Advice on best gender GPs to get and any other tips.

[guineapig2014]

Hi all, we are planning to get two baby guinea pigs later in the holidays. We are almost ready for them but we don't know what gender to get. We are going to have two of the same sex. Each book, pet shop and website tells us something different. Some say girls will fight, others say that boys will fight. We want to avoid getting them neutered so does that mean we should get boys?
So what do you have? Do they fight or not?
Any other tips, gender related or not gratefully appreciated!
TIA xxx

[guineapig2014]

We are first time pet owners btw so as I mentioned, any tips appreciated!

[BigArea]

I have 2 boys, they are lush but if I had to get new ones is get girls, for the following reasons:

Boar glue
Grease glands

A quick google of the above will explain

[BigArea]

*I'd

[orangepudding]

I d got three boys. They are very cute. Think we have had them for around 6 weeks now. One is very affectionate the other two not so much but are happy to be handled.

I've not had to deal with either glue or glands yet!

[guineapig2014]

Ok thanks big and orange
Are there any other common health problems found in either boys or girls?

[Bramshott]

We have 2 girls and have never had any fighting problems. They are often more expensive than boys though (if you're buying them) and less choice.

[fortifiedwithtea]

Boars dry hump for dominance. Their grease glands can get a bit mucky. One of my boys kept clean the other needed the occasional bath. I never had to use it but swarffeger (sp) is useful for removing boar grease. Elderly boars can get impaction but by no means all and will require your help to go to the loo. The smell is, once smelt unforgettable . My boys never covered each other in 'glue' although I once saw the dominant one erm... deposit glue on the hay. He was in a mood with the other one and no amount of mind bleach can remove that image.

Sows generally get on well. But they can have the occasional off day with each other. To tell another guinea pig to go away, a sow will spray wee. Resulting in a stinky pee guinea pig and probably hutch wall as well. With a sow pair if a cage mate dies it is easy to bond a new friend.

No guinea pig needs to be neutered if it lives in a same sex pair. Neutering does not change personality. Nor does it have any health benefits unlike rabbits. Guinea pigs do not need any vaccinations.

I prefer boars because IMO they have bigger personalities. Although I presently have 3 sows who are lovely too

HTH

[guineapig2014]

Thanks all, pets at home only sell boars because apparently they are much more gentle a few other places sell both sows and boars so we are totally confused.
From what has been said so far on this thread, it sounds like boars are the better bet but I think I'll still consider sows.
Any other sow owners out there?

Also, does anyone know a good place within about an hours drive to oxford to get sows? Boars are sold everywhere but sows are much harder to find.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

My DD has two boars (original 2 were brothers. One died and we got a piglet boy)

They do need aload of space. If they are in close confines that's when they get narky. They are very close but only at armslength

There will be lots of single boars or young boar pairs out there. I suppose breeders will keep back sows to continue breeding from, releasing the boars as pets.

To the boar glue and grease gland I'd add impaction (Google it)
Our GP2 used to do a pooh the size of a Ferrerro Rocher I showed the vet , he was surprised
GP2 did normal poohs as well, the mega poohs were once a week or so, not impacted, they slid out .

Boars are lovely but sows TBH are easier.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Oops I see you got impaction covered fortified

Ours have had boar glue places where you couldn't imagine how

GP1 tummy, nose, ears

[guineapig2014]

Thanks 70

[Bramshott]

Our local independent country stores / pet shop type place has both genders. Is there somewhere like that near you?

I had always been told that 2 females were easier, and certainly we've found our two very easy (both the original 2, and then bonding another female after one died).

[fortifiedwithtea]

70 better to have got impaction covered than to be covered in impaction

guineapig2014 I think your p@h is talking nonsense. All guinea pigs make gentle pets regardless of gender. They are a prey animal and it would not be in their natural to be aggressive to humans. A guinea pig has to be seriously pissed off/tormented to bite. More usual is a warning nip at claw cutting time at most.

