Neutering/Spaying How does it work? - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

Sugar&Ellie · #1 11-05-09, 01:27 am

My friend has recently decided that she wants to care for her male guinea pig but she doesnt have the time, nor energy. So I told her that if she gets him neutered (as I have two females) that I will take him. I have a 2x5 cage and am following the steps to care for my girls and I do want a male.

So she's going to look into it tomorrow, look into getting him 'snipped'.
So I was just wondering, has anyone here gone through the steps of getting their boar neutered?

What was the cost?

How was the recovery?

How long was the recovery?

And did you have to do a quarantine (during recovery time) or accomedate with special bedding, food or water?

Any information on recovery for boars that have been neutered would be great.

Thanks!

**Jennicat** · #2 11-05-09, 05:45 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sugar&Ellie

What was the cost?

How was the recovery?

How long was the recovery?

And did you have to do a quarantine (during recovery time) or accomedate with special bedding, food or water?

Any information on recovery for boars that have been neutered would be great.

Thanks!

Our rescue neuters a majority of it's boars. It generally cost $125 (although if there were an emergency of some sort it may go up. We've never had it happen, but with pigs it's best to be prepared).

Usually by the time they get home they're back to their "normal" personalities. We keep them in a quarantine sized cage for 10 days and on antibiotics as well to help prevent infections. They're on pain medication for 3 days afterwards. I've never had one act "sore" or painful, though, it's more of a precaution on our part. After that week, they go back into a normal sized cage for popcorning and rumblestrutting.

They still need to be kept apart from the ladies for a minimum of three weeks, though, to make sure that all sperm had died so that there aren't any "oops"es.

I don't use special bedding since I use fleece anyway, I just changed it once a day instead of vacuuming to make sure it stayed clean. Our vet also does a neuter that's slightly forward and off of the ground, and we have a lot less problems with infection overall.

**akstrohm** · #3 11-05-09, 07:53 am

Actually two weeks is sufficient time for the sperm to die off (although waiting longer won't hurt). However, you should still do a normal 3 week quarantine to watch for parasites or other illnesses that the new pig could pass onto your current ones, and to keep an eye on your current girls to make sure they are also healthy. Make sure she does the surgery with a vet experienced with guinea pigs--it will cut down on the risk substantially. Also be sure you have a back up plan in case the new guy doesn't get along with the girls; typically a boar will get along well with a few females, but you never know.

**Jennicat** · #4 11-05-09, 07:55 am

We stick with what our exotics vet and Cavy Spirit recommend. I'd personally not skip the extra week and risk it.

**akstrohm** · #5 11-05-09, 07:57 am

Cavy Spirit has explained on here that they suggest 3 weeks because a lot of people cut the time short. Two weeks is what is biologically necessary, but of course longer won't hurt.

**Ly&Pigs** · #6 11-05-09, 09:05 am

T has stated many times that 2 weeks is all it takes for the sperm to die. We recommend 3 a lot of times because people do tend to cut things short.

**Jennicat** · #7 11-05-09, 09:07 am

For us it's more a matter of making sure that things are completely healed since the males will tend to immediately start chasing the females and engaging in strenuous activity. If that ring suture is being poky about healing they can tend to develop abscesses from it. Everybody does it their own way, but we haven't had an abscess in over 3 years now so it seems to work. :)

**Ly&Pigs** · #8 11-05-09, 09:14 am

If it works, then keep doing it!

Sugar&Ellie · #9 11-05-09, 11:01 am

I'm also not sure about the medical problems that can occur in males. I know there are alot of terms that I have heard that I I've never heard of that people have had problems with their boars with.

So does anyone know any of the biggest medical problems that may occur in males?

Also, we have alot of exotic vets in the city. One is located close to my house, which we had an ultrasound and x-ray done on my friend's guinea pig when she was pregnant. So hopefully they do neutering too, but She's looking into it.