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Anonymous
I have a question.

I recently received two guinea pigs and they are 4 months old females. Should I bother with getting them spayed? I've read that getting pregnant after their bones fuse around 6 months of age will ultimately kill them. I can't foreseen breeding them anytime within this year.
>> Anonymous
They're both females, why would you need to?

Just keep them from getting out/getting near any of the males.

And don't breed them, there's enough guinea pigs in the world without some idiot breeding them for lulz.
>> Anonymous
Unless you want to eat them, i heard they are quite tasty.
>> Anonymous
>>106949
pfft. there's HARDLY any meat on them.

also: entropyserpent?
>> Anonymous
>>106946

Listen to this wise Anonymous.
>> Anonymous
The bit about their pelvis fusing together at 6 months is true. Finding a vet to do the spay may be more trouble that it's worth, given that I have to drive 45 minutes just to get to a vet that will take care of my rabbit. However, guinea pigs will get pregnant if a male is around so if you're ever planning to keep them near a male, they should be spayed. Once you breed a guinea pig, her pelvis will be widened and will not fuse together. Please don't breed them. There are way too many out there as it is.
>> Anonymous
>>106946
well there are enough humans in the world and there are still idiots that breed them for lulz
>> Anonymous
>>107116
I think that should be solved immediately.
>> Anonymous
I was once pretty big on the "obsessive retard pet owner" bandwagon myself, but if you sit and weigh the risks of DEATH just coming out of the operation, just keep them intact and be smart enough to keep them away from males.

Responsible pet owners supervise their animals. Irresponsible pet owners blindly allow surgical alteration to take half of their responsibilities away.
>> Anonymous
>>107025
If there would be only one male, logic dictates that you fix the odd one out. heh.
>> Anonymous
>>107143
>Responsible pet owners supervise their animals. Irresponsible pet owners blindly allow surgical alteration to take half of their responsibilities away.

What? Would you care to elaborate on this?
>> Anonymous
>>107157
They're saying you should watch your pets 24/7 and seperate them if they attempt to copulate. Which is a fucking retarded position to take.
>> Anonymous
>>107158
Because you know, cages don't exist, and having separate playtime for the genders is just INSANE!!! How could I possibly suggest people watch their pets while they are out! OH GOD!

..come on. Are you serious?
Also, they can't climb.. Talk about the worlds EASIEST animal to keep separated when you put them away for the night..

Then again some people aren't happy unless they've shown some drastic and stupid attempt to show they wanted to be OH SO RESPONSIBLE and risk killing their small animals by putting them through a very hard and complicated procedures that have a high risk of killing them just coming out of the anesthesia.

It's not like a dog or a cat people.
>> Anonymous
If I'm not compleately wrong it is very risky to anesthetize small animals like rodents. If you want to have female AND male guinea pigs, it shouldn't be too hard to keep the separately; have them in separate cages and not to let them run free at the same time. No spaying needed, right? As for the breeding, I think thant's something that should be left for the people who know a lot about these things. If you're not THAT interested in breeding them, don't. It's easier anyway.
>> Anonymous
>>107168
But you didn't specify which animals you were talking about when you said:

>Responsible pet owners supervise their animals. Irresponsible pet owners blindly allow surgical alteration to take half of their responsibilities away.

That's why I wanted you to explain your comment.
>> Anonymous
>>107175But you didn't specify which animals you were talking about when you said....

*facepalm* because I didn't need to, dummy. This stuff right here is what I'm talking about. People do not stop and think.
My comment about dogs and cats was about the relative body size when it comes to putting them under for surgical procedures that may be frivolous expenses just to look good in the eyes of other obsessive compulsives. You do not spay rats and guinea pigs just because you want to be a lazy jackass about housing and playtime.

You can keep cats and dogs from breeding however. You do not have to have two genders of an animal in your home. People simply do not think, so they run to the vet to get someones nuts chopped off. Also they make leashes.. You're animal should never be freely roaming unless you enjoy playing russian roulette with your pets life.

Saged for failure in thinking.
>> Anonymous
BUMPED FOR SAGE!
>> Anonymous
>>107228
Yeah, cause cats and dogs never get out of places you'd never think possible.

Two female guinea pigs kept in cages? Yeah, dumb to spay them. Even if they got out, there are not a lot of stray guinea pigs around. Cats and dogs? Spay and neuter. Especially neuter, it's not really a difficult or risky surgery.
>> Anonymous
>>107228
how about YOU stop and think?
Spaying/neutering your pet can also help prevent things like cancer. Would you rather have a pet die peacefully during surgery, or risk having your pet die a slow painful death?

another scenario is when i had rats i had one male rat who refused to get along with any other rats after his one buddy died and he stopped eating. i ended up getting his nuts removed and there, he got along with the other rats. if i didn't get him neutered he would've starved himself.
get the fuck over yourself. it is risky to put your small animals through surgery but thats why you find experienced vets who are familiar with them.
>> Anonymous
>>107228

I'm sure you've thought of this (since you know everything already, amirite?), but there are reasons other than limiting reproduction for spaying/neutering. It pretty much eliminates the risk of reproductive cancers, which is a damn good reason to do it, IMHO.

It also cuts WAY down on undesirable behaviors in some species, which isn't a great reason to do it on its own, but if it makes an otherwise out-of-control animal keepable? Bonus points.

And this doesn't apple to all species, of course, but I know rabbits do much better in bonded male-female pairs than in same-sex pairs. Which pretty much means you have to get them fixed or you'll have rabbits coming out your ears in no time.

Basically, I agree with what you're saying, but OP never even said there were males around. OP just asked if he/she should bother getting them spayed. Just the fact that they asked shows that they're trying to be responsible, I think.
>> Anonymous
OP here. Thank you, Anon.

I agree that there are enough pets out there that it's a better idea to adopt rather than to breed. The guinea pigs live in my house but I attend college on the other coast, so I'm somewhat worried about my parents/brother absentmindedly adding a male guinea pig or even mixing them with a neighbor's pets while I'm away.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>> Anonymous
>>106940

A little fact needed here. The pelvis bones don't fuse until the piggie is around one year old.
>> Anonymous
>>107168
>>Also, they can't climb.. Talk about the worlds EASIEST animal to keep separated when you put them away for the night..

Not entirely true. I have watched one particular guinea pig jump and climb out of a pen many times.

We were told they can't jump or climb, so we just had a foot to foot and a half high wood pen that the female pigs ran around in. But any time a certain female wanted to mate, she'd jump/climb out of the enclosure and stand outside the male's cage.