advice on separated pigs

[chrissy88]

Well iv had to separate my 4 boys. Turns out the scabs on 1 of my older boys was a result of nips off the dominant pig.so now it has come to wire mesh separating the pairs. I put the very young one with the dominant pig and other 2 together.

Right my dominant pig is going crazy by constantly biting at the bars separating them and keeps trying to jump over. Why is he doing this?and attacking the younger pig in with him who's also trying to bite through

My other worry now is the pig is who was getting nipped is doing what dominant pig was doing to him to the pig in with him no nips have occurred just dominance.

They are all at hormonal stage.

 

[mobunny]

Hi,

Do you know if they are brothers?

If it was me I would get the dominant pig neutered first and see if that helps.

Once the bond is broken it can be very hard to get them back together and may be best to seperate the pairs completely in different cages.

Could they have got a wiff of any females ?

You may end up getting them all done to keep the peace.

This is a tricky one and you will have to take one thing at a time and see what works or adjust your setup

Maureen

 

[Wiebke]

Neutering boars won't calm them down - it's just taking away their abiltiy to father babies.

Taking the dominant piggy out of a group will inevitably spark new dominance disputes. You have to sit these out unless they turn into bloody fights with bites to head or bum, or into incessant humping session to a degree where the underpiggy can;t eat and sleep in peace.

Here is more about boar behaviour:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949

 

[chrissy88]

Hi thanks for replies. No they aren't related. I have read that boars dominance thread was very helpful. Ive been watching them closely and it seems 3 of them are quite close and get on really well. So I've now ended up with those 3 together and the one who was getting nipped on back/bum is on his own for now. He can still see and smell the others and the dominant pig has stopped going crazy biting bars.

I don't like the idea of dongle on his own so I'm thinking maybe getting a friend, would this be a good idea?

 

[mobunny]

Hi,
You can't get a female, so a male is your only option. What about a rescue they should help you bond and if it doesn't work out they should be able to help you.

You could just get another and it doesn't work out and then you have only increased your problem.

Good Luck

Maureen