A piggy meeting

Status
Not open for further replies.
Olivitree

Olivitree

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Apr 16, 2009
Messages
216
Reaction score
153
Points
330
Location
Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Just today me and my brother in law let our guinea pigs meet, his piggy and my sisters have been known to be easily irritated with each other, but I really wanted my 6 year old to have company occasionally because he seems depressed.

Now, it seemed to go pretty well! I thought there would be teeth chattering, rumble strutting and fur flying, but, there was only rumble strutting and mounting.

My brother in laws piggy is about a 1 and a half old, still pretty small and very active, my Jack is getting on in years and is a lazy bum.

As I expected Jack was chilled out about the situation, only getting mildy irritated and rumbling when Jace(the other boar who is in fact neutered) kept mounting him, now, I believe this is normal dominance behaviour but I wanted some second opinions, was this a successful meeting or would it not be recommended to try again? Also, if the mounting behaviour starts again if they meet, should I leave them too it or break them up?

OH! yeah, also there was some teeth chattering and rumbling when Jace went back in with his normal boar companion Cinnamon.

(to clear things up, there is
Jack(mine)
Jace(my brother in laws)
Cinnamon(not mentioned much but my sisters guinea pig and Jace's companion)
 
Last edited:
If there was no serious teeth chattering, I think the meeting went well. Older lonely boars are often very tolerant, as they value the company more than the dominance issue.

Have a look at the stick thread at the top of this section about boar behaviour.
 
I think if you keep doing this, there will be negative consequences for the bonded pair of boars, i.e your brother in laws boars, they could well end up fighting as Jace will smell your boar on him.
 
Sorry, I'm slightly confused, are there just two pigs involved or three? If you are trying to introduce a third boar for playtimes on odd occasions it is definately not a good idea as Fiona (Lavenderjade) said above it is likely to cause problems between an established pair.

If you are talking about two lone seperate boars meeting up just occasionally, again to be honest I wouldn't as if they did manage to bond when they are seperated to go back to their respective houses they will become estranged and possibly pine when apart and ultimately be very stressful. Unfortunately it's not like dogs where you can meet with friends and walk them together, pigs have to remain together when bonded.

If you are talking about getting two boars together to live permanently (ie you taking on your brother's pig) then it sounds like the meeting went quite well and could have potential. Chasing, mild teeth chattering and mounting is all quite normal whilst establishing the pecking order and trying to get to know each other.

But I would stress that if you are not trying to permanently keep them together and just meet up on "play dates" it will be really stressful on the pigs as they will have to go through this time after time, so would strongly recommend against it.

EDIT - have just read the original post again and seen the last bit at the bottom - if your brother in law has a bonded pair of pigs and just brings the one over then I would definately NOT try and bond him with yours as Fiona said it will likely cause the bro in law's pair to fall out. If I were him I wouldn't leave his pair of bonded boys apart too long either as that combined with the smell of your pig WILL cause problems.
 
Last edited:
Hmm, read through, and I can see the problem if they get bonded, I guess, it's sad but I think my old man piggy is going to have to be alone, I've been asknig to get him a companion but they just wont have it even if it's the same age.

I just really don't like seeing my boar like this, his old companion and him use to fight, but they liked seeing eachother through the wire when they were having time in the outside cage and now Jack just isn't the same, he use to "popcorn" all over the place and now he only does it when he knows that Jace and Cinnamon are in the same house otherwise he's just a gloomy critter.
I do try to make up for it and make sure he gets lots of attention and his favourite foods(even though that seems to change every month) but, he still just seems so lonely!
Ahh well, I guess I'll have to keep working on getting another companion for him if I can... trouble is he's an old piggy and I'd really like to get one a similar age to him so they can both be tired and grumpy together rather than one running circles around the other and obcessing over whos the most dominant.
 
Your best bet is to search online or on here for a rescue near you (if you let us know your area, maybe we can help?). A rescue may have a single older boar and let you bring yours along for a "play date" to see how they get along. A rescue may have a few for him to choose from too! If he gets on well with a boar he meets, then you can keep them together but at least you will have tried.
I think perhaps a baby boar will be a bit much for him at his age. Older boars tend to act as a surrogate father for a while, but when the pesky younger one hits puberty and annoys the heck out of the older one, it can go sour.

I wish you the best of luck and maybe someone on here can suggest someting I haven't thought of. I personally would not neuter him at his age as he is getting on a bit :{
 
Last edited:
Yes, some rescues are happy to let you take your pig in to let him choose his own pal which especially is handy with older boars.

Best of luck!
 
i think you need to get him a buddy to live with permently. I take it you live with your parents and they have the deciding vote? Could you explain to them eah part of his mood and how that supports your arguement to get him a pal (cos he is obviously lonely on his own)?
 
I think they probably wont let me, I think they have no reason why not the only thing they complain about is the mess and hassle, I've even said if I go get a job and pay for all the piggy bills but, nope, they're being stuborn, seem to think I'll keep getting piggy after piggy which is wrong because I find when my piggies die it's very stressful and I'm effected for years afterward... I think I love them too much really>.<
I'm in the Gloucestershire area too. But, I think it's guna be a bit of a hopeless case really, I really need one as old as or older to persuade my parents they'll snuff it about the same time because they really don't want more pets. ¬.¬
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top