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Genitals Should i neuter/spay?

Emma May

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I'll be getting a male and female guinea pig in a couple days and was wondering if i should neuter one of them, i hear there is a lot of risks though i don't have room to place them in different cages or to split them up and i'm worried :/ What do i do?
 

Feliciew

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As far as I know, neutering the male has the least complications, though as with any surgery there are risks with both. If I were to say one or the other though, it would be the male.
This page has a comprehensive description of the procedure, and risks involved. Guinea Pig Neutering, How to Neuter your Guinea Pigs
 

kirsty91

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DEFINITELY get the male neutered! It is harder on the female because they have to go inside her to do it. If they will be living together one of them needs to be neutered or spayed as they breed like rabits and within a few days I'm sure your sow would be pregnant =/
 

lissie

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If you get both of them, you would need to keep them separated until one of them gets neutered/spayed. If you don't have enough space for the cage now, you probably won't have enough space for a larger cage in case the have babies. Pregnancy is also very hard on the sow and have 20% chance of death due to complications.

Guinea pigs are fertile as young as 3 weeks old but the recommended neutering age is 4 months. If yours are younger, would you have space to keep separate cage until then?

Guinea Pig Neutering, How to Neuter your Guinea Pigs

Breeding Guinea Pigs

https://www.guinealynx.info/reproduction.html

Edit to add:
Can you get 2 females or 2 males instead?
I hope you choose to adopt and not purchase from a pet store. There are many homeless guinea pigs out there.
 
Last edited:

kathlaaron

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I agree, it is much less invasive, and much better to nueter over spay surgery. Just read the links posted above, and you will understand why nuetering is by far, the best option. Good luck to you ! Keep us posted on things, o.k. ? We really do care....Smile. Here is a small excerpt from cavy spirit below.

"Make sure you wait three to four weeks after surgery before placing your neutered male with a female. The male needs time for any live sperm to die or work its way out of his system."

You WILL need to keep them separated...so keep that in mind, for you DO NOT WANT an accidental pregnancy.
 

bpatters

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Please don't put them in the same cage. If they've been in the same one and she isn't pregnant, you're incredibly lucky.

There are risks to neutering, but there are risks to childbirth also -- a 1 in 5 chance of your sow dying, and about the same for one or more of the pups dying. One person last week lost all four babies in a litter. And that doesn't take into account the possibility of have a lethal white that will require lifelong expensive care and much handfeeding if it even lives.
 

Tylerryan79

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Your going to have to house them separately before the surgery if you get the boy snipped. Also I believe you have to wait a certain amount of time for his semen to die after the surgery or he could still get her pregnant(please correct me of I'm wrong!). I've only been here for a bit, but I've read enough to know you don't want to add more pigs if you can help it. There's also the chance they don't hit it off, so you may want to rethink this if you don't have room for seperate cages.
 
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