Pigs genders help?
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bpatters
- And got the T-shirt
The LAST people I would ask to help sex him are pet store employees. They have NO training whatsoever in sexing animals, and pet stores are notorious for selling mis-sexed guinea pigs. I can't tell you how many pregnant "males" from pet stores we've had on this board, or how many pregnant females because the other "female" wasn't.
A vet probably wouldn't charge you much to tell you what the sex is.
A vet probably wouldn't charge you much to tell you what the sex is.
I second bpatters. Pet store employees are why we have had a herd of 7 pigs rather than just the 3 we intended to get.
Our guinea pig savvy vet sexed our babies at no charge. Find a good guinea pig savvy vet, tell him/her your situation. If they're smart they'll sex your pig for free because they know more business is coming their way. Heck, they'll probably sex your babies (when they come) for free too.
Because charging to sex several pigs is very short-sighted when you have a possible neutering, pregnancy complications, or even just regular run-of-the-mill health needs of several growing pigs of various ages coming down the pike. A smart vet will sex your pig for free, hoping you'll return when you REALLY need them.
Even if they do charge you for a full exam, they will give you a full exam, which your pig might need as a baseline.
Our guinea pig savvy vet sexed our babies at no charge. Find a good guinea pig savvy vet, tell him/her your situation. If they're smart they'll sex your pig for free because they know more business is coming their way. Heck, they'll probably sex your babies (when they come) for free too.
Because charging to sex several pigs is very short-sighted when you have a possible neutering, pregnancy complications, or even just regular run-of-the-mill health needs of several growing pigs of various ages coming down the pike. A smart vet will sex your pig for free, hoping you'll return when you REALLY need them.
Even if they do charge you for a full exam, they will give you a full exam, which your pig might need as a baseline.
I'd also hold off getting any more pigs until after the babies are here and ready to go to new homes. You might not be able to find suitable homes for all of them, and you never know -- your pig might get along great with one or more of them.
Btw, when you are looking for suitable homes, NEVER say "free to good home." Reptile owners are always looking for "free to good home" rodents as free food. Many babies -- and even adults -- who are advertised that way end up as snake food. I've known of snake owners who will even lie to the person with the rodents and assure them they want them as pets, even showing photos of a cage set up or the inside of their home or whatever. Charging a fee large enough to discourage this (at least charge more than buying rats meant for snake food) is what you will need to do to ensure your cutie pie babies don't end up that way.
I had planned to sell my babies back to the pet store. When the time came, I couldn't bear to do it, since I knew they didn't screen who they went to. I wasn't afraid of them ending up as snake food from a pet store, but I was fearful that they might end up mistreated or abandoned.
All that to say that you should hold off on plans to get another pig companion for your lone pig now until you KNOW s/he won't be compatible with any babies that are on the way.
Btw, when you are looking for suitable homes, NEVER say "free to good home." Reptile owners are always looking for "free to good home" rodents as free food. Many babies -- and even adults -- who are advertised that way end up as snake food. I've known of snake owners who will even lie to the person with the rodents and assure them they want them as pets, even showing photos of a cage set up or the inside of their home or whatever. Charging a fee large enough to discourage this (at least charge more than buying rats meant for snake food) is what you will need to do to ensure your cutie pie babies don't end up that way.
I had planned to sell my babies back to the pet store. When the time came, I couldn't bear to do it, since I knew they didn't screen who they went to. I wasn't afraid of them ending up as snake food from a pet store, but I was fearful that they might end up mistreated or abandoned.
All that to say that you should hold off on plans to get another pig companion for your lone pig now until you KNOW s/he won't be compatible with any babies that are on the way.
Sure you can save the pictures. I recommended the vet as well but my sister in law thinks the pet store should do it. I had the same thoughts. If they couldn’t tell that it was the wrong gender in the first place, why would they know now? I guess it’s worth a shot. I’ll try to call the vet though. I’d trust the vet much more. Not planning on getting any more pigs any time soon. These are just thoughts for down the road if mom isn’t pregnant again (which I’m hoping she’s not) If she is depending on genders and how many we’ll go from there.
Just a thought, some pigs have ambiguous genitalia, which makes them very hard to sex when they are young. Our male had that issue -- he looked almost exactly like the girls when we first got him, so I guess I can't really blame the pet shop too much for telling us he was female. However, our first vet should have known to try to extrude a penis.
In any case, he wasn't obviously male until his testicles dropped into a sac. He was rumblestrutting a bit before that but we had no idea that was a warning sign as we were newbies still. Even after his sac dropped I stupidly thought "she" just had "swollen" genitalia.
He passed the ambiguous genitalia trait onto two of his 7 offspring. They were almost impossible to sex when very young. The only way we knew for sure was when the actual guinea pig savvy vet sexed them for us, and it was even difficult for him to do for the girl. Her outer parts looked like a classic male, but there was no penis bone. He tried and tried to extrude a non-existent penis for longer than I would have wanted if I had been that poor little pig, lol. The boy actually did look just like a girl, but oops, there was a penis in there! The other babies were easier to sex.
All that to say if you have one with truly ambiguous genitalia, you absolutely need a guinea pig savvy vet to make sure.
In any case, he wasn't obviously male until his testicles dropped into a sac. He was rumblestrutting a bit before that but we had no idea that was a warning sign as we were newbies still. Even after his sac dropped I stupidly thought "she" just had "swollen" genitalia.
He passed the ambiguous genitalia trait onto two of his 7 offspring. They were almost impossible to sex when very young. The only way we knew for sure was when the actual guinea pig savvy vet sexed them for us, and it was even difficult for him to do for the girl. Her outer parts looked like a classic male, but there was no penis bone. He tried and tried to extrude a non-existent penis for longer than I would have wanted if I had been that poor little pig, lol. The boy actually did look just like a girl, but oops, there was a penis in there! The other babies were easier to sex.
All that to say if you have one with truly ambiguous genitalia, you absolutely need a guinea pig savvy vet to make sure.
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Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
This will sound weird but they sell plastic domed magnifiers which will double the size of what you are looking at, fairly clearly. One would be looking to see if the "lump" had flesh that was continuous upward, attached to the body (female) or if there was a division, separation around the lump (male).
I have one of these. I love it for reading tiny print and it has come in handy for other things (as I mentioned, 2X magnification).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E3 ... bw_c_x_3_w
I have one of these. I love it for reading tiny print and it has come in handy for other things (as I mentioned, 2X magnification).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E3 ... bw_c_x_3_w
I’m not completely sure but I know I used them for my hamster before and I have a friend who used them for their guinea pig. They also spay and neuter ferrets, rabbits, and rats and have an exotic vet. So not sure on their experience with guinea pigs overall, but they do have rodent experience.
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