what make the best pets boys or girls guineas

[andrea315]

Just that which are the best pets and they will be kept inside going to see some babies on Sunday that will be ready on the 1st of April :)

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Most of the guinea-pigs I had as a child were girls ( though I did have a mis-sexed pig who turned out to be a boy so we did end up with piglets)

Our Resident Pigs are two brothers that we got as one year olds -so I missed the baby guinea stage but also managed to avoid the Terrible Teens

Boars do need more-
more space
more "get out" space (for the inevitable spats that they have)
and they definately have a 'boarey' aroma which is not unpleasant but it's there.

Boars have the reputation of being more affectionate (and these two are 100% Grinny Pigs Love Sponges)
But there's the downside of impaction and saggy boar bits

Girl pigs -can be snipey and definately have a hierarchy (our original sow made life grim for her mate and my new female pig).
And there's always the chance that they can be already pregnant when you get them (had that)

TBH if my DD hadn't insisted she wanted a boar then I'd have got sows. But I'm glad we got them, they are real characters.
I don't know how long they'd been in Rescue but obviously they were waiting for US .

[andrea315]

Do all boars get those problems and how do you sort them if they do ??

[FernieB]

Watching with interest as I'm a first time pig mum to my 2 smelly, noisy, argumentative, greedy lovely boys. Never had girl pigs, except 2 that came to stay for a few days and were very clean and tidy (I'm convinced they hoovered and dusted round their cage each evening).

Am looking forward to the impaction etc that 70 mentioned - sounds great. When does that kick in and what can be done?

andrea - I can confirm that boys will bicker and occasionally fight (Smooth is missing a bit of ear that Scruffy thought would be nice), but they can get along well if they have a bit of space from each other - it's working for us anyway.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

WRT impaction (where the anal muscles get lax and the pooh backs up in their rectum) meaning the Dear Owner has to manually expell it ( nice )

My first boar when I was a child died before he was 2 (but he was a poor little bullied soul and got concussed running away from his mate ). He had impaction at the end, his poohs were like a bunch of 'normal' droppings clumped together and I think he just didn't have the energy to push (This was in the last week or so of his life)

My Resident Boars are 2.4 yo.
GP1 has no trouble at all.
GP2 gets his soft eating pooh stuck but will eventually squeeze it out.) We find the evidence in his side of the haynest.
Then he does normal ones so we know his innards are working ok.
I reckon he will go down the saggy arsed boar route in later life though

Prevention is - fibre, excercise (ha ha) don't let them get too chubby.
And IMO don't let them have periods where they are not eating. Their intestines are designed for more or less continual eating (bit like horses -sleep/eat/eat a bit more/snooze)

I've read that neutered boars don't get impaction- maybe having those behemoth bollocks removed gives a bit more room !

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Oh and BOAR GLUE
GP1 had some on his nose.
DD picked it off "Oh you and your boar glue" she chides him

[andrea315]

Oh god think I need girls nice clean girls ! Watch my daughter pick the bloody boys !!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Phone the breeder in advance and tell her to only bring the girl piglets out

Boars are lovely but TBH girls are easier .

[andrea315]

Ha ha I might It's a him though so I bet he likes the stinky boys :)

[fortifiedwithtea]

TMI alert Old Boy's bum hole never closed properly from the age of 2 and he had the most enormous set of balls . He got the occasional lump of poo that could be as big as a cherry tomato. The only thing to do was to wear latex gloves, hold him over the toilet and ease it out. Used to make his eyes pop and the stench it was beyond description. He lived just beyond 6 years old and I miss him every day .

I have 2 sows. Naughty Girl, abit cheeky and Fatima looks more like a furry Budha each day she just eats. My boars were great personalities.

[alemci]

yes fortified. we are having trouble with our boar now with pooing. we think he is about 4 (given him from a friend). My dh is dealing with it each day. did he not get upset about being held over the loo.

I think the m gps are a bit more adventurous

[fortifiedwithtea]

alemci Oh dear everyday, poor boy. No OB didn't mind, he probably felt more comfortable after a trip to the loo. The big poo lumps were only every few months but got more regular near the end. Also in his last months he would have lots of second time round trying to pass at the same time. DD2 said he looked like he had udders. I used to massage them out .

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

GP2 (little black Abby type ,looks like a hedgehog ) tolerates DD and I whisking the pooh out with a babywipe if it's a firm one.
If it's a sift pooh I leave it because he'll deal with it when he CBA (see what I did there Can Be Arsed )

I don't know if doing this frequently would encourage his laziness though.
Maybe when he gets older it will be a daily labour of love.
Though GP2 mustn't look in DS direction for help. DS is GP2 official dad but he's very hands off

[BonkeyMollocks]

Oh gawd!



Tbh, if I had known what I was in for I would have got girls - however, having boys now I wouldn't say no to a pig because it was a boy and I would have them again because i am a glutton for punishment!

[guineapiglet]

I started my love affair with guineas after having a singleton boy rescue years ago - I adored him - but for the last 8 years, we have had lots of girls, and I adored them too - it sounds like alot of the boys on these threads have very strong and individual personalities, girls can be a bit more docile and naggy, lots of them together will fuss and do each others hair etc, and they can get very hormonal and arsey with each other as well.

Girls are very prone to ovarian cysts etc, particularly if they are not used for breeding, and they can get very broody and over protective of each other. I lost two girls from ovarian complications, bless them, so worth checking regularly for lumps in their tummies. Never had any 'impaction' problems I am delighted to report.

They are very intuitive and sweet pets, I miss them terribly. :(

[FernieB]

Having read this thread, I'm thinking of putting my boys up for adoption before things get too grim .

70 how do you get pigs to exercise? IME you can put them in a large room with lots of tunnels etc and they still lie down in Current Bun's basket and sleep. DD1 did make Scruffy move around once by holding some parsley just in front of his nose and making him follow it - he seemed quite happy to do this and almost disappointed when the parsley was given to him.

[BonkeyMollocks]

Fernie
I have a sneaky way to get BigPig going , you need a room, and some grass.

Pop one stand of grass every few guinea steps - he quite happily moseys round searching for teeny teeny bits of grass forgetting about his fave spot under the table!

If this doesn't work then maybe shoo them round the room?

[fortifiedwithtea]

FernieB remove Current Bun's basket. Boot camp exercise for piggies. Don't know what Current Bun will do while this is going on.

[perceptionreality]

We got two baby girls last week. They are so lovely. They are sisters from the same litter. I have noticed though that one is more dominant - she will wait for her smaller sister to go out and get the fresh food I've put out, then steal it off her! She seems unwilling to go out and get her own and the more proactive guinea seems to end up with less. Maybe explains why she is smaller!

[FernieB]

Bonkey I really got them moving today. I just showed them the nail clippers and they ran . Will try the grass thing and see if they shift themselves.

Fortified - Current Bun hides in his own tunnel when the pigs are out and about - I think he's scared of them.

[BonkeyMollocks]

I nail clipped today. I decided to take the 'I'm taking not shit' route rather than be soft like I usually am- worked with BigPig (even if he didn't stop rumbeling at me ) and 3 of LittlePigs feet before it got me the evil eye and a narrowly missed bite!

I have to say my reflexes are amazing!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Pigs & excercise- no idea.
Even in their outdoor run they will lard about
GP2 squeezes himself between the bars and their wooden house-and the magpies harass him.
He doesn't even bother to move

[FernieB]

Mine spent a large amount of last summer out in their run being stared at by next doors cat. They didn't bother running to hide, just lay out on the grass and stared back.