Advantages and disadvantages of male or female guinea pigs?

Question

Anyway, I'm looking for a guinea pig, but I would like to know some advantages of owning a male or female.

Which gender do you prefer to keep?

Answer 1

i got a female and she is sooo awsome

Answer 2

female - bit and smell and more scitts then males

male - noisyer then females  

Answer 3

"MALE vs. FEMALE—The male guinea pig has an outgoing personality. This tends to make the male friendlier and calmer. He is interested in what’s going on around him and is eager to greet his owner to see if he can get a special treat or his head scratched. This outgoing nature usually means that two male guinea pigs will argue if kept together.

Although female guinea pigs are more nervous, once they settle into their new home and learn the routine, they calm down. But loud noises and / or unexpected movements may still frighten them. However, females are non-aggressive and can usually be kept together without squabbling with each other."  http://animaladventurepets.com/guineapig...

Hope that helps!

Answer 4

my daughter has two males. she keeps them in separate cages. if she lets them mingle they tend to threaten each other.

a drawback to females is that you could purchse them already pregnant. we had that happen with a hamster my wife bought for her classroom 20 years ago.

the big advantage to a male is that he will never get pregnant.

Answer 5

I cannot stress this enough--- no matter which gender you choose, make sure they have a companion!!!!!! Guinea pigs are herd animals, and in order to be happiest, they need a companion. I would recommend two that are currently living together, so there are no need for introductions.

On that note, I prefer housing two females together, as opposed to two males. Males have a gland on their rear end that can get smelly, as they will mark their territory, etc etc. Boars are also susceptible to impaction. http://www.guinealynx.info/impaction.htm... (warning:some graphic-ish pictures)

However, any female that I have ever bought from a petstore, has been pregnant. A sow that I bought nearly two months ago, I bought BECAUSE she was housed with 9 males, and I knew that I would be able to care for her pregnancy MUCH better than the pet store itself. (she is due in the next few days). Pet stores usually treat their animals near terribly, they dont know how to s*x them or dont bother separating them. I would recommend finding a pair of guinea pigs that are up for adoption around your area--- from a shelter, or other source.  Often times, people will only sell them in pairs anyways, because they know it is better for the piggies.

Hope I helped :)

EDIT:

Note about above posts

-Males CAN be housed together. It is a myth that they must be separated. ALL guinea pigs will need to sort out dominance issues, even my females get bossy. Unless there is bloodshed, you need to let them work things out.

-If you buy the pigs seperately you will need to google how to introduce them safely, with the biggest chance of success.

-Neither gender is noisier than the other!!!!!! One of my males hardly made a peep, while one of my females now is SO loud! She talks to her cagemate, she talks to me, she talks to her belly, she talks to her food, she talks to her p**p! Guinea pigs have personalities just like humans :)

here are some more helpful sites for you to mingle through

First, susie's LOVELY site about boars.

http://www.susieandpigs.pwp.blueyonder.c...

http://geocities.com/gpigluv/

http://www.guinealynx.info/

http://wheekers.proboards32.com/index.cg...

Answer 6

With females you have to deal with reproductive issues sometimes. Makes you sometimes have impaction issues.

You can read more at http://www.guinealynx.info  

Answer 7

a female males smell alot more and tend to bite more female rarley bite and can be kept with other females males must be seperated and a guinea pig is a social animal thus u should get another two males cant stay in the same cage and a male and a female would come with the risk of pregnancy. so 2 females or 1 female (if you get 1 female you MUST play with it ALOT or sometimes they can die from loneliness) good luck with your new pigs they rock

Answer 8

I just got guinea pigs. I have two girls and they get along great!  Males will fight each other and can even kill each other if housed together, so you should get females.