbie. Our last sow lived a year or so and seemed quite happy. (Indoors)

You might find they settle in time, but if not, once they are Jaffa, you could intoduce sows.

Phone round for a cavy savvy vet and ask them how many GPs they've snipped. Rabbits are more commonly done so they'll have more experience in this area.

[Methe]

We are planning to get one of ours done and the quotes have so far been between £30 and £80.

[LeBonkeyMollocks]

Hmmm... I am thinking ahead too. If one croaks it, I don't particually(

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

@ £80 !
Whay do they stitch them with, gold thread?

[LeBonkeyMollocks]

70
I have Big pig on my lap. He's in a mood. Do you think he knows what Im discussing ??

Are there any benefits to ball chopping other than no babies?

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Well I did read that they were less liable to get impaction, so that would be a plus.
I would worry (not just the anaesthetic, that's a considered risk) but when cats and dogs are neutered they become more sedentary and more likely to put weight on.
Would this happen to GPs? Not easy to make them excercise, even in the run mine tend to lard about (5 minute mad dash when we try to catch them) .

If they take the bollocks away it would make them a damn site tidier as well, lying about with their 'nads cooling in the breeze.
But cosmetic reasons are not good enough for such surgery.

I cut GP2 claws last night and he peed on me. Could you imagine what he'd do if we neutered him

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Ooh, "herniation of abdominal content" was one of the risks (I think it was an American site, so the terminology may be different). But it's to do with the stitches not being done properly and the abdominal content (so intestines and internal organs ) becoming herniated .
Probably a low risk, but a risk.

If you trust your vet and the boars are in good health and weigh enough, then it might be the way forward.
You'd need to find a good match for Little Pig. He might be better with an older more stroppy sow who wouldn't be bossed by him. Or if he has a baby sow as company he might not feel the need to be all macho.

[LeBonkeyMollocks]

Yup i think Little pig is going to be my problem.

Big Pig actually seems quite content with his own space . Happy to have L pig next door, but L pig just looks a bit lost sometimes when he isn't terrorising B pig through the bars which has pushed the thoughts of neutering forward.
I would send him back, and get one who would get on with B pig, but I just don't have the heart. I also don't want to put another in with L pig and have B pig on his own, because I would just feel mean.

Or do I just leave it a while and try again?

Oh dilemmas, dilemmas!!! :)

[LeBonkeyMollocks]

I have just realised that even if I sent L pig back and got another who B pig liked I could end up with the same situation because B pig was the one who chose L pig in the first place

I love L pig even if he is a shit , it would be hard, but harder if the second time round it didn't work :(

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

If they are okay seperated , and can see each each, smell each other and interact, then maybe just leave them like that until they are over their worst hormone induced arsiness?

My original boar (when I was 9yo) managed to father 2 litters because we didn't know he was a boy (he was sold as a girl) then got mum gp pregnant straight after she gave birth "Oh it's fine to leave the boar with the sow, he won't harm the piglets" .No he was fine with the pigs. He wanted to make more.

We kept him in the lounge, he could talk to his wifey and daughter through the air vent of the central heating system.
He would sometimes wander up to the run that they had under the stairs (open front but they were pinkeyes so quite liked the semi-dark), to chat. We didn't ever let them get together, we didn't want more pigs and we certainly didn't want him mating with his own daughter.

<br />
So if they are ok as they are, maybe let them carry on as they are for now . Maybe in 6 months they'll have mellowed <span class="line-through">or you'll have killed Little Pig</span> <br />
I can see why you are not keen on neutering, I'd worry about my boys "going under the knife" [gulp]

[dietcokeandwine]

I would agree with 70...one of the boar pairs I had as a child had to be separated (numerous attempts to reintroduce didn't work) and in the end my dad made them a big cage with a mesh divider down the middle, they had a day section and sleeping section each, with the mesh divider down the day section. So they could see/hear/talk to each other but not come to blows! It worked really well.

Daft thing was you would often see them snuggled up side by side against the mesh divide, and the first thing they'd do each morning was come out and sniff/squeak 'hello' to each other - but whenever we tried to actually get them together all hell broke loose

[HmmThinkingAboutIt]

We have two males that live next to each other in separate cages and a male who is neutered who lives with his Wife and Daughter. So have experience from both POV.

It cost £50 to get Husband pig done about 4 years ago. He was pretty young at the time (about a year) and was a very fir and healthy pig. He was a bit "what happened there?" but seems in no discomfort and there was no noticeable change in his behaviour. If we had to get another one done in the future I wouldn't worry about it too much if they were in good health and young enough. But tbh I don't see us getting girls again, as I prefer much the personalities of boys (friendier and tidier) and other people seem to prefer girls (leaving boys homeless).

The two boys are perfectly fine next to each other. I wouldn't want to get girlfriends for them as they are happy enough as they are. They sound very similar to the situation you have. It seems that even though they are in separate cages there is still a dominate personality. We take time to make sure the quieter one gets attention, as its the more dominant one naturally attracts our attention, and I do feel this is part of the problem. The quiet one is a rescue piggie so I think is a little bit more needy from that too. Separating the two for any length of time really seems to bother them - its clear they have bonded.

Something else to think about; if you add a female to the mix, it might actually upset the Big Pig! I don't know what your housing arrangements are but boys turn into houdini in the presence of girls (our boys are in a separate room to the married couple for this reason. You'd be amazing what piggies can escape from as we have found out in the past!). So you may/may not solve Little Pig's problem.

Also, piggies are addictive. You have two now. You are looking at more... BE CAREFUL or you easily fall into the trap of being over run. We are down to 7 now (we had 11 at one point!) I love them all to bits but somedays I wish we only had 2 as even 4 was a lot more work.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Bonkey if you were unfortunate to lose a pig due to surgery, you'd be back in your original situation of singleton pig. And although your hogs are a bit fisticuffs they probably really need each others company-even if it means seperate.

Hmm - I'd agree the boars are friendly - IIRC our sows were far more independant.
But I'd never describe them as tidier .

My original boar used to do all his poohs in a newspaper lined wooden tray.
My current boars do little pooh nests in the hay.
But they pee everywhere (even though I give them a newspaper lined shallow cardboard box)

[HmmThinkingAboutIt]

We have the pee problem with the girls. I'm sure all three of them pee 3 times as much as the boys. They poo everywhere too.
All our boys do poo nests too, and leave the rest of the cage pretty clean. Easier to do a part quick clean if you need to.

Have to say married guinea pig couples are a joy to watch though. A pair of boys are good together, but one of our married couples are just adorable and do things like make sure the other gets food rather than eating the lot themselves. They are both getting on a bit now (7 and 5) and the male one is a bit wobbly on his feet these days.

Definitely interesting to watch the different dynamics between sexes.

[LeBonkeyMollocks]

Dietcoke Mine are exactly like that. Their cage and day runs are next to each other divided by bars. The first thing the do in the morning is chat and chase each other up and down the bars. They are always lying next to each other! As soon as I put them back together they are chattering and sooner or later the buggers start fighting.

Hmm Again I can relate to that, as soon as you take one pig away the other starts wheeking loudly . They have bonded but just don't want to live together
If I was going to get them wives, it would be both. I couldn't have one alone whilst the other had a Mrs to shack up to. I would be hated .
Definatly not tidy boys! Big pig does 'a nest' of poo then trundles on through it scattering shit everywhere!

They seem happy enough side by side. I think I'm going to leave them as it is for now and see what happens after the arsey teenage stage has passed.

70 I'm actually really scared of losing one to surgery. I seem to be madly in love with the sods . I would be compleatly gutted! :(