Boar & Sow in one cage

Question
Please Help!  :). For Christmas we plan on getting two Guinea pigs for our son and daughter (age7&9).  We've been doing tons of reading and they seem like a perfect fit for our family.  We're even making a cage for them as a fun family project.  Here's the problem though.  My son wants a boar (Texel) and daughter wants a sow (peruvian).  The plan was to get two sows.... We plan to get them as babies from a breeder and I know they can already breed by 5 weeks.  I thought about trying to separate them every time she comes into season, but I doubt I'd be successful enough.  :). Also considered just having the boar neutered.  My questions are :  At what age can you have them spayed or neutered?  Are the mortality rates high with those surgeries? Would they both need to be fixed?  And if we have them fixed, would they still be trying to breed (making my kids ask, mommy what are they doing)?
 We're also thinking about getting two sows and just telling our son it's a boy.  :-)
 Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!
 Thanks, Naomi

Answer
Congratulations. You're making a good decision.  Guinea pigs are wonderful pets. Most people have no idea how they interact with you. They have their own little language that you will quickly pick up and recognize.

You're right about not being successful when recognizing when a sow comes in heat. They don't have regular cycles like other animals and most of the time they're very stealth about it. So having a boar and a sow in the cage together is not a good idea.  The mortality rate in cavies giving birth is high. How tragic for your kids to lose their pet to a failed delivery.

Most vets prefer the animal to be senior weight (32 oz) before they neuter, but that would be up to your vet. It's far cheaper to buy another cage than to spay or neuter them.  If you neuter them early enough it inhibits the drive to mate. If the boar is already sexually mature it often doesn't change that behavior.

When making a decision about breed consider the grooming responsibility when getting a long haired pig. Most of them must be kept trimmed short if they're just pets, otherwise tangling and knotting is a real problem. Texels are kept on special bedding to avoid that, or are kept trimmed short. Those Peruvians you see in pictures that are show animals are kept in wraps, combed out and re-wrapped every other day to keep their coat from breaking.

On the positive side I think the longhaired pigs have more docile personalities than the other breeds. I have both Americans and Teddies and have owned both Peruvians and Texels. The longhaired pigs are so sweet and cuddly.  My Teddies are that way too.  Of course no matter what the breed, if they're owned by a kid they're couch potatoes just by virtue of the fact that they live on the kids' laps and become very docile.

I'm assuming your son is young enough not to recognize the difference in the sexes, if so I like your idea of getting two sows and telling him his is a boy. Once he falls in love with it he wouldn't part with it.  

Your whole family will get hours of enjoyment out of their pigs. One of the best things about guinea pigs over hamsters is that they are diurnal, meaning they sleep at night. They don't run on that darned squeaky wheel all night long.

I hope this helps. I'd love to see pictures when they arrive at your home and in your hearts.