Should we neuter?

Question
We have 2 male guinea pigs almost 5 months old. Should we get them (or just one) neutered to avoid possible fighting later on? Right now the dominant one is always on top of the other one. Will this behavior get worse with age? Also sometimes they give off a bad odor - is that related to marking their territory and would it go away once they are fixed? Thanks in advance for your help!

Answer
Hi Darcy,

    Firstly, if there is any female at all in the same room or cage she should be moved because what brings on dominance battles more than anything is the presence of a female.

    Neutering will reduce the sexual drive of your guinea pigs, but it does not take care of the aggressiveness.  Keeping them together will raise stress hormone levels and that will shorten their life spans.

    If two fighting males are kept together, they will continue to do so until one is killed in a dominance battle or is forced into submission.  The "loser" will then most likely die from starvation and exhaustion.  You must separate the two.

    I know how difficult it can be when you are really hoping that your two males will get along - it happened two me three times, but I kept trying.  The only two cases where I had two males that did not fight was one extremely passive guinea pig and an aggressive one, and in the case of two brothers who had been together since birth.

    The bad odor to which you referred is indeed from the dominance issues - I know exactly what you are talking about, it smells awful!

    It is good for your piggies to have company, and so I suggest perhaps neutering both males, separating them, and letting them take turns sharing a female friend - I have heard that spaying a guinea pig can be a more difficult procedure, and so I suggest neutering over that.

    Thank you for your question, I hope I have been of some help to you.  If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  Good luck with your guinea pigs (=

                                                - Nicole