Castration (also called neutering) of guinea pig males is not a complicated operation, and it is not uncommon. Normally it is done to keep the guinea pigs from further breeding.
You should know beforehand that castrating a guinea pig male does not affect behaviour much! It is used to stop breeding, not to make males go along better with other males.
One important thing to remember is that the guinea pig might develop an infection at the site of the operation, and the the owners need to check that every day for at least two or three weeks after a castration. If you notice any new swelling, any fever, or anything that happens a few days or weeks after the operation, take the animal back to the vet right away, not just the same day, but rather within a few hours. Otherwise the animal might actually die! This has happened several times, that newly catsrated guinea pigs developed a fever and some other minor symptoms and died about a week after the actual castration.
I had my piggy Lotus castrated. I got him as a supposed sterile male, that had been tried many times as a breeder, but never succeeded in producing any babies with any females. But when I had had him a while he suddenly changed...
To make sure he didn't start making all my old females pregnant I quickly put him into a cage (otherwise all my cavies are freeroamers) and soon had him castrated.
Today I have another castrated male,
Nemo, that already was castrated when I got him. Nemo is just a wonderful guinea pig.
Copyright Eva Johansson.
Last update: 10th of February 2006.