I have been accidentally bitten by a guinea when hand feeding and stupidly had my finger too near the veg and the animal was excited by smell of tasty treat. Guineas have poor eyesight. Believe me if they wanted to bite on purpose it would really hurt. I've owned 6 guinea pigs and they've all been excellent pets.

I reckon your p@h just has a job lot of boars to shift.

[AHardDaysWrite]

Don't get them from PAH. Their pets all come from factory farms and are bred in horrible conditions. Go to a rescue or breeder.

I've had both sexes and they have all got their own personalities. I would say my fave ever pig was a sow though.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I once emptied GP2s little bum with baby-wipes because I wanted to cuddle him but I didn't want to end up covered.
(To be fair, he never had any problems poohing but he always seemed to have a pooh in him, we used a towel for him. I reckon if he'd got ancient he'd have been a "hold over the loo, take a deep breath and go" pig.

It smelled like dog dirt, which was considering they are vegetarian.

[annebullin]

We had 2 boars (brothers) in one cage and the biggest kicked the littlest one out. So we now have 2 cages...
They are very funny and cute though.

[Sleepingbunnies]

I have only ever had sows and they are lovely and gorgeous :) (totally biased!)

[guineapiglet]

hi good luck with your choice, it is hard and everyone has given great advice, both sexes have their advantages and disadvantages.....! over the past 10 years I have had 9 girls, and they were all the sweetest characters, miss them all......the most I had all together was four, and they had their arsey moments, girls can get a bit mardy with each other but seemed very content together they faced off now and again but not real fighting, and certainly not aggressive. They could talk for England!!

[devilinside]

My local PAH only sells sows, so reckon they are spinning you a yarn there. I've haven't had any problems from buying them from PAH, we've had four from there, all in good health, all sows

[Sleepingbunnies]

Please don't buy from PAH. Could you consider a rescue?

[ReallyGoodDrawer]

I've had girls and boys (not together!) and they've all been fine. We've got boys just now and one of them is certainly in charge of the other in a way that my girls never were but mostly they get on fine. If you can, getting a pair from rescue is a good idea, they're likely to be more used to being handled than pet shop pigs and will be easier to catch. I'd also advise you not to get long haired piggies, the boys we have now are long haired and tbh it's just a pain in the arse to keep the clean and tidy, particularly as one of them hates getting brushed!

[guineapig2014]

Hi all thanks very much for replies. Sorry I haven't been posting for a while.
It's amazing how much less time you have in the holidays!

I think I will try to avoid PAH from what some of you and my friends in RL have said. If I'm honest they do just seem to want to get rid of their males if other branches are only selling females.

Dd suggested that we get rescue ones but I think it would be best to get new babies because we aren't the most experienced as there are our first. If one is troubled then I don't think I'd we'd be able to settle them . I think we'll possibly stick to an independent place with happy GPs rather than PAH although I will do a bit of investigation as to if PAH is really as bad as it seems though.

If boars do need more space then I think we should probably get sows because we have not bought a separate run. Instead, we have a sort of hutch with a run underneath IYSWIM . This hutch is fairly spacious but boars may appreciate a little more space! (They will be outdoor piggies btw)

Maybe I'll try mumsnet local for the best independent place near us.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

guinea try a Rescue, they have all ages of piggies (when I got 6 week old GP3 , they had some that were still with their mum - so 3-4 weeks . We didn't take one of these little ones because we couldn't be 100% at that age that they were boars, and more importantly, when GP1 met GP3 , he was very taken with him)

A rescue will be there to give you advice, they'll ask you to let them know how your pigs are settling and if there are any problems , they will take them back.
You won't get that at a Pet Shop.

[guineapig2014]

Ok 70 will have a look into it and will do some research. Thank you!

[ReallyGoodDrawer]

The other thing about rescue pigs is that they know the personality of the piggies they have so can match you with laid back happy to be handled pigs that will be perfect for first timers.

Our boars live in a bog standard hutch and are perfectly happy in it. They don't tend to sit together the way the female pairs we've had in the past did, but they don't seem to be in need of anymore living space.